From my journal on 6/19/14: “Yesterday, everyone was very worn out from the camping experience. We drove up to the Hoh Rainforest, but decided not to enforce any ‘extended walks’ – or ‘fudgecicles’ as we have come to call them, since the kids perk up so nicely whenever we use that word instead of saying ‘hikes.’ On the way down from that drive, we stopped by the Hoh River for lunch and to stretch our legs…”
Today I’ll add a few details from my memories of June 18, the day I shot this video. We had started out from a camp site at Kalaloch Beach where we camped for one night; later in the trip, Riley was asking if we could head back to this spot, but by that time, driving back was more of a round trip than we wanted to endure. Hopefully we can return to this place someday, and if so, the ideal spot was A13.
I expect our memories from the evening of June 17 to stay with us all forever. Our camp site was on the bluff about 50 feet above the beach, and the kids spent most of the afternoon in the sand on the beach below, while I got the fire going at camp and we enjoyed fine weather and great food, wine and high spirits. Still, somehow that relaxing day had us worn out the following one, and our kids were already on-record with a very clear request that boggled our minds: “No more hikes!” So after arriving at the Hoh River Visitors Center after a longish drive, much of it next to the Hoh River, we saw that all the activities involved a hike of some sort, and we didn’t stay 20 minutes before doubling back, which put the river on the left side of the van. On the way in, I had spotted a good place to pull over for a picnic, and on the way back, we had lunch there and grabbed some sunrays, a few photos, and a Rare Air clip just over a minute long.
The region of Washington State referred to as “Forks” covers a lot of territory, as we learned that day. For the night of June 18, we stayed at a very cool place called Quillayute River Resort. In Google maps, its address is Forks, Washington (and that also applies to Kalaloch Beach, where our day began). When we were at the trailhead for the Hoh River Trail in the Hoh Rainforest, that address is also listed as Forks, Washington, but it’s over 40 miles away from the “Q River Resort.” We also spent some time in the town of Forks as we drove through it, and for dinner that night… and we took a self-guided driving tour of La Push, the setting for all the Twilight books (or so I am told). All very scenic and beautiful country, as well as being the home to Mick Dodge, one of my favorite humans.
I’ve spent the past couple of hours going through all the photos from this day and those just before and afterward. In comparison, days like that make most others seem so routine and uneventful! If you get the chance to venture to a location of your dreams, I hope you will seize it. And if there’s more information I can share that would help you explore the possibilities, please ask me.
