Washington 2024
Mark and I recently got back from Washington where we explored Olympic National Park and Mount Rainier National Park. This was a special trip in the sense that the topography, climate, and towns we were meandering through were changing everyday. We saw so many interesting creatures, ate fantastic food (even found some small town gems), learned so much in each area we were in, and hiked some beautiful trails. The Skyline Loop Trail in Mt. Rainier is one of the prettiest hikes I’ve ever done.
The trip started and finished in Seattle where we spent the first day doing all the tourist traps, but ended the trip exploring the surrounding neighborhoods and following local recommendations for food and activities. The Wallingford neighborhood was our favorite as the main street was lined with small shops & restaurants, and a really cool music venue that supports local musicians. We (half) kiddingly said that Wallingford is where we would live if we ever moved to Seattle.
DAY 1 | SEATTLE
We landed in Seattle at 8:30am (PDT) when the city was also starting its day. After we dropped off our luggage at the hotel, we walked to Pike Place Market and grabbed a quick bite at The Crumpet Shop since I had to appease my curiosity for what a crumpet tastes like. Glad we went, but unlikely that I’d go back as I wasn’t a big fan of what seems to be a fermented version of an english muffin. We explored many of the shops in the market, and if you’ve been to Pike Place, you know that this can easily take up an entire morning. If you’re looking for unique gifts and jewelry, Raven’s Nest is one of my favorite shops at Pike where they carry everything from fine jewelry to Alaskan ulu knives. We also stumbled upon Old Seattle Paperworks which carries replica vintage posters. Pike Place is the tourist mecca that I can’t seem to avoid when I’m in Seattle because there are so many interesting shops, sounds, and smells; the perpetual odor of fresh fish wafting around is part of its charm.
For lunch we decided to check out Athenian Seafood Restaurant that was featured in Sleepless in Seattle. We did not order Tom Hank’s bowl of clams, but we did order some fantastic Pacific Coast oysters paired with local beers and a view of the waterfront. This restaurant is quite big which is an advantage for wait times compared to smaller restaurants at Pike.
Local recommendations took us to Cinque Terre Ristorante located on the edge of Downtown for happy hour and dinner. Their happy hour menu is phenomenal with an extensive list of food and bar offerings being half off. The Frutti di mare (clam & mussel stew) was our favorite and their lasagna was also very good. After dinner, we walked a block down to The Spheres which was architecturally beautiful but was closed to the public at that time. We continued walking through Belltown until we reached the South Lake Union area which reminds me of Chicago’s West Loop.
DAY 2 | PORT ANGELES/OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
We got up early to kick off our 3 hour drive to Port Angeles, and to acquire food, snacks, etc. for the week ahead since we didn’t know how small (or large) the towns would be in the Olympic Peninsula. We arrived in Port Angeles just in time for brunch and decided on New Day Eatery on the main strip. This restaurant offers a good vegan/vegetarian menu if that’s your thing but if pastries are your jam, then this is the place. Upon walking in I stopped at the pastry displays after reading “champagne cake” and continued to ogle at the bread pudding croissants, espresso cake, etc. I ended up getting a chocolate turtle bread pudding croissant, and it’s something that I still fantasize about and will continue to fantasize about until I can find something similar in Chicago (and I’m not even a big sweets person!). Did we go back the next morning to get espresso cake? Sure did.
Unfortunately the weather in Port Angeles - and most of our time in Olympic National Park - was not ideal for scenery as it was mostly cloudy and intermittently drizzling. I didn’t realize how much it would impact our planned hikes until we were halfway up Hurricane Ridge and we cut the hike short because it was heavily overcast. I admit that I am highly motivated by views and the lazy person in me will not do any incline unless I can see the silhouette of a mountain. Mount Storm King was a hike that we really wanted to do, but decided that staying closer to the ground would give us better visibility. So, instead of the 2,000 elevation gain, we did the Spruce Railroad Trail that was a leisurely nature walk around the gorgeous aquamarine colored Lake Crescent.
