Around the Park, Lake Cresent and Forks

 August 22, 2020 Saturday

After 5 days in Port Angeles it was time to check out and move on. I was glad to have the last of the bag-o-breakfasts, but I did accumulate a stash of granola bars. With the repacking and dragging our stuff down the stairs we did not leave until 10:30. With a full car battery drove west for half an hour on 101 to Lake Crescent. The drive along the southern shore of the lake was spectacular and the sparkling, turquoise waters showcased the beautiful lake waters. 

 At the lake parking lot I was delighted to find a charging station and after parking and plugging in we walked over to the Lake Crescent Lodge. Built by the Singer family at the mouth of Barnes Creek on the southern shore of the lake it opened in 1915 as Singer's Tavern with seven Lodge rooms and several cabins. It cost $50,000 to build and furnish and for the first 7 years guests arrived by ferry. When the Olympic Highway reached the area in 1922 most guests arrived by automobile. Over time the facility was expanded. President Roosevelt visited in 1937 and stayed at the Lodge shortly before Olympic National Park was created which encompassed the Lake Crescent area. The Lodge was privately owned until 1951 when the National Park Service purchased it and the surrounding property for $95,000 and has subsequently added additional cabins and motel type rooms. The Inn's lobby was not as spacious or decorative as other historic lodges I have scene in national parks, but it was visually pleasant.

We walked down to the beach and then out on to the pier. The water was very clear, due to the low levels of nitrogen, but very cold. People were in the water, but no one was swimming, just jumping in and getting out. Lots of boats on the lake. On the other side of the lake is the Spruce Railroad Trail. A rail line was built there in 1918 to haul lumber for the war effort, but the war ended shortly after it was completed. A fright line operated for a few years, but as logging was restricted, it was converted into a hiking trail.

 The lake was formed when a landslide from Olympic Mountain dammed up a glacier valley. A subsequent landslide divided the lake in two forming Lake Sutherland. The Indian legend says that Storm King Mountain God was mad at feuding Indian tribes so he threw a boulder into the lake killing many of the warriors and dividing the lake in two.

We took the Moments in Time Trail along the lakefront which lead to a self guided nature trail through the forest. It was very green with an open forest floor, flat and soft. Crossing route 101 we got on the Marymere Falls Trail. This took us a mile through an old growth forest with an elevation gain of 400 ft almost all at the end. The Falls is 90 ft high and had a good water flow. We ended up on an overlook almost at the level of the top of the Falls which provided us with close ups of its roar and abundant water spray.  Perhaps because it was a weekend, there were quite a few people on the trail. Very few were wearing masks.

We then walked back to the car which had by then received a substantial charge and bypassing the Sol  Duc Falls and accompanying hot mineral pools (No matter how much time I allot to these trips there never is enough. One day I am going to take a trip with no reservations and no plan.) due to lack of time and the fact that we have seen many waterfalls and been in a number of hot springs, we took off south on scenic 101for Forks. This is a small town, less than 4000 residents, that was formerly a major logging center, but now is the gateway to the entrances to both the western parts of the Park and its Pacific Coast beaches. 

Forks was named because it is near the confluence of the Bogachief, Calawah and Sol Duc Rivers which become the Quillayute River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. European settlers arrived in the area in the 1850s, but the first road was not built into the area until 1927 and it was not until 1931 when the Olympic Highway got there that there was effective land transportation into the town. With the decline of the logging industry, the major employers are two prisons and tourism. The latter got a major boost from the movie Twilight series which was based in the area, but largely not shot in the area. There is a twilight museum in town, along with a logging museum, but since the release of the first Twilight movie tourism has increased seven fold. I have not scene any of the Twilight films and have only the vaguest idea that they involve vampires.

There were not many restaurants in town. We ate an early dinner at Pacific Pizza on its outdoor patio. Very pleasant setting in the warm late afternoon sun and the food had generous portions and was a good value.  After eating we shopped at the local food market for our three day stay in Forks and then checked into the Olympic Suites Inn. I had looked for lodging in the morning and found few offerings. Very few Airbnbs and most of the hotels were either very high end or low end budget places, the former not worth it since we were not in the room most of the time and the latter too depressing for a 3 day stay. The Inn was an older, but well maintained property set in the woods next to a river. It was a two bedroom spacious unit with a well equipped kitchen, laundry facilities and a nice balcony. Easy to hang out there, watch the river go by and figure out the next days activities. As an added plus the desk clerk permitted me to drive the car around the back and charge it at a wall outlet. Slow charging, but adequate.