Kalaloch and Ruby Beaches

Be careful what you wish for.  Yesterday we were saying that it would have been nice hiking in clouds and fog, well we have the clouds and fog this morning.  Not sure how nice the beaches are going to be. :0(

We finally get on the road around 11 am and head for Kalaloch beach.  The beach is covered with drift wood and is a little foggy.  This is a nice beach to walk down, the sand is fine and packs down good to make walking easier.  The waves bring in a lot of crabs and clams.  It seems they get a lot of wind and rain here.  I understand they get an average of 12 ft of rain a year.  By looking at the trees you can see how the wind blows.

Along with the crab and clams, the beach was full of jelly fish, some dead some not.  I am not sure I would want to swim or play in this ocean.



 

We ate lunch at the Kalaloch lodge.  I had a delicious Salmon BLT with fries and Joe had a bread bowl of split pea soup, all very good.  Then we headed to Ruby Beach.

On the way to Ruby Beach we went to see the Big Cedar Tree up a side road.  I thought the ones we saw yesterday were big, these were big and old and very twisted and gnarled.

 This whole in the tree made a great picture frame.










On to Ruby Beach.  Ruby is very different from Kalaloch.  It also has the drift wood but also lots of rocks.  Mainly flat ones, big and little that make great for balancing.



Ruby also has nice rock outcroppings or small islands in the ocean.  Most you can walk to if the tide is low.

There are a lot of tide pools with anemone's and other small ocean life. In the tide pools around this  rock island we found a star fish.  Joe climbed around to the backside of the rock and found many more starfish.

On the other end of the beach is a sea wall with small caves, not very deep.  I wondered how long the ocean had beat against the cliff to make the caves.  The water running down from the vegetation above leaves a colorful stain on the rocks below.

More bridges to cross, Joe gets a lot of pleasure watching me try to cross on logs.

Thursday we are going over to La Push WA and Rialto Beach by Hole in the Wall campground.
Just a side note, I was excited to see where Twilight took place, I was surprised to learn that they didn't film any of it in Forks or La Push.  It was actually filmed for the most part in Oregon around the Columbia Gorge.  I wish I had know that while I was in the gorge, I wouldn't went to see some of the places it was filmed. Forks looks nothing like the town they used to film it. Just a bit of movie trivia.

Ho Rain Forest (07/08)

Monday was spent traveling to the Ho Rain Forest, just outside Forks WA.  We are staying at the Hard Rain Cafe and RV Resort just out side of the park.

Tuesday we drive into the park to do a hike along the Ho River. The Ho River hike is a 17.5 mile hike, one way, and goes to Glacier Meadows.  From there you can continue another mile to the Blue Glacier and on to the climbing route for Mt Olympus.  We did a 4 mile section to the Big Cedars.  This is a pretty flat trail with a little up and down.

 The one day we were wishing for cloudy skies and fog we get beautiful sunshine.  Walking through the rain forest is very different than walking through a normal forest.  The trees are very old, most of them anyway, with lots of moss hanging off of them. They are also covered with moss from top to bottom.  Fog would have made it feel very eerie and fun.  The sunshine gives it a different effect, very humid. Lots of mushrooms growing on the downed trees.

The first 2.7 miles is along the river or close to it.  The Ho River is very swift moving and scenic to look at.

Notice the tree growing out of this root ball

 Pretty soon we were at a water fall.  It is nice one but not as spectacular as others we have seen.











We stopped here for a short break.  I looked at the side of the long I was sitting on and found these cute little salmon colored mushrooms.

Can you find the slug in this picture?

As I said earlier, mushrooms are in abundance here.

We are now getting close to the big Cedars.  These trees are impressive.  Not only are they big but they are tall as well.

 

This tree appears to be on stilts, it actually grew on top of a big tree that had fallen over.  As it grew and the nurse tree deteriorated it ended you looking like it is on stilts that you can walk through.  There are many trees here like this.






Joe found a moss covered tree that he used as a hat, it looks like there is a monkey on his head.

           


                  Bridges to cross







Time to head back to the trail head.  Almost to the visitor center we took the trail of the Mosses.  This is one of the oldest parts of the Ho Rain Forest, all maple trees.

Wednesday the beaches!!!!