We woke up to a beautiful morning at Klahanie campground. The air was cool but the sun was nice and warm. We could tell it was going to be the perfect day for a beach hike. We made coffee and heated up the leftovers from our huge breakfast the day before. We both could have sat there much longer enjoying the beautiful view and the warm sun but we did want to see the beach so we packed up and headed to Rialto Beach.

The hike to Hole in the Wall ( a really cool sea stack) on Rialto Beach is an easy 1.5 miles each way. The beach was rocky but the hard packed sand near the water was very pleasant to walk on. It was warm and sunny with a cool ocean breeze coming off the water. The view of the Pacific Ocean and the sea stacks in the distance was incredible.

Once we got to Hole in the Wall, we enjoyed looking at the various creatures in the tide pools that had formed around the sea stacks.

After our hike, we headed to nearby La Push which is home to the Quileute tribe. For Twilight Fans, this is where the character of Jacob, the werewolf, lived. We checked out the beautiful beach there then went to River’s Edge Restaurant for a late lunch. Francis enjoyed a salmon burger and I had a delicious bowl of clam chowder. Even if the food had not been good, the view from the window would have made it worth it.

After lunch, we decided it was time to find a place for the night. We had enjoyed the two DNR campsites we had stayed in and those are free for anyone who has the annual Discover Pass so we decided to check out the ones closer to the Hoh Rainforest section of the park. We came to the Minnie Peterson Campground first. There was only one site left so we decided to take it before someone else did. We planned to make it our home base for the weekend so we set up the big tent for a change. By the time we had everything in the tent, the sun was going down and the air was turning cold so we headed in for the night.

We woke up to a very cool morning that kept us in the tent until after 10:00 am. We decided to head straight to Forks for coffee and to use the laundromat rather than making breakfast at camp. Neither of us is fond of the cold which makes those chilly fall mornings a bit of a problem for us.

After about an hour at the laundromat, our next stop was Forks Visitor Center to take advantage of the free wi-fi so Francis could complete some work for a client. It was surprisingly busy at the Visitor Center. It turns out it was the birthday of the Twilight main character, Bella, so there were special activities going on. For $100 dollars you could buy a ticket to the Twilight Dance that evening. Lots of Twilight souvenirs are available for purchase as well. I enjoyed seeing how excited people were about it all.

Work completed, our next stop was the Hoh Rainforest section of Olympic National Park. We hiked two short trails right next to the visitors center. The Spruce Trail was a little over a mile and takes you along the river. The Mossy Trail is a little under a mile and goes up a little higher into an older section of the forest. The diversity of the plant life and the sheer size of the trees is incredible. It is amazing to me how much there is to see in this one park.

Back at our campsite, we had just enough time to cook some dinner before the evening cool down kicked in. This time we were smart enough to bring the comforter from the car into the tent to warm things up a bit.