17th July 2023, 23:34
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| Distinguished - BHPian   | BMW X3M40i goes to Olympic National Park, Washington As is the tradition over the last 6+ years, we need to go on a vacation on Memorial Day and July 4th. We know on these two days, all popular destinations would be packed to the brim- Flights would be expensive, hotels would cost 2X or more, there would be plenty of traffic on road to make you wonder if you really are in America. But, knowing all these impediments, we still go ahead and take a vacation. Call it the lure of capitalism. lol! Despite the aforementioned challenges, we enjoy taking time off during these two US national holidays as there is a certain vibrancy in the air and it’s fun to vacation during this time as there is an air of joy and freedom. I reckon (Note, it’s not guess) the American culture is slowly but, steadily seeping into our lifestyle. As mom is also visiting us, we wanted to also give her a good time. I’m a heavily outdoor inspired guy and absolutely love to spend time in nature. It was the same situation when it was in India but, unfortunately back home there are not too many opportunities to spend in nature as we all live in concrete jungles. Washington is not known as an ‘Evergreen State” for nothing. Here, the nature starts right from our door-step. There is so much to do and see in Washington state that sometimes I never feel the need to step out of this state (This statement is purely keeping in mind if you are a hardcore outdoor and nature lover). After some deliberations, we decided that we will explore the Olympic National Park ( One of the 3 National Parks in Washington and also the biggest from a spread-wise) and is on the western side of Washington state. We will be visiting ONP after 8 years (Last visit was in June 20150. And, the funny part is we searched a lot for the same spot that we took pictures in 2015 and after a lot of search, we found it. More of it in subsequent posts. A short excerpt from the U.S National Parks website about Olympic National Park, Washington : Discover Olympic's Diverse Wilderness 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. Come explore! Woah- The buzzwords here are 1 Million Acres of National Forest/Park, 70 Miles of Pacific Ocean Coastline. Whew, That's enough for a couch potato into a wildlife explorer. Memorial Day this year was on May 29th, 2023 and it was a Monday. I booked a hotel for 1-night and we planned to reach on Sunday afternoon and return home late on Monday night. I will refer to Olympic National Park as ONP in this travelogue. As briefly described in the excerpt above, ONP is one of the most diverse national forest in entire America and the reasons for that is because there is no other national park in the country which such a diverse eco-system : Lakes Flower Meadows Snow Capped Mountains Alpine Forests Rain Forests (Imagine a rainforest eco-system in America is not very natural) Nature Trails for Hikes Since we live north of Seattle, there were two ways to go to ONP. One was to take a Ferry to Port Angeles which would be a combination of drive and ferry costing us a ferry cost of $65 one-way and 91 miles of driving taking the total time to reach Port Angele to 3 Hours, 30 Minutes. If you drive south and circle way back up to west then the total driving distance was 170 miles and time to reach is 3:45 hours. Since there was no major benefit in taking the ferry, we decided to take the land route. Here is the map to the destination. We got up early and headed out at 9:00am and stopped enroute for breakfast at McDonalds. Some biscuits and hot mcCaffee set the pace for the day. We enjoyed a leisurely drive through some beautiful terrain and reached our first destination. Lake at around 1:00pm. As mom was with us and she’s in her early 70’s we decided to plan to visit places where she wouldn’t have to walk much. However, when you visit national parks, without walking or covering a lot of ground the real spectacular scenery is always missed. Therefore, wherever she was not comfortable to walk, she would rest on a bench or in the car while we do the short hike and return back. With that as a background, I will as usual keep the commentary to a minimum and focus more on the pictures. What you will see in the pictures does not justify even half the beauty it was in reality. I will break this photoblog into different posts 1. Lake Crescent 2. Ruby Beach 3. Lake Crescent + Hike 4. Ho Rainforest 5. Everything-in-Between/Miscellaneous 6. Drive Back Home 7. Bonus Content Note : All pictures & videos are taken with an iPhone 13 Promax and majority of pictures are straight out of the phonee and some have minor edits for brightness, contrast etc. Please click the pictures for a full view and also do check out all the videos. Route to Port Angeles by road which is going to be our base and also where our hotel was located...  Route by taking a Ferry. As you can see not much time can be saved so we opted for going by road.  Mom posing with Blau Rakete before we head out in the morning.   Yours Truly..  Coffee enroute.  McD Egg and Cheese for Breakfast.  A beautiful bridge enroute.  Loo Break. What is better? Foreground or Background? Haha!  Entering ONP. Magical Place      This is how a $350/night room looks like. Had a beautiful view of the snow capped mountains from the full glass windows.    Chicken and Veggie Burgers for lunch at Port Angeles.    Last edited by mobike008 : 20th July 2023 at 09:22. |
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18th July 2023, 09:12
