Our third year to a national park with Jake's family was yet again a success! We did Glacier year one and Yosemite with a stop in Lake Tahoe year 2. We're taking next year of for Jake's brother's wedding and hope to pick back up in 2025 with Acadia! BUT let's dive into Olympic. You fly into Seattle, and then you rent a car. We drove 2 hours and 40 minutes to Lake Sutherland which is where our Airbnb was. It's right next to Lake Crescent, and both lakes are stunning! We got in before others, so we decided to do an easy hike to stretch our legs. We chose the Spruce Railroad Trail which led to the Devils Punchbowl, and Jake had to jump in!
Day one we used the kayaks and swam. We had 2 houses and could ride kayak's back and forth.
Our first lake day we also did a quick hike to Marymere Falls because it was only about 15 minutes away from our house.
Once everyone arrived, we did our BIG long park day. We drove to the HOH Rainforest super early in the morning. It was about a 2 hour drive. It's an easy walk through the Hall of Mosses.
Then we drove even further out to Ruby Beach. I must tell you first, we did drive through Forks, and as a Twilight fan, I was underwhelmed. I understand why the Cullens chose to live there lol. There was a gas station porta-potty that will haunt me for the rest of my life there.
I hear all the beaches along the coast are beautiful and all unique. Since we had kids, I chose an easier beach.
Then we hit Cape Flattery. Its the most NW point of the Continental US, and it's so beautiful. This was the hardest hike of the day, and wasn't bad at all! I base most of the difficulty on taking kids through in case you're wondering. For just adults, it was quite easy.
It was a long trip home, and we were all exhausted. We spent the majority of the next day at Lake Crescent Lodge beach. I'd actually recommend staying at their cottages too. It's just such a perfect spot!
Our final family park day was to checkout Sol Duc Falls!
Most of the family left on Thursday, so we left for another 2 hour drive to Lena Lake. It was a place I saw on TikTok I wanted to try. Now the tiktok was for Upper Lena Lake which is 6.9 miles one-way. I knew we weren't gonna do that, but we did do Lower Lena Lake which was 7 roundtrip, and a 1500 elevation. The path was rocky and not an easy hike. Tons of switchbacks, and I have NO idea how Jake did it with Olive on his back...but the view...was worth it...and that cold dip in the water...amazing!
I would recommend all the things we did! Here's the house we rented for half the group.
and our epic family pic!