DAY 3 | FORKS/OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
Olympic NP is one of the most diverse national parks that’s home to mountains, coastlines, and rainforests. That being said, it’s not advisable to stay in one town and highly suggest visiting all the different regions of the park. Even though there was still so much to do in Port Angeles, we continued our road trip to Forks to explore the Pacific coastline in La Push. Our first stop on our mini beach tour was Rialto Beach, seemingly to be the most popular beach in the area as the parking lot was mostly full by 9am. It was still low tide so we were able to see tide pools filled with starfish, crabs, anemones, and mussels and clams clinging to ocean rocks. I think the last time I saw starfish was on a 3rd grade field trip to the aquarium so you can only imagine my excitement to see so many of these creatures that you do not see in the midwest. We continued the walk on the beach to see Hole-in-the-Wall rock formation which I found personally anticlimactic. The photos make this rock appear much larger than it really is in real life. Second Beach offered better scenery than Rialto with less crowds and more tide pools (during low tide). We ended the day back at Rialto for sunset and beers.
After spending most of the day on the coast, we checked into our Airbnb in Forks and checked out the town’s one-stop shop that has a supermarket, sporting goods store, bakery/cafe, and Ace Hardware in one building. If you’re a fan of the movie, Twilight, this is also the town where most of the filming was done, and Forks doesn’t want you to forget it.
DAY 4 | FORKS/OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
We started our day early (most days that meant 7am because parking lots at popular trails can be full by 9am) and headed to the very popular Hoh Rainforest, one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S. and home to one of the quietest places in the world. The rainforest is overgrown with Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock with bundles of moss draped from their branches. The abundance of moss is actually the reason why the rainforest holds in so much moisture and is able to absorb sound. The Trail of Mosses is a popular hike albeit a very short hike. I would recommend the Hoh River Trail if you’re looking for less crowds and a more technical hike. Since the full Hoh River Trail is 17+ miles, it’s a versatile out and back depending how long you want to go. We did 4 miles on the trail but if you go further there are several river crossings and views of Mount Olympus and Blue Glacier at the end.
Trail of Mosses and Hoh River Trail are the only hikes offered in the Hoh Rainforest so we spoke to a very knowledgeable ranger who gave us excellent recs on how to finish our trip in Olympic the next day, including Kalaloch Beach 4 and the North Forks Trail in Quinault. The weather wasn’t conducive to additional hiking that day so we headed back to Forks where we had lunch at an old school diner called Sully’s Burgers. It looked like a popular spot for visitors and hikers alike as we all stood in line in our muddy hiking boots. We hadn’t really had a time to relax since our road trip started so we took the afternoon off and stayed in our Airbnb. We watched Prison Break reruns and eventually got a pizza from Home Slice Take n Bake which was actually quite delicious. Small towns can be a hit or miss with food but overall Forks was a hit.
DAY 5 | FORKS & OLYMPIA
I’m not sure if it’s just a WA thing but we’ve never seen so many independently owned coffee shacks/coffee huts lined up on main roads in small towns. These “coffee espresso” drive-thrus are charming as they are convenient, and we hit a couple throughout our road trip. After we supported up our local coffee shack, we started our drive to Kalaloch, about 50 mins south of Forks to another coastline scattered with beaches. We arrived at Ruby Beach which is another beautiful beach with less crowds while we waited to go to Beach 4 for peak low tide at 10:17am that morning. Per the ranger’s suggestion the day earlier, Beach 4 is excellent for tide pools and access to ocean rocks that you aren’t able to venture to during high tide. This was a fun morning, being able to see ocean creatures one last time before we headed inland. Even with hiking shoes, I slipped and fell into a small tide pool (luckily no starfish were injured) so I recommend bringing a pair of water shoes as ocean rocks can be quite slippery. This was our final beach and I ranked my top three accordingly:
1) Ruby Beach (Kalaloch): beautiful scenery with less people
2) Beach 4 (Kalaloch): tide pools during low tide for ocean creatures
3) Beach 2 (Forks): similar to Ruby Beach but smaller
The ranger who had recommended Beach 4 also recommended North Forks Trail in the Quinault area (both excellent recs). Quinault is centered around Lake Quinault and it’s a quaint town with a scenic drive. The North Forks Trail is a total of 30 miles which is suited for a multi-day hike but it’s an out-and-back so you can do however many miles you’d like. We hiked 5 miles and the terrain was generally low elevation change with a few stream crossings. It’s a fun nature walk with the scenery changing every mile, but if you decide to keep going there are river crossings and the hike becomes more strenuous. This hike was the one hike I did worry about a potential bear encounter which was probably provoked by all the bear warnings at the trailhead. We were far enough from town and the only ones on the trail for a long time so while this hike was enjoyable, I’d suggest bringing bear spray if you’re on any remote trail.