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| Distinguished - BHPian | Re: BMW X3M40i goes to Olympic National Park, Washington Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park We reached Port Angeles around 1:00pm and since mom was hungry we first dived into some yummy Chicken and Veggie Burgers followed by a lovely New Zealand mixed berry ice-cream which was made instantly in front of our eyes (Fruits, Cream was put in a machine and voila, the ice cream was freshly served which tasted delicious). Post that nice lunch, we headed to our first spot which was Lake Crescent which was about 20 miles ( 20 mins drive) away from Port Angeles. Lake Crescent is one of the largest lakes in ONP (There are several lakes in ONP) and the drive around the lake is about 20-25 miles so you can imagine the size of the lake and it's one of the most beautiful and surreal drive one can enjoy with tall fir trees and mountains on one side and deep aquamarine lake on the other side. Lake Crescent is 650 feet deep at its deepest point. There are plenty of hiking trails surrounding the lake that gives 360 degree views of the lake from top. Plenty of spots around the lake that has water sports and other activities. With the emergence of summer, the place was super crowded with vacationers. We spent around 2 hours around the lake going into the water. At around 4pm, mom was getting a bit tired so we decided to drop her to the hotel. The biggest issue in US is the check-in's are at 3:00pm (unlike 12:00pm in India) and that gives us very little time to spend in the room and sometimes is an inconvenience. We dropped mom off and settled her down in the room so she can enjoy some TV and watch the beautiful snow capped mountains from the window and told her we should be back by 10:00pm in night and ventured out to another destination.                          Last edited by mobike008 : 19th July 2023 at 22:37. |
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18th July 2023, 09:19
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| Distinguished - BHPian | Re: BMW X3M40i goes to Olympic National Park, Washington After making sure mom is comfortable in the hotel room, we decided to head to Ruby Beach which is actually the way back to home (since I had planned a circuitous route) so this trip would be an additional 150 miles round-trip. Ruby Beach-- This is located on the western coast of Washington and it would surprise you that no other National Park in US has an ocean as part of it's park. Olympic National Park has a stunning 75-80 miles of Pacific Ocean Coast running across the entire length of the park/forest.  The reason we have fond memories of Ruby Beach is because we were here in June of 2015 and witnessed the most spectacular sunsets that I ever saw in my life. And, we never thought that we will come back to Washington and would make this our home. We wanted to relive those memories and for that what is 150 miles R/T drive? What say? A few pictures of us from June 2015.    I know, I know. I have grown pretty old since then and piled on the calories.  We reached Ruby Beach around 7:30pm and Sunset was still quite some time later. That day the sunset was at 8:50pm as the summer is just setting in. We parked the car in the parking area and there is a 0.5 mile walk down to the beach. As soon as I got out of the car, chilly winds hit me and I was in shorts and thin t-shirt. It was terribly cold. We walked down and I mustered all the courage to stay out in that cold (Imagine on a summer day) on the beach side till it was sunset. It was an ordeal but, we came a long way and we can't miss the opportunity. Well, the sunset was not as spectacular as I remember back in 2015 when the skies turned red, pink, orange, blue and what not. But, then it was late June vs May so the timing does matter. But, I have to admit the sunset did not disappoint and we again witnessed spectacular views as the sun went down. It felt like we were on the sets of "Game of Thrones" or "Armageddon". It was absolutely surreal. The pictures and video does not justify what the naked eye witnessed. We plan to go back to ONP a bit more leisurely (3-4 days is required at the minimum) to enjoy the diverse nature it has to offer. Enjoy the pictures taken during the 2-hours that we spent at Ruby Beach on May 28th, 2023                            Last edited by mobike008 : 19th July 2023 at 21:47. |
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18th July 2023, 09:23
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| Distinguished - BHPian | Re: BMW X3M40i goes to Olympic National Park, Washington Next Day after Breakfast, we headed back to Lake Crescent again and we wanted to do a 3-mile hike which is a popular hike near this lake. We had a lovely 1-hour hike while mom sat near the water and sometime in the car gazing at people around. Breakfast was pretty basic but, delicious.    New Zealand based fresh berry ice-cream. Fantastic !   We yet again drove the 20+ miles around the lake as the drive is no less than surreal.    Last edited by mobike008 : 20th July 2023 at 04:40. |
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18th July 2023, 09:44
