Olympic National Park

It was a nice clear day, so we set off to visit the Olympic National Park.  On the way we noticed this Elk Crossing sign was flashing, indicating one was nearby but we never saw it.

We went through a series of tunnels on our way up the hill.  I can't believe the number of people who were biking up here.  There are some very fit people in this area.

The Olympics were set aside as a national monument in 1909 and further protected as Olympic National Park in 1938.  Today the park is internationally recognized as as Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, testimony to its rich resources.  Nearly one million acres on the Olympic Peninsula are protected as wilderness, 95 percent of Olympic National Park.  Let's just say this place is ginormous, okay?

Not sure why this looks so blue, but it shows the glaciers at the top

One of the many mule deer we encountered

We arrived on the Free National Park Day, much to our surprise and I'm sure this is why it was much busier than I had expected.  We would have gotten in free anyway with our Senior Pass...it's good to be old.

I can see people at the top...we're getting closer to Hurricane Ridge!

The day was perfectly clear and we were able to see much of the mountain range on our hike.

This slice of a 650 year old tree shows an interesting history.  The first marker to the far left is the birth of the tree, the third one from the left shows when the Mayflower landed.  Oh, if this tree could talk.

A nice view of the fall color on both sides of the road below.

After lunch the clouds started to roll in, but to me that just added to the beauty and mystic of the place.

Since options are limited due to the sheer size of this place, we decided to visit Hurricane Ridge for the best overall views it had to offer.

Later in our trip we will be entering from the west side to go into the Hoh Rainforest...that part I'm especially thrilled about and can hardly wait.  But, I've learned to just savor each thing we are seeing at the time.

Long Live the Queen of the Mountains