Glaciers and Rainforests

Wherein Moominmama explores the Olympic Peninsula and the Pacific Rim (Canadian) National Park on Vancouver Island...

This may be the summer of the marmots! On a hike up Hurricane Ridge within the Olympic National Park, a dozen or more were running around and munching on bluebells in a field below Mount Olympus. 

This "Olympic" marmot is unique to the high elevations of the Olympic Mountains and under threat from coyotes, which are not native to the peninsula. But these marmots are still fat and cute and not that afraid of humans.

This has also been a summer of vehicular challenges. Olympic National Park is large but near a major population center in Seattle.  It was very difficult to score a reservation so I only had two days to explore, with long drives between the areas of the park. 

These drives were made more challenging when an oil tanker overturned, forcing a significant detour between Port Angeles and the rest of the park. It was even more inconvenient for the people of Port Angeles whose drinking water got contaminated.

Moominmama was excited to hike in the Olympic Mountains on her first day. The flowers and fields and glaciers in and around Mount Olympus provided epic views. In addition to the marmots and deer, I saw a black bear meandering below Klahhane Ridge. Warnings of a cougar in the area turned out to be very real. The day I left, a cougar was killed by park officials after it attacked a child (injured but survived) in the same area where I'd been hiking.

For me, hiking the Hurricane Ridge trail was glorious, and I'm already eager to go back and finish the Klahhane Ridge hike where I only saw one section. 

On my second day of exploration, with my sandwich and water bottle packed, I was going to investigate the rainforest. Except a malfunction light came on in my car warning me that something serious was wrong with my hybrid system. 

So instead of the rainforest, I was headed to the Toyota dealer in Port Angeles and wondering if the car was going to break down en route (the malfunction light kept telling me to stop the car). This was not how I wanted to spend my day, but I am incredibly grateful that the dealer was able to see the car on short notice. And as it turns out, the hybrid system is fine. The problem was a malfunctioning sensor. In the end, I salvaged part of the afternoon to hike to the Sol Duc Falls, pictured at the top. And perhaps more importantly, I was on track to catch my ferry the next day to Vancouver Island.

As luck would have it, I was able to hike a marvelous rainforest trail on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Rim National Park. The mass of giant trees towering above and sprawled in various states of decay over the ground, combined with giant ferns and wall-to-wall mosses, makes it feel like Jurassic Park. 

This rainforest would be impossible to traverse on foot in most areas. So these boardwalks are amazing, and I can't begin to imagine all the work that went into building them.

The weather and the ecosystems of Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula are very similar. And this summer, they are unexpectedly dry. There was a fire on the southern side of the Olympic Peninsula when I was there. Here on the Pacific side of Vancouver Island, there is both a fire ban and a water conservation alert.

Both the island and the peninsula are home to multiple First Nations peoples --14 on the western side of Vancouver Island alone, and eight on the Olympic Peninsula. But with rainforests, mountains and a turbulent Pacific Ocean separating people, I now understand how the divisions could occur.

I am camped in Tofino, a little finger of a peninsula on Vancouver Island. I hope to go kayaking in and around the islands off Tofino tomorrow and to see some reportedly impressive cedars on Meares Island.

When I leave, I'll cross the mountains to the eastern side of the island to meet up with friends at an Altogather -- so named because we all own trailers known as Altos. For now, I leave you with a photo of the Tofino Harbor! If you look closely, you can see snowy peaks in the background among the clouds.