Olympic National Park

With its incredible range of precipitation and elevation, diversity is the hallmark of Olympic National Park. Encompassing nearly a million acres, the park protects a vast wilderness, thousands of years of human history, and several distinctly different ecosystems, including glacier-capped mountains, old-growth temperate rain forests, and over 70 miles of wild coastline.

This was the first national park I ever hiked and the reason I was inspired to begin my journey. Being from Ohio, I had never seen trees as tall as the trees within the park or been in a rainforest. I was completely blind-sided by the dramatic views and absolute peace and solitude. We definitely were not properly prepared and did not fully research what we were getting ourselves into but we still had an amazing time. We hiked the Hoh River Trail, Quinalt Rainforest Nature Trail, Sol Duc Falls Trail, and the Mink Lake Trail to name a few. I don't even know what to say about this place. It is beautiful.

If you read the "About Me" section of the website then you already know my favorite thing we did here was camping on second beach. We woke up in the morning to tide pools full of starfish and other ocean life. Sadly, we learned in the Channel Islands, that the starfish population along the west coast has been decimated by sea star wasting disease and the starfish are no longer prevalent in the area. Still, just for scenery and other ocean life in the tidepools I recommend going here if you are ever in Olympic.