What a great view to wake up to – Lake Crescent! Billy and I woke up at a more reasonable time this morning even though it started to get light outside around 4:30 a.m. We showered and enjoyed our breakfast of cereal sans milk and apples.
Marymere Falls was the first item on our agenda for the day. We picked up the trail on the Lake Crescent property. The trail was a luscious forest of Douglas fir and ferns. Be careful of downed trees. I was leading and forget to alert Billy to the downed tree, and he bumped his head because he was trying to change the date/time on the camera.
Walking on the Marymere Falls Trail...The tree that Billy bumped into is behind me to the right
Despite Billy’s bump, we were able to continue our leisurely hike. The trail was wide and fairly level with small rise and falls until we passed the two footbridges. As you approach, the sign for the Falls Loop I would advise go the opposite direction it recommends because I feel it is easier to go uphill with out steps and downhill with steps.
Go the opposite way of the sign. You will end up back at the sign after you view the falls.
Marymere Falls are quite a treat with two overlooks to view the dainty falls. After taking some pictures, we headed back to the room to complete our 1.5 miles hike without any injuries on the way back.
Marymere Falls
After we regrouped, we went to the Albertsons in Port Angeles to buy some deli meat and bread for lunch. With lunch in hand, we stopped by the ONP Visitor Center which is a letdown after visiting visitor centers in Yellowstone NP, but it had the necessary information and brochures. We loaded back to the car to begin our ascent to Hurricane Ridge.
Once we got to the top, we ate our self-created ham sandwiches at one of the picnic tables near the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. We had a spectacular view of the Olympics. We joined the ranger-led walk at the front of the visitor center at 2:00 p.m. Ranger Ron led a walk about competition versus cooperation of different species and animals in the park. As we walked, we met up with quite a few black tailed deer. After the walk concluded, Billy and I ventured to Sunrise Point to capture some great views of the area. The hike is fairly easy, but it was steep at points. It was definitely worth it. 
Ranger Ron at Hurricane Ridge
View from Sunrise Point
We went back to the visitor center to catch the 4 p.m. ranger talk. It happened to be led by Ranger Ron again. He told 5 different stories from the park with one of them being false. The audience had to guess which was not correct.
After our entertaining talk, we stopped by Hurricane Hill for a short hike. This is a super easy hike which would be great for beginning hikers. There is a gravel/paved trail the entire way. Billy and I only went as far the switchbacks because we wanted to grab dinner in Port Angeles and get back to Lake Crescent for the ranger campfire talk. Walking as far as we did was worth it because we had great views of the Olympics along with some animal sightings of deer and marmots. 
Hurricane Hill
Black tailed deer on the Hurricane Hill trail
Once in Port Angeles, we decided eat dinner the Soho Asian Bistro. There were very few choices of restaurants because it was Sunday. Soho had a few groups already dining when we arrived. Billy had to go back out to the car to get our sweatshirts because it was quite cold inside. I ordered chicken lo mein, and Billy ordered Szechwan chicken which was pretty good which says a lot for Billy. The lo mein was tasty, but it could have used more soy sauce during the cooking process.
After dinner, we went back to Lake Crescent, but did not get there in time for the campfire talk. We went to the lodge to use the wireless Internet connection and relax. Another great day in Washington!
Sunset at Lake Crescent
Daily Reviews
Albertsons – 3 stars
Pros: Clerk allowed us to use the store card since we didn’t have one
Cons: none
Hurricane Ridge – 5 stars
Pros: Lots to explore, easy trails with the option to venture out to more difficult trails; interesting ranger talks; nice visitor center
Cons: Not a lot of informative displays/dioramas in the visitor center (We’ve been spoiled by Yellowstone).
Soho Asian Bistro – 4 stars
Pros: Billy actually liked his meal which is hard to come by, cute environment
Cons: Lo mein not as flavorful as it should be
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