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| Distinguished - BHPian | Re: BMW X3M40i goes to Olympic National Park, Washington Ho Rain Forest Visit on May 30th, 2023. A short excerpt from Wikipedia : Hoh Rainforest is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S., located on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington state.[1] It includes 24 miles (39 km) of low elevation forest 394 to 2,493 feet (120 to 760 m) along the Hoh River. The Hoh River valley was formed thousands of years ago by glaciers. Within Olympic National Park, the forest is protected from commercial exploitation. Between the park boundary and the Pacific Ocean, 48 km (30 mi) of river, much of the forest has been logged within the last century, although many pockets of forest remain. This place is truly a gem of our state and is a great natural wonder. Need more time to explore the place as there are plenty of trails that can be explored to see the uniqueness of this forest. We reached Ho Rainforest around noon and spent a beautiful 2-hours exploring this surreal world. Nothing is free in America. It costed us $30 to enter the Ho Rain Forest despite having Discover Pass (State Park Pass).  Entering Ho Rainforest.  This is what I love about America. The infrastructure here is next level. They even have "makeshift traffic signals" in the deepest of forest if they are laying or doing some road-work. There was too much of traffic and it took us nearly 30 mins to cover 11 miles as there was a long line of cars waiting to enter the Ho Rain Forest.   We hiked 1.5 miles of "Trail of Moss" and this was absolutely wonderful. It felt like we have entered a different world. Tall trees (150+ feet tall) and fully covered in moss. This place gets a lot of rainfall. Imagine having a rainforest in US which is pretty unique as rainforests are usually predominant in tropical places.    Yours truly. A 6ft. 1inch guy is dwarfed by these trees.             These trees grows an astonishing 220 feet tall.    Another makeshift traffic signal in the forest.   This tree was crazy. Just unbelievable to see the number of branches it has got.  Some fun facts about the "Ho Rain Forest".   Last edited by mobike008 : 20th July 2023 at 04:31. |
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18th July 2023, 09:54
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| Distinguished - BHPian | Re: BMW X3M40i goes to Olympic National Park, Washington After that enjoyable visit to Ho Rainforest, we took the circuitous route towards home which has Ho Rainforest come up first and then we would be driving through the Ruby Beach yet again. Since mom did not visit this beautiful beach the previous day, we thought of stopping by this beach again for a short while so she can enjoy the glorious views of this beach. We reached the beach around 4:30 in the afternoon and spent about 30-minutes walking around and enjoying the "Daylight views" of this beautiful beach.   Mom really loved this place. But, even during late afternoon this place was quite chilly and she could not stay out beyond 30 minutes and rushed back into the warmth of the car. We then continued our journey to home and enroute there are multiple view points and beaches named aptly- Ruby Beach, Beach 2, Beach 3, Beach 4.... We did not stop at any of these locations except one place on the open road which had stunning views of Pacific Ocean on our right side. After a 30-minutes break here, we drove on towards home and briskly covered the distance of around 130-odd miles finally reaching a Mexican restaurant near home around 9:00pm for dinner. Post dinner, it was back to home-sweet-home around 10:30pm marking an end to a beautiful Memorial Day Vacation. That's how we spent 40 hours exploring Olympic National Park and drove 750 miles (1200kms) in this short span. Sol Duc Hot Springs. We stopped here briefly as this place has natural hot springs and you can take a dip in it. We didn't go as we weren't carrying the swim clothes.  Cold Coffee enroute  Entire ONP is like this. Glorious views.  PNW is famous for these tall trees and crazy amount of greenery. There is no other place in America that can boast of so much greenery.   Stopped at the viewpoint. Pacific Ocean on our right.       On our way back. Traffic was quite a bit even in forest as all vacationers heading home.  Entering Seattle...  Still entering..  Glorious sunset as we are approaching home.    Mexican Dinner to wrap up our vacation.  Last edited by mobike008 : 20th July 2023 at 09:13. |
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20th July 2023, 00:53
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| Distinguished - BHPian | Re: BMW X3M40i goes to Olympic National Park, Washington BONUS CONTENT... The sad part of this visit to Olympic National Park was that we could not visit the most iconic part of Olympic National Forest- Hurricane Ridge Hurricane Ridge is just a 20 mile drive from Port Angeles and is a mandatory visit as we drive up the mountains, the scenery drastically changes from warm to extremely chilly and cold weather as its roughly 7000 feet high from sea level and from the top there is a beautiful view of the Olympic Mountain ranges which are usually snow covered through most part of the year and is a popular destination for snow sport activities- Skiing , Snow Boarding, Sledging etc. Unfortunately, in May 2023 the Visitor Center located at the top of the mountain range was burnt down to ashes and they closed Hurricane Ridge indefinitely.This post has pictures from a Team-BHP drive (Just 2 Bimmers) on February 19th, 2023. We did a day trip and drove 450 miles in a single day. As you know see, Olympic National Park has the most diverse ecosystems from all the National Parks in America and we are blessed to live close and a trip to this place can be planned over any weekend. Thank you for reading this photoblog and hope you enjoyed it. At the signboard.   Surreal views from the top.           Lake Crescent, ONP  We decided that we will go back again and spent at least 3-full days to explore the abundance of beauty that ONP has to offer. Hope you enjoyed the travel to ONP via.this photoblog. Cheers to PNW !!! Last edited by mobike008 : 20th July 2023 at 04:29. |
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21st July 2023, 04:47
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22nd July 2023, 12:15
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| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2022 Location: Hyderabad
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