Mark and I agree that Quinault is a beautiful area in Olympic NP that’s worth exploring more in the future. Having driven through most of Olympic NP on this trip, we recommend staying two days in Port Angeles and one day in Forks. There are more hiking options and topography changes in the Port Angeles area compared to the laid back beaches on the coast. The beaches are also more accessible to get to so you can visit multiple in a day. We would also spend a night at the Quinault Lodge and explore more hikes in the North Forks area because of its more remote location.
Kalaloch and Quinault took up most of our day so we arrived in Olympia around 6pm. After a quick Costco run to stock up for Part II, we checked into our hotel and immediately went to Chelsea Farms Oyster Bar downtown for dinner. This was our only real meal that day so we decided to treat ourselves with the full oyster tasting menu (2 of each 12 local oysters), crab linguini (generous crab portion), clam chowder (hands down THE best chowder ever), and multiple glasses of Hiruzta Txakoli (deliciously dry but spritzy white wine). Food, service and ambiance were all perfect, and will definitely return. For dessert, Sofie’s Scoops Gelateria was next door and I ordered the Olympia Fog and Blueberry Lavender. If you’re a fan of ordering London Fog lattes, the Olympia Fog is very similar but with more floral notes; absolutely delicious. We walked around downtown for a bit but unfortunately many stores were already closed and the streets were pretty dark to fully establish a conclusive opinion of Olympia. I suspect Olympia during the day is very different from Olympia in the evening. Our final stop that evening was Shiny Prize which was recommended by our server at Chelsea Farms. It’s a local speakeasy with music themed cocktails and an eclectic vibe. After taking a couple swigs of whiskey, Mark and I reminded each other that we had a 4am wake up call in a matter of hours.
DAY 6 | PACKWOOD/MT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK
Even though we had a late night, we promptly got up at 4am to commence Part II of our trip to Mount Rainier NP. The plan was to do a sunrise hike at High Rock Lookout, located just outside the NP with sweeping views of Mt. Rainier and other peaks. This was a hike that Mark and I were really looking forward to but the overcast weather made it impossible to see anything so it was another hike cut short. This was disappointing since we had gotten up so early and even hung around the trail to see if the sky would clear up but it did stay cloudy for most of the day. Without wasting more time, we decided to go into the park (we had entry for Paradise corridor for both days) and got lucky with parking at the visitor center at 11am. We had heard that parking in Rainier is chaotic anytime after 9am but we did manage to find parking in the lot after a couple of laps and stalking folks who were leaving. The parking situation is no joke and the reason why it fills up so quickly is because many of the popular hikes start just outside the visitors center. Even though Rainier introduced reservations this year, It’s still very crowded and it’s common to park down the road and do a pre-hike during peak hours.
We knew that we wanted to do the Skyline Loop Trail and decided to do it that day because the forecast also showed partly cloudy weather the next day, and clear skies weren’t going to be guaranteed. Skyline is one of the prettiest hikes I’ve done but also the busiest which is why I can’t say it’s my favorite hike.
