{"id":4046,"date":"2016-10-01T19:38:05","date_gmt":"2016-10-02T02:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/?p=4046"},"modified":"2016-10-01T19:38:05","modified_gmt":"2016-10-02T02:38:05","slug":"olympic-national-park-exploring-3-ecosystems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/?p=4046","title":{"rendered":"Olympic National Park \u2013 Exploring 3 Ecosystems"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"olympic-regional-map\"<\/a>On a sunny day in mid-September, Lynne, Robin and Leslie headed off on a 4-day trip to Olympic National Park for their annual hiking getaway.\u00a0 We had rented a conveniently located cabin near Forks, WA, and were looking forward to a day in the Hoh Rain Forest, another day doing beach hikes at Third Beach and Rialto Beach (near La Push on the Quileute Indian Reservation) , and a third day on Hurricane Ridge.\u00a0 A sampling of rain forests, beaches, and mountains plus glaciers \u2013 what could be better?<\/span><\/p>\n

Hoh Rain Forest:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"img_7961\"<\/a>The rainy weather provided an appropriate atmosphere for our hikes on the Hoh River Trail, the Hall of Mosses Trail, and the Spruce Nature Trail. The verdant vegetation was full of epiphytes or airplants:\u00a0 lush clusters of club moss, lichens and hanging mosses were interspersed with Big Leaf M\"img_8016\"<\/a>aples.\u00a0 This area is the largest protected old growth forest in the Pacific Northwest, and it\u00a0 was dripping with moisture from the intermittent rain showers, and so were we!\u00a0 Leslie’s biggest challenge was how to take photographs without damaging the camera; the Canon traveled in and out of a plastic bag and backpack many times, resulting in a slowed pace of her cohorts.\u00a0 Thanks for your supreme patience, Robin and Lynne!\u00a0 On this day we were also surprised by a herd of Roosevelt elk (on an airport runway, no less) and later, grazing along the road, 2 single elk nonchalantly peered at us with full munching mouths. <\/span><\/p>\n