Olympic National Park - The Coast

Next stop for us was the Coast! Mora and La Push beaches and camping at Mora Campground. We mostly hiked Rialto Beach, out past Hole-in-the-Wall for lots of tide pooling! The photo above in the start, where the parking lot is and the point way out there, with sea stacks isn't even all the way! You can also continue north past Hole-in-the-Wall for backpacking; yet another thing for the 'next time!' list. If you want to hike the beaches remember to check the tide chart - we just made it in time!

While we were just hanging around on the beach, all of a sudden this little deer popped out and made for the tide pools! Definitely something I've never seen before and I'm really curious what he was munching on out there!

On the way back we crossed a stream and decided to follow that until it led us to this little freshwater (freeeeeezewater!) lake. I say lake because it was freakishly deep and definitely would have been awesome to jump into had it not been so cold! "You didn't expect me to be jumping into every body of water we came across!" No, I definitely did not and our guest definitely swam in here, burr!!! I posted up on these logs were completely grown over with grasses and flowers, this one ^ was like a faerie pride rock, hee!

At La Push beach there are some larger, closer sea stacks and I just had to know if they could be accessed! I walked all the way to the tip of the jetty to determine this - and when I say walk, I mean I had to hop from rock to rock to log to rock like a spazzy mini Mario. The other awesome thing was that every crevice of the jetty was covered in starfish!! AHHH!!! Don't worry I restrained my photo dump. 

From the point of the jetty looking back

View off the jetty

Olympic National Park - Hoh Rainforrest

Summer is defnintely on! We finally had our first guest out to the PNW and we all decided to go to Olympic National Park for some much needed adventure! It was amazing. We spent the first afternoon hiking in the Hoh Rainforest and hung out on the river all evening hunting elk tracks. 

Totally crossed this log ^^^ and only had a mild heart attack. One of our party actually forded the river which was impressive - IT'S FREEZING! The river beds are fun to explore, as the water levels recede it reveals sand pits and fun little worlds. Here a new river is rising, a moss river!

When I'm camping or hiking I like to leave a rock tower or pile or something - something to inconspicuously mark that connection you have made with where you are and what is surrounding you. After I made my tower,  I was super excited to come across these two markings left by someone else! They were very 'Andy Goldsworthy' so I couldn't pass them by! 

Hoh Rainforest Rundown:

Camping - This is a great place to camp especially if your arriving later in the day, but don't plan on getting a waterfront spot, those usually go first! I've now camped at the Hoh Campground twice; all campsites are in old growth forest. The A loop has larger, more open spots great for multiple tents and also better river access, the B loop has smaller, more secluded spots - by this I mean your totally surrounded by ferns and moss covered trees (so it can be a little wet!). Definitely a great stopover. 

Hikes - There are 3 rainforest walks at this location which total less than 3 miles round trip of easy hiking (hence why its easy to arrive later and leave early). Next time I'd like to tackle the Hoh River Trail, a 17.4 mile hike out to Glacier Meadows that begins here. 

Snail Mail #3

This package was too long overdue! When I first started working at Nature's Twist I immediately thought of this friend and had been waiting for the right piece for her, and it ended up being labradorite!  Normally I would mosaic or sticker a jewelry box but since this piece was special I thought it should have it's own box. These wooden boxes are 1$ at craft stores and can be painted, mosaic-ed, stained, whatever your hearts desire or covered in fabric like I chose to do this time. You can buy cheap fabric squares at the craft store or use scraps!

I took out the screws and wrapped the box like a present, using Mod Podge to secure and cover. The only problem I ran into is that the box has a hard time shutting now that there are two layers of fabric in the middle but it looks pretty! I took one picture of the pendant with flash and one without, trying to capture the coloring in the stone but it's difficult to capture the iridescence of labradorite! Let me just say this piece is ten times more beautiful in person! Of course, another funny address label and an Oscar Wilde card to inspire - 'Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.'  Happy Birthday!! 

This Beautiful Place: Deception Falls Pt 2

Here is the second photo dump from the Deception Falls hike! I allllmost didn't cross this bridge! It was very difficult to take pictures on it so I mostly shot blindly while death gripping the railing up to my elbow. Both the falls and the hike were incredibly beautiful. One thing I loved and couldn't get over were the skunk cabbages!! Skunk cabbage, lysichiton americanus, is known for having the largest leaves - two feet wide and four feet tall! Cresting a incline to see a miniature valley of these abnormally large, vivid green plants just feel magically prehistoric!

 

Cute ferns!

All rolled up!

 

Skunk cabbage plus foot for reference 

 

Some beautiful coloring and forest patterns!

Looking at the path ahead

I made a blurry gif! River from the bridge!

Bits of Floral, Bits of Blue

Sometimes I don't know what to say for myself in regards to fashion - or even that I should. Occasionally even my family/friends don't respond well to my own style, I believe the words 'overboard' and 'wacky' have been used - but that's ok! I just have to laugh about it. I don't have any inclination to one specific fashion style or trend I just wear what I want, what I like and more often than not it reflects how I'm feeling that day. Today I guess I felt floral. Hee. 

This outfit started with the shorts, then followed the tights (personal challenge:shorts w/o tights) and with floral on the mind I figured why not go all out? I'd been dying to wear this newly thrifted tank, floral, and my orange cosmos necklace. I know I probably lost everyone at the bag, earring, bracelet, ring combo but I think the only thing I would change is the shoes, not my favorite with this outfit and if I wore it to work I'd probably just wear tennies. My hamsa (protection symbol) ring really just needs to be worn on some days and this was one of them. I also thrifted this etched leather bag; my Mom has an amazing collection of etched leather, bags and belts and things, and I just couldn't pass up what a great deal this was. All in all, this outfit is giving me SMILES!

When is floral too much floral? And when is weird too weird? Seriously, is there a rule or something?!