Lake Quinault Virtual Office

Trip date: February 2023

The Seattle Times had an article about a BOGO deal that Lake Quinault was running and I thought that sounded like a great virtual office opportunity. Since I was looking for weeknights, there was actually quite a bit of availability. 

My friend Leslie lives out in Humptulips, which is just 30 minutes from Lake Quinault, so we made plans for me to come out for lunch before heading to the lodge. Washington had a fair amount of snow on the days leading up to my trip, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go as I drive a sports car! But that morning Leslie said the roads were mainly clear so I loaded up and drove the 3 hours from Seattle out to the Washington Peninsula. 

Leslie's house actually has a gorgeous stained glass window in it that use to belong to the Lake Quinault Lodge! 

Her guy made us a delicious lunch and then we went out to explore her property. It's very beautiful out there on the banks of the Humptulip River. And her miniature donkeys, baby cow, and chickens could not be cuter! Check out Lucky the cow photobombing!

By the time I left for the lodge it was snowing pretty hard, but the roads were still clear so I didn't have any problems. I got checked in and made my way to the lakeview Fireplace Rooms, which are in an adjoining building to the main lodge. 

There is wifi throughout the property but you only get 30 minutes a day for free so I bought the upgraded package for $16, which included multiple devices and 5GB, since this would be my office for the next few days. The room didn't have a desk but I just moved some furniture so I could work on my laptop in front of the fireplace. My room also had a mini fridge, coffee maker, balcony with adirondacks, and fairly recently renovated bathroom with heated floors. 

When it was time for happy hour, I moved down to the Great Room and grabbed a seat in front of the enormous fireplace.

This lodge was built in 1926, designed by a Seattle architect, and was completed in 53 days! I had camped nearby a long time ago, so had been inside briefly, but to relax in this gorgeous room with a cold martini in hand was truly a wonderful experience. 

I had dinner in the Roosevelt Room, named because the President visited here in 1937. The menu looked pretty good but the prices are ridiculously high! As I was still full from my late lunch I just had the Caesar salad with smoked salmon which was very good. 

I had brought some provisions with me for my room, so headed there after dinner for a glass of wine and to read my book. The lodge is very quiet which was excellent!

The next morning I worked in front of the fire with my coffee and the gorgeous view of the lake for a couple of hours before heading down to the dining room for breakfast. Even if your room doesn't have a view, the dining room is a wall of windows so you will not miss out. 

It had snowed lightly most of the night but the day was partly sunny and I was excited to go on a hike in the beautiful Olympic National Park! I had chosen the Gatton Creek Trail as it is one of the trails that goes right from the Lodge. I had wanted to do the Quinault Loop but it was mostly closed due to down trees.

Hiking in the Olympic rain forest is soooo gorgeous! The moss is 100 shades of green and the trees reach tall to the sky. There was no one on on the trail that morning so the forest was quiet and very peaceful. There was just a bit of snow on the trail and I thought it was beautiful!

But almost as soon as I crossed the bridge at Falls Creek the snow on the path was much deeper. I mean it was still just up to my shoelaces but I was surprised. The trail only had an 800 foot elevation rise but as I went up the snow was deeper; completely obscuring the trail. 

I kept expecting it to clear, not sure why! But at the ½ way point the snow was up to my ankles and I was also having to duck under branches laden with snow. Luckily someone else had hiked the trail the day before and since it hadn't snowed much I could still see their footprints. It was the only way I was able to stay on the course!

This "easy" hike ended up being a real slog! And because no one else was around, and I had spotted some cougar tracks, I was also a tad nervous and was whistling non-stop in order to give any kitties warning of my approach. 

As I came down from the modest elevation the trail was fine and the surrounding trees were stunningly draped in moss again instead of snow.

By the time I made it to Rain Forest Village I was exhausted and my touque and puffer were soaked. Luckily my new waterproof hikers did their job and my feet were dry and toasty. 

I stopped by the 1,000+ year old "World's Largest Sitka Spruce", which has lost its top and is looking pretty bad compared to the last time I saw it, and then walked along South Shore Drive back to the lodge. 5 ½ miles later I was done!

The lodge doesn't serve lunch on weekdays in the off-season so I changed into dry clothes, grabbed my laptop, and headed to the Quinault Internet Cafe in nearby Amanda Park. I was able to get some work done and have a pretty decent taco salad! Back at the lodge I worked for the rest of the afternoon in front of my fireplace. 

Before heading to the Great Room for a martini that evening, I walked out to the lakeshore to take in the view of the setting sun. The light was just incredible!

Sitting around the fire, the other guests were very talkative, kinda like when you are on a cruise! 😆 Everyone was giving each other advise on what to do and see, as well as talking about all their prior visits to the lodge. And everyone complained about the dining room prices! I was happy just to sip my drink and listen. 

I had some excellent (and still completely overpriced) fish and chips in the restaurant that night before heading back to my room. There aren't a lot of other options in the area, especially being off-season, but next time I'll try the Salmon House restaurant, which is just a short drive away. 