Alltrails categorizes this trail as hard but I’d put it under moderate. The hike is about 5.5 miles with 1,700 elevation gain so there’s gradual to steep incline going up and then mostly downhill on the way back. The beginning of the hike is the steepest so it can be very daunting at first but luckily this part is on pavement so imagine being on a stairmaster for 30 mins. Don’t be self-conscious about people passing you- take your time and enjoy the views. After the paved section, the trail opens up and you’re able to see the lush meadow with sprawling wildflowers. If you’re lucky and the weather permits, you’ll get a glimpse of the vast skyline including Rainier’s peak in all her glory. The trail meanders through multiple S curves as you’re going up so you’re able to get a different vantage point. As you continue to head up towards Panorama Point, you’ll feel the weather changing and the glaciers on the mountain side are more visible. The scarcity at higher elevation and the opulent greenery below is truly nature’s amusing juxtaposition. Even though it was overcast and the mountain didn’t grace anyone with her presence that day, there were bouts of sunlight that peeked through where you could see the valleys and other peaks. “Is the mountain out?” “Is she out?” was a common question I heard along the trail. I later found out that Mt. Rainier has webcams of its visitor center parking lot and mountain view so you’re able to see what these locations look like at any given time. This feature is not available for all national parks but it’s a good thing to utilize if the park you’re visiting offers it in order to plan your trip accordingly.
Post-hike we headed into the visitor center to get recs on less crowded hikes for the next day. Skyline was fun but hiking with droves and being in a single file as you’re going up stairs isn’t our ideal hiking setting. We prefer having our own slice of nature and savoring those quiet moments. Evening was approaching and we hadn’t checked into our Airbnb yet so we called it a day after 30,209 steps and celebrated with beer and steak in our stomachs and a thick coat of CBD muscle cream on our legs.
DAY 7 | PACKWOOD/MT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK
“The mountain is out!”, after checking the mountain view live feed.I remember getting up before Mark, hopping on the Mount Rainier live webcam feed, and tugging at him to get up because the mountain was out (!!). The weather this day was warm (high 70s) but it was the clearest it had been during our entire trip so I was thrilled for the day ahead. We had some options for hikes and there was a part of me that wanted to try High Lookout again but we would have lost more time driving to the trailhead than staying in the park. We also tossed around the idea of doing Skyline Loop again for the views but the trail would be very crowded on this ideal day. The ranger from the day earlier recommended a trail off the beaten path that would take us close to the Nisqually Glacier so we decided to start our morning off doing the Moraine Trail (starting at Skyline Loop) and then continue on to the unmaintained trail.
This hike starts out at the Skyline Loop trail and you need to pay attention to the Moraine Trail marker which can easily be missed. Once you branch off, the trail is generally relaxed with minimal elevation gain. You’ll eventually see a sign “End of Maintained Trail” which may deter people from continuing further but it’s still a trail that hikers may explore. About half a mile in, a ridgeline becomes apparent and the trail continues onto the ridgeline and cliff with sweeping views of the Nisqually River Valley and mountain ranges. You’ll also have clear views of glaciers and different peaks of the mountain, it’s really something. There is scrambling involved and the trail looks a little sketchy at times but it’s a fun hike if you’d like to avoid crowds and have an intimate view of Mount Rainier. We were the only ones on this trail that morning and only passed one couple on our way out of Moraine.
Post-hike, we went to Reflection Lake and Lake Louise, both picturesque and very accessible with no to minimal hiking involved. We officially ended the hiking portion of our trip at Silver Falls Loop along the Ohanapecosh River. Easy 3 mile nature walk along the river that brings you to Silver Falls which is really pretty. Next time we visit Rainier, we’ll explore the Sunrise corridor that’s equally as beautiful.
By the time we finished, it was about 5pm so we went back to our Airbnb to start dinner and laundry. This was our final night so we had to finish all the food in our cooler and take advantage of the washer and dryer that we had.
DAY 8 | SEATTLE
Packing up in Packwood was bittersweet because we washed the last of our hiking clothes and cleaned all the muck off our boots. A sure sign that there were no further outdoor activities to be had. We dropped by Ashford for some coffee and then we were on the road back to Seattle.
We arrived in Seattle by lunchtime and had lunch at Bongo’s Cafe, a casual place in Phinney Ridge serving up the best Caribbean/Cuban food in town. Mark and I were both starving so we opted for the bowls instead of sandwiches, and everything was delicious.
