Rain Forest- Lake Quinault

The Rain Forest Resort Village is on lovely Lake Quinault. There are cabins, an inn and rv spots. We had stayed here on a vacation before and knew how nice it was. The best stop is the one closest to the water with an uninterrupted view of the lake. When we got there , that spot and the ones next to it were taken but they were smaller units and so we still had a little view. Then the next morning some of the people left. The couple in the second spot had moved their car into the prime spot but told us they were getting ready to do some hiking and then were leaving. Long story short we got the prime spot. YEAH!!! Last time we were here we were afraid the trees were too low for our MH and took the next spot. There was only one other person there and they were at the other end. So we had a great view and decided to stay another day. We went out kayaking and as we were coming back we saw another large motorhome driving around. There was no one else in the campground but us at that time. No, they parked in the prime spot and totally blocked out view of anything. This time, there was no hesitation, we pulled in our slides and moved over to the perfect spot.

 

Joe took some nice morning pictures. The water is like glass, so calm.

 

There are a number of hiking trails in this rain forest area. The Quinault Valley has six champion conifer trees that are recognized by the National Forestry Association as the largest specimens of their species. Only the redwoods and sequoias are taller. The largest Sitka Spruce in the world is right by our campground. The Western Red Cedar, Mountain Hemlock, and Douglas Fir(co champ) are also the largest in the World and the Western Hemlock and Yellow Cedar are the largest in the US. How cool.

We are in the national forest area, not the national park itself and so this area is pet friendly and so Savannah can go on all the trails. Yippee she barks.

We did our first hike on the Rain Forest Trail.

 

 

 

The forest is just beautiful with almost no ground that is not covered with ferns, moss covered plants and trees, other than the trail itself. There are also streams and even rainfalls, which we will see on another day's hike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are downed trees everywhere. I was surprised that winds caused the majority of deaths in this rain forest.

 

 

Note a tree growing out of a tree stump. Nurse trees are fast growing large trees that protect smaller trees and plants as they grow. When the nurse tree dies and decays, it provides nutrition and shelter to help these other trees grow. No trees are removed when they die and so the forest continues to be dense with plants.

We liked the below saying which were found on our hike. It reflects our belief system.

Back home and we enjoy our beautiful view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Water Falls and Hiking in Silver Falls State Park

Silver Falls is the largest state park in Oregon and I think one of the busiest. As I mentioned before,, I was able to get one of the few sites available. We are in one of the only sites right out in the open as most sites are tucked away in the trees.

 

 

We have been here a few times and love it. This is the first time in the summer busy season and it is certainly that. We have seen more families with lots of children than anywhere else we have been. However, it is not particularly noisy. Silver Falls is a beautiful state park with 10 waterfalls, a temperate rain forest of Douglas firs and western hemlocks, creeks, including a swimming beach area, meadows. There are more than 22 miles of hiking and a 4 mile bike trail and even an off leash pet area. WOW, no wonder it is so busy, besides being about 30 miles from Salem and about an hour's drive from Portland. We took hikes on all 3 full days we were here. We started off taking a hike on a trail right near our campsite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Streams and moss on the trees and plants and flowers everywhere. This trail wasn't the one I thought it was and so after walking for awhile we turned around and headed back. It turned out it was the nature trail and if we kept going it looped around. Anyway, we went back to the MH and got the map. Actually we had a few maps and they didn't seem to list the same trails, but we figured out which way we wanted to go. We headed through the campground and towards the pet area and the lodge.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the swimming area.

 

We stopped at the dog park area. It is not fenced in but is just a big meadow area. We let Savannah off her leash. There was another dog there. It was a 11 week old puppy that was already a little bigger than Savannah. At first Savannah was shy and hiding under the picnic table but soon she was running around being chased by the puppy which she loves. I was so busy watching them and talking to the owner of the puppy that I forgot to take any pictures. Errr!! We walked back to the campground and sat out for awhile doing some reading. Weather is nice, just right for hiking and relaxing as it is not too hot or too cold.

 

The next day we went straight back towards the lodge and the south falls area. I love those mossy trees.

 

Below is a gift shop and there is also a lodge with another small gift shop and cafe near by.

 

 

Below is the map showing where the waterfalls are located.

We checked out the South Falls waterfall from above. Dogs are not allow to walk down the trail that goes all the way to the bottom of the waterfall. We did that our last time here. In fact we took the trails around about 5 of the trails then. That was a long hike with lots of up and down the hills. That was a workout for sure.

 

 

 

 

Savannah would have liked to take the trail. Why our humans so silly to not let dogs go on all the trails she thinks.

 

Later in the afternoon, we took a drive to Silverton as we needed a few things at the store. On the way, we passed the many Christmas tree farms we remembered from being here before. Another beautiful drive.

 

 

 

Wednesday was another day for hiking. We drove over to the trail head at Winter Falls. We planned to hike to the North Falls Viewpoint, about a mile one way. Not sure what happen to the Winter Falls. It is one of the bigger falls but didn't seem to be flowing for some reason. We hiked the beautiful trail through the rain forest.

 

 

 

I am not knowledgable about mushrooms and so don't know if this is edible or not. A pretty mushroom however.

 

Hey, I want to go swimming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

North Falls is one of the largest waterfalls at 136 feet. There is a huge grotto behind the waterfall. We are on the dog friendly rim trail, but the trails down to the various waterfalls are not unfortunately, At least we got a good view from above.

 

 

We had some snacks at the North Falls trail head and then headed back. Another great hike under our belt.

We had a good time here at Silver Falls and it is certainly a place we will return to when we are up in the area again.

Our next stop is Cathlamet, Washington and then back towards the coast of Washington and the Olympic Park area.

Stay tuned.

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