Lake Crescent and Hoh Rainforest

Highway 101 starts in Los Angeles and often runs along the coast on thru Oregon but after reaching Washington the road is predominately inland and wraps around the Olympic Peninsula back to I-5 at Olympia. We have spent considerable time driving on 101 in both the motorhome and the car and found it to vary from congested heavily traveled multi-laned freeway to a narrow winding road. Highway 101 is the road that crosses the Golden Gate Bridge and also winds along the shore of Lake Crescent in the Olympic National Park. On Tuesday we had another good weather day and drove the car on Highway 101 along the shore of Lake Crescent over to the Hoh Rainforest.

Highway 101 winds along the shore of Lake Crescent

Lake Crescent is the second deepest lake in the state of Washington. The water is clear and blue because a lack of nitrogen in the water prevents the growth of algae. The lake is entirely in the Olympic National Park but there are a few private property owners along some of the shore line that were grandfathered when the park was established in 1938. These property owners are allowed to transfer ownership of their property keeping it in the private sector. An interesting bit of history is that in 1928 a young couple, Russell and Blanch Warren disappeared while driving their 1927 Chevrolet from Port Angeles to Fork, where they lived in a logging community. It was always suspected that their vehicle left the road in a curve and they drowned in the lake. That suspicion was proven true in 2002 when the couple's car was found in the lake in about 170 feet of water. Here are a few links for those interested in the story.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/car-mystery-solved-after-72-years/

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Divers-bring-1929-mystery-of-missing-couple-1146315.php

http://liztribediving.ca/whats-happening/trip-reports/warren-steele-cars-lake-crescent-washington/

The following link is one I created and only assume it is near the point where the car went in the lake at Mile Marker 223.
https://tinyurl.com/yb4t9ym7

Lake Crescent as seen from a pullout viewpoint

The western side of Olympic National Park receives an average annual rainfall of around 150 inches resulting in rainforests in a region abundant with conifer trees. When we think of a rainforest we usually think of the jungles of South America filled with tropical birds and monkeys swinging from one tree to the next.  The Pacific Northwest with forests filled with large conifer trees and a thriving lumber industry does not popup in my mind. Quite a distance down 101 from Lake Crescent is the Hoh Rainforest. Some of you may know about the "Senior Pass" issued by the National Park Service to citizens 62 years of age or older. I beat a path up to National Park Headquarters in Gatlinburg to purchase mine for $10 on my sixty second birthday. We understand it cost more now and I think we paid $20 for Pam's. With the pass you get half price on campsites and free entry to National Parks and National Forests. That puppy has paid for itself many times over. We were shocked to see the cost for a vehicle to enter the Hoh Rainforest was $30 but the pass got us in for free. I have a saying that the only good thing about getting old is you can watch a movie you haven't seen in 5 years and it is like watching it again for the first time. Well, I forget about the Senior Pass.

Some of the trees are large - notice Pam standing at the base

The atmosphere of the Hoh Rainforest is so fertile that some plants thrive from only the air and rain. Most of the trees are host to at least one plant and even dead trees and limbs are covered with moss living off the atmosphere.

Moss growing on dead branches

The tall trees rob the sunlight from the forest below them but low light plants thrive underneath their canopy.

Low light plants flourish beneath the tall trees

Here is this land of conifer trees you don't expect to see maple trees, much less maple trees with hanging moss.

Hanging moss growing on maple trees