Olympic Peninsula Trip - Day Four - Maple Glade Rain Forest Trail

Wednesday, September 20, 2017 (Part One)
Day Trips: Olympic National Park - Maple Glade Rain Forest Trail

The Quinault River Inn (with its five RV spaces) is on the edge of a residential area and I spotted this bus waiting for the kids when I woke up and peered out the back window. It felt a little odd "camping" so close to these houses, but it was quiet in the evening so no complaints from us. 

It was chilly in the trailer, so I turned up the heater and made coffee. Another beautiful morning by the river.

Here's a shot of our campsite. Nice level gravel pad with some grassy areas and a picnic table.

Our neighbors on one side left after breakfast, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves for our final day.

After breakfast and puttering around, we drove over to the North Shore and stopped at the Quinault River Ranger Station. It was getting warm in the sun and the sky was full of beautiful white clouds against the bright blue sky. Thankfully, we didn't see a single cougar or bear! (Probably a good thing since I forgot the bear spray and bear bells* in the trailer.)

The fall colors were just beginning to appear. Another week or so and I suspect this view will look a little bit like New England.

The Maple Glade Rain Forest Trail is a well-maintained half-mile loop in a gorgeous glade. The bigleaf maples look as if they're dripping with moss and the ground is covered with enormous ferns. We pretty much had the trail to ourselves, passing only two couples heading the other direction. This lush forest reminded me of a couple of scenes from Star Wars and I kept expecting to see Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia fly past me on a speeder bike; either that or a group of Ewoks and Stormtroopers!

*For more about bear bells, click here. The jury's still out.

Click on the photos for a larger view of the image.