On my last day I had arranged a late checkout, so I spent the morning working and then hit the dining room right before they finished their breakfast service for my "brunch". 

I had such a nice time at the lodge and will definitely take advantage of the BOGO again, maybe this fall. It's such a beautiful property and they also have an indoor pool which I didn't have time to check out!

Before driving home, I followed South Shore Drive out to Merriman Falls. The 40 foot falls are right next to the road so no hiking required to view.

From here I drove another 5 ½ miles to Bunch Falls; South Shore Drive turns into a dirt road out here,which was quite slushy. I hadn't realized how far these falls were so I was a little concerned driving my sporty car on the icy road with not another car around. But passing through this section of forest was very pretty.

Bunch Falls are right by the Olympic National Park sign and before you get to the bridge which takes you to North Shore Drive. As the roads out here were pretty messy, doing the Lake Drive Loop was not an option. 

It was time to hit the road and get back to Seattle. As I drove out, next to the river, I slammed on my brakes when I spotted the largest bald eagle I've ever seen, sitting high in a bare tree. I mean I have seen hundreds of bald eagles and this one's size really shocked me!

As I got back into my car I spotted another huge one down the road! And on the drive out, one more! No matter how many times I see one I'm always in awe!

Lake Quinault offers the BOGO deal yearly October thru March. 

All Lake Quinault photos here. 

Olympic National Park Road Trip

Trip date: September 2021

Thanks to COVID, the PNW hiking trip that I had planned with my friends from Paris, Forest and Nicky, for fall of 2020 got scrapped. We had rescheduled everything the best we could for Sept of 2021, but with the USA still closed to non citizens, Nic had to pass on the trip again. Forest decided to brave the pandemic and fly into Seattle, it had been since Jan 2020 since I had seen my BFF, the longest since we have known each other!

We had a six day road trip planned around the Washington coast and ONP, all places that neither of us had stayed at before and we were excited! First stop, Kalaloch Lodge.

We stopped for lunch along the way at Chelsea Farms in Olympia. I love this place! We had some gorgeous oysters on the ½ shell and I had their decadent clam chowder. It's a great place to break up the ~3 ½ hour drive to the coast. 

Originally we had booked to stay at the Quileute Oceanside Resort, but tribal lands were closed due to COVID. Our cabin at Kalaloch sat on the bluff overlooking the ocean, had two bedrooms, a bathroom, small kitchen, and a wood fireplace in the living room. 

It was very rainy when we arrived, so after unpacking we got a fire going, set up a game of dominos, made some cocktails, and settled in for the night. The restaurant onsite was take out only so I had brought a batch of my mac and cheese that we just had to cook up in the oven, and a green salad. It was a super cozy and relaxing night!

The next morning the skies had cleared so we drove out to the Hoh Rain Forest, which was about an hour each way. We did the short 1+ mile Hall of Moss trail which is nothing less than gorgeous!

Pictures just can't do justice to the amazing hues of greens and yellows in the Hoh. I had never been in the fall before and it was stunning!

We were really hoping to see some elk as there had been sightings that morning, but no such luck! 

Just outside the park, we stopped at the Hard Rain Cafe for sandwiches, eaten outside on their front porch as almost everyplace was still closed for indoor dining. 

Back at Kalaloch we went out for a nice walk on our beach. We were the only ones out there, except for a couple of bald eagles!

That evening the sunset was just amazing! We put together a little happy hour and sat outside in our adirondack chairs enjoying the view.

Although our cabin had a kitchen and we were told there would be a bin of sanitized cookware, they only provided us with paper plates and plastic utensils. I had brought posole and quesadilla makings for our 2nd night dinner and we ended up having to eat the posole out of cooking pans! I also had to go buy souvenir wine glasses from the lodge as they only gave us paper cups! But they did provide each cabin with a bundle of wood per day so we were all set for a fire and dominos after dinner (pro-tip: no wifi at Kalaloch Lodge or the cabins).

The next morning we checked out after breakfast of banana bread and tea in the cabin and drove the short distance to Kalaloch Beach for a little hike along the shore and to check out the very cool Tree of Life. Afterwards, on our way to Ruby Beach we stopped for a quick look at Big Cedar which is indeed a very big cedar. 

At Ruby the tide was in so our hike was shortened drastically. But it is still such a gorgeous spot and we were having the best weather!

We stopped in Forks for a quick lunch before continuing on to 2nd Beach. This is a gorgeous hike thru the forest and then onto the beach!

It's about a mile through the woods out to the beach. 2nd Beach feels much more remote that Ruby since you can't drive right up to it. We had a great time exploring and were two of only a handful of people out there.

Three beach hikes done for the day! We got on the road and stopped to check out John's Beachcomber Museum but unfortunately it was closed. We drove through his property and could see that there was a pretty impressive collection of items ammassed!

