Washington Coast - Grays Harbor area

June 8-14, 2017

Friends Landing Park, Montesano, WA

 Friends Landing is a county park in Grays Harbor County. The park started when the Friend family donated 152 acres, previously an old gravel pit with one-mile of Chehalis River frontage, to Trout Unlimited in 1988. 

 View of our site from the river dock

 The 1.7 mile trail around Lake Quigg

View across the lake of the campground from the trail 

 One of the fishing docks on the lake

The firepits were unique

 Views of the Chehalis River from the dock in the campground

 Blue heron

 Harbor seal from the dock

 Loved seeing these steamboats on the river!

The skipper of the Uno (original name) said she has owned it for the last 44 years.  The craft needs lots of care, as do all wood hulls.  

Kayaking on the Chehalis River

 A pair of bald eagles

Had to wedge our kayaks into this old pier to eat lunch

Olympic National Park

We started our day at the Visitor's Center next door to this lodge - 

Lake Quinault Lodge in Olympic National Park

The lodge is beautiful and once hosted President Roosevelt

We enjoyed wandering the grounds

Large rhododendron in full bloom

Lake Quinault

Our second stop was Kalaloch Beach 4 which is one of Olympic National Park's 

best locations for exploring tide pools. A short wooded trail leads to the beach access.

The trail lead to this bridge made of driftwood 

The coastline is beautiful and we were happy the sun made an appearance

Huge trees and stumps had washed up onto the beach

Climbing over the rocks and looking into the tide pools

Saw lots of giant green anemone 

 Our next stop was Ruby Beach, the northernmost of the southern beaches 
in the coastal section of Olympic National Park.

 Little stream going through the shoreline

Dave was saying how much he'd enjoy laying in this stream on a warm summer day

 Ruby Beach has a tremendous amount of driftwood

 The beach got its name from the ruby-like crystals (garnets) in the sand.

It is notable for the number of sea stacks along the shore.

Dave standing inside the window of a sea stack

 Our next stop was the Hoh Rain Forest

 And the Hall of Mosses Trail

The forest along the trail is filled with old temperate trees covered in green and brown mosses.

The mosses on the trees don't damage them

Hoh River Trail

We hiked a couple miles in to see the river.

Dave was keeping his eye out for Mick Dodge along the way.

The forestry service keeps busy clearing the trail of fallen trees.

The Hoh River

The water was so blue, and cold!

Loved seeing this Mom and her baby Merganzers along the shore. 
We stayed far away and used the zoom on the camera to get close shots.

They started moving about, so I kept shooting pictures.

Then they got in the water and started to swim right past us.

Had a blast watching them swim!

We had a fun time along the coast of Washington! 

And now we're off to the Seattle area!