Enjoying the Great Outdoors in Olympic National Park

Posted on June 9, 2023 by

37 Comments

When I stepped outside this morning, the air was fresh and cool, mingled with the fragrance of evergreen trees, summer was in the air and it reminded me of our camping days.

Waking up in the middle of the forest,

to a roaring fire,

and having that first cup of coffee which somehow tastes better in the woods.

Our camping days seem to be over since we sold our last rig a couple of years ago. Before then we managed to camp all across the country, as far away as the Badlands in South Dakota, the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, and the Adirondacks in New York.

But most of our trips were in the national parks of the west including Redwoods, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and of course the three in Washington State – North Cascades, Mt. Rainier, and Olympic National Park, possibly my favorite. So that’s where I’ll focus this post, starting with Mora, a remote campground in the northern coastal section of Olympic National Park.

Here we were surrounded by dense rainforest, dripping with moss,

and discovered Rialto Beach,

and were enchanted with its ghost logs and giant seastacks.

I do miss camping!! But fortunately, we can still enjoy the same gorgeous landscape with far less trouble, by staying in lodges like this one at Lake Quinault.

Where we still wake up to views like this,

and walk through splendid rain forest trails like this.

So even though the tents and trailers are gone, our experience in the Great Outdoors lives on.

Sharing with Sunday Stills.

~ Susanne

Category: National Parks, TravelTags: , , , , , , ,

37 Comments on “Enjoying the Great Outdoors in Olympic National Park”

  1. Wow, I love how beautiful these places are! Your photos are very beautiful, Susanne. Camping can be a bit of a pain, the last time I slept in a tent was in the 1970s!

    • Thanks for your comment, John. We decided it was much easier and far more comfortable to stay in motels and lodges. But even so, I still miss camping sometimes. 🙂

      • I understand, back in the day my dad and I went up north Michigan to ride our dirt bikes with his buddies, we stayed in a motorhome. They are nice but not as nice as a full-size bed and more. 😊

  2. Nice photos. That was a cute little camper.

  3. Pingback: Sunday Stills: June is Great #Outdoors Month – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives

  4. Your idea of the great outdoors is amazing! I guess I didn’t realize you sold your RV, Susanne! I would love to visit the three NPs in Washington! Olympic looks so gorgeous with the combination of the mountains, pine forests, and the ocean. As long as we can mix up camping in the RV with staying in motels, we’re fine for now. We bought our trailer specifically for our weekends at the Sacramento delta, but once we moved, we haven’t used it as much. KOA fees have gone up but are still cheaper than many hotels so far.

    • We sold our little R-Pod after our last trip in 2020. I loved camping but most of the work fell on Bob. And we found it so much easier and more comfortable to stay in a hotel or lodge. Fortunately, there are some nice ones in most of the national parks, though no doubt it’s more expensive than camping. But honestly, I still miss being able to wake up in the woods with a campfire. *sigh*

  5. The Olympics are gorgeous and a great place for camping and hiking. I used to go backpacking and camping, then driving and camping. These days, I’m a day hiker, which is just fine here. I know what you mean about missing aspects of camping though.

    • So true. The Olympics are special. Bob was a backpacker but I only did car camping. These days we use lodges and motels to stay in when we explore the area, which is much more comfortable. I still wish we could do both, but it was time to move on.

  6. Hi Susanne
    What beautiful photos! Last time we tried to go on a budget for a week to the South Island of New Zealand (we were living on the North Island), we managed two nights in the camper before we decided we would find a nice AirBnB in the Marlborough Sounds instead LOL – I guess our camping days are over!
    Thanks for the gorgeous photos!
    ~ Christine

  7. What wonderful places you have camped! I love the shots of the tall trees dwarfing the camper 😮 We loved Olympic NP too, and although we didn’t camp there we certainly experienced the great outdoors. Rialto Beach was amazing (thank you for taking me back there!) and although we stayed in a different lodge at Lake Quinault (further up the road) we got views very like yours – and even stopped for breakfast in the lodge you picture 🙂

    • Thanks, Sarah. I never get tired of Olympic National Park. So much natural beauty, with so much variety! Rialto remains one of my favorite beaches and Lake Quinault is my new favorite place to stay, but Lake Crescent is wonderful, too!

  8. I hadn’t realised that you had sold your tiny caravan, Susanne. Nice photographic memories of your past trips.
    Best wishes, Pete.

  10. Loved these images! We’re like you, we like staying in hotels and lodges these days. I think our camping days are over. Such beautiful photos Susanne. Have you considered publishing a book of stories and images? I’m thinking coffee table book! Hugs, C

    • Thanks so much, Cheryl! Publishing a book, huh? Seems rather daunting though I have toyed with the idea, of either cat stories, or nature photos. Congratulations to you for doing it! How did you even know where to begin? Are there resources you would recommend?

      • I decided I was going to self-publish on Amazon and went about putting a manuscript together of popular posts and ones that told my story. Then I had it professionally edited. One night on a whim I dashed out a query letter, attached a few essays and sent it to three publishers who were taking unsolicited manuscripts that I saw listed on a blog. One rejected, one never responded, and one wrote back that night. He said you have something here that I think is publishable, it’s not for my publishing house but here are links to three publishers that accept memoir style novels. Give them a try. I did. Black Rose took the bait and I had a contract within a month. It was fast. I’m learning a lot but it was good to go with a publisher the first time because I had no idea what I was doing. Thank about sending a story, a few photos and a query (a summary of your idea for a book) to a few publishers and see what happens. xxoo

  12. I’ve only briefly visited the Pacific Northwest but I loved it. Thank you for sharing your pictures!

  13. I didn’t realize that you had sold that last cute trailer. We too have gone to hotels now instead of camping. I have wonderful memories of camping in Oregon when the population was so much smaller and the places uncrowded and quiet with just tents in most places. No electricity, no flush toilets, just fishing and camp fires and running around with siblings and other kids we met each time.

    • Yes, we did many years of basic camping, then upgraded to truck campers and ended with our little r-pod. We loved it all, but finally found vacations in the wilderness could be more comfortably enjoyed in rustic lodges or nearby motels. Even so, I sometimes miss camping.

  14. Hi Susanne, I booked Olympic camping for September this year, I am really looking forward to see it . The Lodge looks awesome, I feel like upgrading my reservation.

    • Camping is fun but we’ve moved on to lodges! 🙂 We love to stay at Lake Quinault Lodge and Lake Crescent Lodge/cabins. Both are so popular during the summer so it’s probably too late to upgrade. But just being there is wonderful. The campgrounds are great.

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