NP #11 - Day 5 - August 13, 2014

Day 5: August 13, 2014:

We were up early again today, got ready and had breakfast in the lobby of the motel.  Nick had bad oatmeal and the kids and I ate waffles that we made in a waffle iron.  Breakfast was so-so but the room was $120 a night so it was okay.  We got on the road and somewhere between the Pacific Crest Trail and the Days Inn, I lost my favorite sunglasses ever, my Costas.  I’m very upset about this but on this particular day it made no difference as it was raining and completely gray.

We drove to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center via Port Angeles, WA and hiked the Hurricane Hill Trail, 3.2 mi, round trip with 700 ft of elevation change.  It was pretty darn tough at the end but it would have been spectacular views except we couldn’t see a thing because it was raining and completely fogged over. 

 Still, the trail was fun and the kids were awesome.  We saw several chipmunks along the way and lots of dear on the way back.   

By the time we returned, around 11am, the visitor center was open so we got the passbooks stamped, bought magnets and hat pins and ate lunch at the center.  Ryan and I got hot dogs, Grant a hamburger and Nick a turkey wrap.

The next stop was going to be the Madison Falls trail in the Elwha area of the park, but when we got there the trail was closed for construction.  We moved on to Lake Crescent, parked the car and hiked back to the Merrymere falls (1.5 mi round trip).  They were beautiful, starting out very skinny at the top and getting progressively wider.  

After returning to the car, we continued West on Hwy 101 to Sol Duc and checked into our cabin at 3pm.   

Despite the rain, we took the 1.8 mi round trip hike back to the Sol Duc falls and they were spectacular – very different than the Merrymere falls.  They split into 3 different parts and even the kids loved it, despite much complaining prior to the beginning of the hike.  

We got back to our cabin at 5:00, changed into our suits and finally got into the hot springs pools.  There were four pools in total, one of which was closed off.  Of the remaining three, two were hot springs fed and one was a regular 77 degree chlorine pool – freezing.  The two hot springs pools were packed with people of all types.  It was like sitting with a bunch of half-naked people at a UN meeting, complete with the Grandma to my left who clearly just said “screw it” and sat in her black Platex bra.  

I didn’t care for the experience much but the kids liked it a lot.  We all showered up in cabin 101, directly to the right of the lodge, and ate dinner in the lodge.  It was sufficient.  

After that it was to bed.  Grant and I were out by 8:00 and Ryan (who was just about to finish Harry Potter 3) and Nick (reading “A Pirate Looks at Fifty”) by 9:00.  What could have been a rained out, miserable day, turned out okay.