Beaches and Rain Forests in Olympic National Park
by Christian
Monday, July 8th
We spent the day in Olympic National Park today. We set off from the house near Port Angeles to drive to Rialto Beach - over 1 hour and 30 minutes. We had to arrive at low tide so we could see the tide pools. When we were walking along the beach, Penelope, Rex and I were climbing on these trees washed up on the beach, we heard my mom calling, "We need to hurry so we can see the tide pools." It was a two-mile hike each way along the beach. We played the Superhero game. In some places on the beach, there were lots of big rocks while other places there was black sand with little rocks. There were big trees along the whole thing.
When we got to the end - to a place called Hole-in-the-Rock, we found a bunch of tide pools. Penelope, Rex and I went exploring inside the hole-in-the rock first. They were really cool. There were tons of barnacles and muscles. We were looking around for more interesting things when Penelope showed me she had caught a hermit crab. It didn't even pinch her at all. It was fun to watch. We went out further in the tidepools and saw lots of starfish. Most of them were either purple or orange. Rex thought the white lines on the first starfish we found were nets and he said, "Why are they covered in nets?" But it wasn't nets. We also saw lots of sea anemones. They were really colorful-weird shades of green that I had never seen before. On the hike back we didn't have to hurry so much. We climbed on the logs and played in the water until my mom said we had to move. We saw another otter swimming in the ocean while we hiked.
Some starfish we found in the tidepools
After our beach hike, we drove one hour to the Hoh Rain Forest. We did two hikes there. On the first hike, I was really looking for banana slugs. When I found one of them, it was on the ground. Penelope picked it up. Taylor was grossed out and wanted her to put it back. There lots of weird moss-covered trees on the hike and the forest was very thick. We did the Hall of Mosses hike and something like the Spruce Wood Trail. They were both pretty short.
It was a really fun day. I especially liked seeing the animals in the tide pools and the banana slugs on the hike.
Monday, July 8th
We spent the day in Olympic National Park today. We set off from the house near Port Angeles to drive to Rialto Beach - over 1 hour and 30 minutes. We had to arrive at low tide so we could see the tide pools. When we were walking along the beach, Penelope, Rex and I were climbing on these trees washed up on the beach, we heard my mom calling, "We need to hurry so we can see the tide pools." It was a two-mile hike each way along the beach. We played the Superhero game. In some places on the beach, there were lots of big rocks while other places there was black sand with little rocks. There were big trees along the whole thing.
When we got to the end - to a place called Hole-in-the-Rock, we found a bunch of tide pools. Penelope, Rex and I went exploring inside the hole-in-the rock first. They were really cool. There were tons of barnacles and muscles. We were looking around for more interesting things when Penelope showed me she had caught a hermit crab. It didn't even pinch her at all. It was fun to watch. We went out further in the tidepools and saw lots of starfish. Most of them were either purple or orange. Rex thought the white lines on the first starfish we found were nets and he said, "Why are they covered in nets?" But it wasn't nets. We also saw lots of sea anemones. They were really colorful-weird shades of green that I had never seen before. On the hike back we didn't have to hurry so much. We climbed on the logs and played in the water until my mom said we had to move. We saw another otter swimming in the ocean while we hiked.
Here I am on Rialto Beach
After our beach hike, we drove one hour to the Hoh Rain Forest. We did two hikes there. On the first hike, I was really looking for banana slugs. When I found one of them, it was on the ground. Penelope picked it up. Taylor was grossed out and wanted her to put it back. There lots of weird moss-covered trees on the hike and the forest was very thick. We did the Hall of Mosses hike and something like the Spruce Wood Trail. They were both pretty short.
In the Hoh Rainforest
There were lots of trees covered in moss
It was a really fun day. I especially liked seeing the animals in the tide pools and the banana slugs on the hike.
What a fun time you are having. Thanks for sharing, Christian.
ReplyDeleteGood job doing all the hiking. You saw so much marine life at the tide pools! When he was in college for two summers Grandpa studied at University of Delaware's marine laboratories. Grandpa thought about becoming a marine biologist. When your dad was on his mission we took our other three children to Olympic National Park and went in the rain forest. I remember it being humid. The University of California at Santa Cruz's mascot is the banana slug.
ReplyDeleteMuch love, Grandma Huber
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