It was just under an hour drive to Lake Crescent Lodge, which is where we'd be staying for the next two nights. We had rented one of the Singer Cabins, two seperate rooms connected inside and sharing a cute front porch with views of the lake.

I had been wanting to stay out at this lodge for years and it did not disappoint! Such a gorgeous setting! We hung out in adirondack chairs on the lake shore for a bit and then headed inside the lodge for cocktails by the big fire.

Because of COVID the drinks were served out of plastic cups but they were solid. We hadn't made reservations for dinner and because of reduced seating in the dining room there were no tables available so we ended up ordering off the take-out menu and having dinner in front of the fire as well.

The next morning we had breakfast in the lodge dining room on real plates and with a front row view of the lake. It was a gorgeous day and afterwards we set off for a short hike to Marymere Falls, the trailhead starting just behind our cabins. The 2 mile round trip hike is really pretty, lots of old growth trees, some deer sightings, and of course the waterfalls!

Then we jumped in the car and drove to the salmon cascades on the Sol Duc River and watched the salmon make their way upstream. I live near the Ballard Locks so I've seen this many times but I have never experienced it in the "wild" and wow, was it cool!!

We stayed for quite a bit watching and wondering how these salmon were not crushing their skulls on the rocks. The concierge at the lodge had told us about this when we checked in, it was a great tip. The salmon generally run from mid Sept to mid Oct so if you are in the area go check them out! 

Originally the plan had been to go soak in the Sol Duc Hot Springs, so we continued up the road and had a little picnic before checking out the pools. But just like my other time there, it seemed crowded with kids and not very relaxing, so we opted to head back to our lovely lodge. 

We settled into a couple of adirondacks with some wine and books and enjoyed the gorgeous fall weather. As it got later I bought a bundle of wood from the front desk and they delivered it to one of the fire pits for us. I made a small fire that we enjoyed before heading up to our front porch for a great happy hour spread that we had packed in our cooler.

Dinner that night was in the lodge dining room and it was ok, nothing to write home about but fine. I had taken the rest of our wood back up to our cabin, and after dinner we grabbed it and returned to find some other guests keeping our fire going with driftwood. We enjoyed some lovely rare whiskey around the fire, such a gorgeous setting!

The next morning after breakfast and a little more wandering around the Lake Crescent Lodge grounds, it was time to check out. I loved this lodge and would absolutely love to return; fall was the perfect season! 

Our drive to Hurricane Ridge was gorgeous and sunny until we hit Port Angeles. The weather turned drizzly and as we made our way up the road leading to the ridge clouds settled in so low that I couldn't see a thing in front of me. This was not going to make for a good hike, so sadly we turned around and headed back down.

We stopped in Sequim for lunch at Salty Girls which had been recommended. Unfortunately it was just ok. They shucked the wrong oysters for us twice and my crab melt was just luke warm. Maybe it was an off day.

Not to miss out on a last hike in the area, we pivoted (thanks Covid for teaching us all the importance of the pivot!) and drove out to the trailhead for the Dungeness Spit. 

It had been probably been 15 years since I'd been out here. And no we did not hike all the way out to the lighthouse! But it's such a unique and wild strip of sand and driftwood, it was a great last hike!

Our last stop on our fabulous WA Peninsula trip was Port Townsend. I had been thru the quaint town many times but had never stayed! We were booked in at the very well known Old Consulate Inn which at one time was the German Consulate. 

And in true BFF fashion, Forest and I had the honeymoon suite, which was up on the top floor of the house and had a sitting room in the turret! The views of the Pacific from the room were also fantastic!

We walked into downtown that evening; Port Townsend is such an adorable place, full of Victorian style buildings, gorgeous views, and more deer than people it seems!

Unfortunately the restaurant Finistere was closed the night we were in town so we decided to wander into to the Alchemy and get on a waitlist for a table. Thanks to social media I saw that my friends Andy and Carol were in town and were also at Alchemy! They invited us to join them for dinner and we had some very good drinks and bites! 

Breakfast was included at the Old Consulate and was served in a very nice sitting room. It's really a great house to explore, lots of antiques and interesting spaces. Afterwards we packed up and checked out, then drove into town and walked around doing a bit of gallery going and antiquing. 

Andy and Carol had told us they had spent a day in Poulsbo and thought it was really cute, it just so happened that there was a shop I wanted to check out there so after our walk around we headed to Little Norway as it's called.

We had a great time shopping along the main drag. Nordiska is a wonderful store full of everything Scandinavian and also has a lot of artist Anna Brones' work. We also found an adorable housewares/wine shop and did a little tasting outside while we waited for a table at The Loft for lunch.

We took the Bainbridge Ferry home because a ferry ride is *the* way all PNW trips should either start or end! 

This was such an awesome trip around the Olympic National Park and peninsula. I live in a ridiculously gorgeous part of the world and it was super fun to go exploring with my bestie who also has a deep love for the PNW.

All Washington Peninsula photos here.