Lake Quinault

 We treated ourselves to a night at Lake Quinault Lodge and two days of hiking.

A view of Lake Quinault on arrival before we start our first hike

Lush forest and streams throughout the 5 mile Quinault Loop trail

climbing higher above the lake

The trail through the rain forest is so very lush

Happy hikers in the drizzle

Little waterfalls everywhere

magnificent old growth spruce, cedar and hemlock

Coming down to complete the loop and check into our room.

The next day:

The next morning we head out to another trailhead and come upon a herd of Roosevelt Elk.

We've backpacked and hiked over 100 trails in the Olympics but this is a new one for us.

Starting out

The braided North Fork

All Old growth forest, smells wonderful

Kinikinik in bloom

Complete solitude makes for a happy hiker

The trail disappears in a  200 yard boulder field and we make cairns so we can find our way back.

Invisible trail in the boulder field

So happy to be hiking new trails

Thanks, Helen, for the inspiration.