This is reportedly the farthest point west a person can walk in the Continental US. I whipped out our faithful GPS and fired it up receiving a reading of N48 23 325 W124 43 200. On the rocks was a family of Sea Lions basking in the sun. Surrounding all this was the Straits of Juan De Fuca on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. It was a truly breathtaking sight and one that gave you the feeling you had somehow reached the end of the world. We were told that occasionally you could see pods of passing whales but unfortunately we did not see any on the day we were there. While we were standing admiring the beauties of nature several people came and went. One gentleman was there from Holland, and there was a couple from Florida. Laura kept borrowing my monocular to show the new arrivals the Sea Lions. We stayed there for some time just appreciating the awesome beauty of the sea and its inhabitants. As we started back for the truck we were somewhat tired out from our hike, but really believed that the trek had been worth what we had seen, AND the ability to say that we had been there.

Having seen the beauty and grandeur of both Mt. Rainier and Mt. Saint Helen’s, Laura and I were not really over-eager to see the Olympic National Park. After all, after seeing two such beautiful mountains and parks what could Olympic have to offer? We finally decided that we would go to the visitor’s center and then take a ride up to Hurricane Ridge since we were in the area. We found out that the Olympic National Forest began as a Forest Reserve in 1897, when President Cleveland signed the proclamation which withdrew 1,500,00 acres of public land on the Olympic Peninsula.  In 1905, the name Olympic Forest Reserve was changed to Olympic National Forest. The center of the Olympic National Forest was proclaimed Mount Olympus National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt 1909. It was amazing how much each park has it’s own personality. The Olympic National Park actually contains four different types of forests. 1) temperate rain forest, 2)lowland, 3)montane, and 4)subalpine. The different types of forests are defined by not only the climate but the type of trees that grow there. And although the Olympic Mountains are not very high (Mt. Olympus being the highest at just over 8000 feet) they are lined up in such a manner as to present a beautiful panorama. Up on Hurricane Ridge, while we were taking in the mountainous beauties of nature,  we were surprised to see a large Buck Deer walk out of the forest and stroll across the street while being photographed by a number of tourists (including us). He seemed rather unconcerned about the fact that his habitat was largely populated by strange looking deer walking upright on two legs. We then set off on a ½ mile hike across the Cirque Rim Trail. This is a very easy trail for even the most novice of hikers as it is paved.