{18aug2011: Olympic Peninsula part 2}

See part 1 of our Olympic Peninsula vacation here.
After a good dinner (grilled steak, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli - yes, Darwin had some too) and a good breakfast (thick butcher bacon, rice and eggs - yes, Darwin had some too) we headed out for a day of hiking. There's a fine line between the Olympic National Forest and the Olympic National Park, and dogs are only allowed in very limited areas in the National Park so to stay safe we went over to the Quinault Rain Forest (about a 45 min drive from Pacific Beach) and found a good 4-5 mile loop hike to start the day.
Along the trail there were a bunch of wild golden raspberries growing so we all sampled a few (yes, Darwin too).

One of Darwin's favorite things about hiking is wooden bridges to cross. Whenever we approach one she loves to run ahead (she usually sticks right behind the leader unless she knows where we're going) and run back and forth over them.
 
Although it was misty and overcast, it was still beautiful hiking through the forest.
 
As we were walking out of the forest area and towards Quinault Lake, I made a great find.
 
A four leaf clover! We were walking along and I was saying, do people actually find four leaf clovers, and all of a sudden I spotted one! I do think it brought me luck because as we were driving around later in the day I was the only one in the car to spot a black bear along the side of the road!
After the trail through the forest ended we connected to a trail that went by the lake edge. You know what that means for Dar.
 
The Quinault Rain Forest is home to the world's largest Sitka Spruce. As we were driving to see it there was a sudden downpour... like one minute outside of the car and you were soaked down to your socks. The sign said it was only .2 miles to see it so we decided to chance it (we left Darwin in the car for this). Jason and I ran in the downpour, I could not help but laugh hysterically the whole time. I didn't want to chance getting my camera wet so it stayed behind in the car so no pictures. After looking at the tree for a second we ran back. By the time we got back to the car (at the most 6 minutes round trip) the rain had stopped. hahaha.
We headed back to Pacific Beach after driving around for a bit and while Jason's mom and I checked out the few shops in town, Jason and his dad took Darwin back to the beach.
 
On Sunday morning we cleaned up the place and loaded up the car to go. I took Darwin for one last romp on the beach. She managed to find a dog to play chase with for a little bit (after one loop of chase she was tired and when the other dog came back she walked away - hahaha).
 
We were planning to make one more stop for a hike on the way home, but all the driving of the weekend (we filled up the tank two times during the three days) and we were all tired and ready to get back to Seattle (it was a 3 hour + drive from Pacific Beach to Seattle). It was a fun weekend and we plan to go back out to the coast soon!