From Cliffside, we headed south. We stayed in Pacific beach which is located near Olympic National Park on the Pacific Ocean. Making use of our military benefits, we stayed at a Navy run recreation area. The campground sat on a cliff overlooking the ocean.
We stayed for 3 nights with water and electric hook-ups. Every afternoon the fog would roll in off the ocean creating a mystical mood.
The weather was pretty overcast in general, but relaxing. Certainly nothing we could deal with for a long period of time though.
The beach was nice and we were able to drive the truck right down to the ocean. Marcos found a bunch of squid eggs on the beach which was pretty cool. It was something none of us had seen before.
We went one day into Olympic National Park to explore. While beautiful, the park is not very accessible. There is a LARGE park loop (I would guess several hundred miles for the loop) with access roads off of loop that extend partially into the park. We were able to drive up two of these access roads, but only able to experience a small portion of the park. Ideally, it’s a hiking park – but for serious hikers that tote in their tent and goods on back for ten nights. Regardless, it was awesome to visit a temperate rainforest and see all the moss covering the giant trees. The plant diversity is truly worth protecting and preserving.
The PNW has some huge trees! We got to see the world’s largest Sitka Pine and a really large cedar. Pretty amazing!
Overall, this area was great for all of its natural beauty. However, there really isn’t a lot out this way for human civilization. It’s amazing that an area so close to Seattle could be this uninhabited.
Guerra's Great Adventure 