Since we were already outside of Seattle, we continued to explore the city’s northern neighborhoods. From Phinney Ridge we drove to Green Lake and grabbed coffee at Green Lake Boathouse & Coffeeshop and walked around the lake for a little bit. Afterwards, we drove around Wallingford and Fremont, Wallingford being our favorite neighborhood in terms of the more creative scene on the main strip.
We continued our little tour of northern Seattle and checked out Discovery Park which is a local hot spot for runners and Chittenden Locks (aka Ballard Locks) to view the waterway systems. They also had an underwater viewing gallery where you can see different types of salmon.
In the evening we had drinks at the very eclectic Octopus Bar, dinner at TNT Taqueria, and ended the night with live music at Sea Monster Lounge. All three places share the same intersection in Wallingford so now you understand why Wallingford makes my heart flutter. Sea Monster was a lot of fun with the manager/owner(?) manning the bar and doing soundcheck while his dog was stationed by the door greeting the regulars. Certainly a venue I’m happy to support. Their house band was performing that night but they support diverse bands and genres from reggae to country. The vibes are so real here.
DAY 9 | SEATTLE
Our last day in WA so we made the most of it by grabbing coffee at Monorail Espresso before the Seattle Central Library opened at 10am. Once the library was open we took the elevator up to the 10th floor to the viewing area. The glass and steel architecture of this building is beautiful and certainly iconic to the city. We didn’t spend too much time at the library because we had tickets to the first tour of the day to Argosy Elliot Bay Harbor Cruise at 11am. When I was in Seattle in May I wanted to do a harbor cruise but didn’t have time so I’m happy that we were able to do this on a clear day. The 1-hour narrated cruise takes you from the Seattle skyline to the shipping ports with views of Mt. Rainier and Olympic, weather permitting. We were actually able to see Mt. Rainier that morning which was bittersweet. Food vendors had just opened up when we got off the ship so we tried the infamous Seattle Dog, a hot dog served on a bun with cream cheese and caramelized onions. I was skeptical at first but it turned out to be pretty good and something not to be passed on if given the opportunity.
I had used the last shots of film during the cruise so we stopped by Panda Lab in Belltown so I could drop off my 35mm film to be developed. I did not want to take back used film on the plane home and risk damaging the film in the scanners so I had done some research before the trip and Panda Lab came highly rated by local photographers. The gentleman who helped me was very helpful and didn’t make me feel embarrassed after I mentioned that the last time I had used film was in 8th grade.
With the film in safe hands, Mark and I continued our neighborhood/food tour to Un Bien in Ballard. It came highly rated as THE sandwich spot from locals and it did not disappoint. We ordered the Caribbean Roast (voted #1 sandwich in WA), Palomilla Steak, Smokin’ Thighs, and Fire-Roasted Corn. Everything was absolutely delicious, especially the steak sandwich and corn. The flavors were on point, and we will definitely be back.
We had a little bit of time to kill before heading to the airport so we dropped by Fat Cat Records in Wallingford (another reason why Wallingford is such a cool neighborhood). Their collection had mostly niche music genres which is greatly appreciated when most Chicago record stores carry mainstream. Mark reminded me that we couldn’t buy anything because our bags were already packed. I ended up buying a shirt and he bought a record.
We headed to the airport but not without one last view of Mt. Rainier as we drove on the highway. I’m so jealous of Seattle folks who live in the city and casually have mountain views, but I’m sure the same thing can be said for Chicagoans and the Chicago skyline.
What an amazing trip. There were things that didn’t go as planned, but there were also nice surprises along the way. Hiking trips are special. Not only because we’re Midwesterners who see more corn than cliffs, but because being alone in nature teaches you things about yourself that you probably wouldn’t have learned otherwise. So much introspection, teamwork, and vulnerability goes on on the trails and you come out being a more confident individual. Nature is absolutely stunning and is always happy to remind you that life is less about overtime and materialism and more about fresh air, movement, and wonder and awe.
