Quinault WA

After the "RESORT" in Copalis beach (see my previous post) I was skeptical about Rain Forest Resort Village and RV Park but moved there anyway as there were no other options.

The C.G is near Lake Quinault, has 31 leveled sites with water and electric hook ups, no sewer and no dump central station, the bathrooms are old and had to be replaced long ago to meet the standards of this beautiful C.G, it has a pay showers and two toilets only , it is not enough especially when there is no dump central station.

Quinault is on the Southern side of the Olympic N.P and has many hikes from easy to most difficult , along creeks, waterfalls and high peaks.

We got settled in the C.G at noon and wasted no time before taking off to the World's Largest Sitka Spruce tree that was actually inside the C.G ...

A short half a mile Rain Forest Natural trail .

With the moth, large trees, huge ferns and the silence it looked like entering a fairy tail world.

At the end of this wonderful day we hiked 2 miles towards the Cascade Falls before enjoying the evening in the C.G on the lake, all this in one day’s work…

The second day was a combination of hiking and touting around the Quinault Valley , this 31 miles can be done in a car for an hour and a half but it took us 9 hours with all the stops and the hikes.

We took off by driving the South Shore towards Merriman Falls that can be easily missed even though they are close to the road , there are no signs indicating the falls, just a pullover along the road and estimating the millage from the starting point help us find the falls.

After enjoying the falls we hiked the Fletcher Canyon Trail in Colonel Bob's Wilderness, this 4 Mile round trip hike is considered difficult because it is a forest trail and some parts of the trail is not maintained and second it is up hill on the way in, but still very beautiful.

t was noon and we deserved a snack so we crossed the bridge towards North Fork and found a small C.G where we enjoyed our picnic after getting out of the woods to an open view point of the mountains and the snowed tops.

There is no better way to get the food digested than a 2.2 mile round trip Irely Lake, a shallow beautiful lake with perfect reflections but with limited place to sit and relax with no trails around the lake.

Just one more stop on the way "home" on The North Shore Road near the Ranger Station, a half mile Maple Glade Natural Trail, great easy trail to end the day, all along we meet very few people on the trails a fact that always surprises me, the silence is so "lowed " that it allows people to meditate...

On the 3rd and last day before we move further North towards Forks, we took it easy and hiked 2 mile to Gatton Creek Falls, a very nice short hike starting at the C.G along a narrow path to find at the end a beautiful spot with Cascades under the bridge.

A word of advice, fill your gas tank BEFORE coming this way, crazy prices in the town's only gas station and get ready to be "separated" from the outside world regarding cell phone signals ,internet and tv, some will like it and some will not but be ready.

To end this long post I attach here some pictures of outstanding shelf mushrooms I have never seem before.

The small village just 3 Miles down the road has a special atmosphere and can offer visitors : 90 years old lodge, museum, beach, general store together with a coffee shop with free internet and Ranger Station all in a walking distance.

Till we meet again…enjoy the day it will never come back.