On a recent vacation, we went back to revisit an old favorite of ours to which we had not been in over 30 years! Given how beautiful and unique it is, I would like to share it with you.
Photo: The front entrance to Lake Quinault Lodge.
From this picture, dear reader, you have a pretty good idea about how nice this lodge is to visit. Let's take a closer look ...
Lake Quinault Lodge
This lodge was built in 1926. As you drive up to it, you have a feeling of almost going back in time. There are accommodations available to you to enhance that feeling!
But before you even leave the front parking area to go into the lodge, you can't help but admire these incredibly beautiful flowers just outside one of the windows:
Photo: Beautiful hydrangeas just outside the front entrance to Lake Quinault Lodge.
We're not flower experts, but our first thought were these were specially cultivated just around the lodge to make it look nice. No! These flowers are all over around this lodge growing wild in the surrounding countryside!
Photo: The interior lobby of Lake Quinault Lodge (entrance door to the right,
patio doors out to the courtyard looking out on the lake to the left).
As you explore around inside, you find many examples of the massive timbers harvested from the surrounding forest to make the lodge. The combination of lumber and stone make it very memorable.
In the Roosevelt Restaurant, you can get some of the best seafood you've ever eaten. We especially liked the salmon, which our waiter said had been caught that morning in the nearby river!
Photo: Looking through the patio doors out to the courtyard and beyond to Lake Quinault.
We are not much for staying indoors, though, so out into the wonderful view of Lake Quinault:
Photo: The courtyard of Lake Quinault Lodge looking on out to Quinault Lake.
Words fail to adequately capture the peaceful tranquility of soaking up this view and watching the sun set on a glorious day in the Pacific Northwest. Especially after a wonderful meal at the Roosevelt Restaurant!
Surrounding Area
The Olympic Peninsula of Washington is the wettest part of the continental U.S. Only Hawaii has a wetter climate. Thankfully, we were there on one of the nice clear days with the sun out.
Down from the Olympic Range, the Quinault, which flows into and out of the lake, is only one of the many rivers which flows to the sea. Much of this area is protected by the Olympic National Park, inside which sits Lake Quinault Lodge.
As you might imagine, being in a rain forest, the trees in the surrounding area must be doing very well.
Well, as a matter of fact, yes they are!
Source: Lake Quinault activities on "Valley of the Giants" page.
In the Quinault River valley, there are six "world record" trees! Here is one of them:
Photo: The world's largest Sitka Spruce at the eastern edge of Quinault Lake.
Note its size compared to the man standing at its base to the right.
Photo: Sign at the base of the world's largest Sitka Spruce.
If the reader looks carefully, you'll note there is a good reason for this area to have some of the world's largest trees. For over 1,000 years, they've been soaking up an average annual rainfall of 12 feet! That oughta do it!!
Moving on up into the Quinault River valley, for the hardy souls who originally settled this area, can you imagine the effort needed to clear away the forest to "carve out" a living in this valley?
Photo: Farm to the east of Lake Quinault.
Having grown up where irrigation is just a way of life for the farming community, here they certainly don't have any need to concern themselves with that particular daily chore. I would imagine, though, they have some "special" ones of their own living where there is so much rainfall!
Once the road ends going up into the rain forest, the adventurous outdoorsman is greeted with this:
Photo: At the end of the road and across a foot bridge, the hiker sees this sign for all of the available options.
Note the woman up the trail compared to the size of the tree to her right!
We had not come prepared to do any camping overnight, so we only went a little further into the rain forest and marveled at how quiet it was. So much vegetation deadens the sound of just about everything around you, including the nearby river.
Photo: The Quinault River flowing west down out of the Olympic Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.
All along the road back to the Lodge, the traveler is greeted with breathtaking views of the Quinault River, waterfalls coming down from tributaries flowing into it, and just the all-around magical experience of being in a rain forest.
If you ever make it this far away from it all, make sure and leave time to visit the ocean. A very short drive away is the wild coast of the open Pacific. Don't need to bother bringing your swimsuit, unless you are an incredibly hardy specimen, as the water is just too cold. We took "ankle selfies" of bravely taking our shoes and socks off and wading out into the surf. Once it washed up over our feet and started up our ankles, we'd had enough! 😊
Wonderful though to simply visit, listen to the matchless sounds of the sea, and admire the scenery!
Thank you for reliving this special memory with us. If this post has inspired you to add this great part of America to your "bucket list," more information can be found here on the official Olympic National Park & Forest website dedicated to it or here on a website giving the reader more info about the surrounding area and its history.
Posted using Busy.org and immutably “enshrined in the blockchain” on Saturday, 1 September 2018!
[Image Sources: Unless otherwise indicated, my trusty smartphone!]