{"id":3526,"date":"2017-07-28T08:10:13","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T14:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=3526"},"modified":"2019-03-16T10:24:06","modified_gmt":"2019-03-16T16:24:06","slug":"rialto-beach-the-hoh-rain-forest-fiasco-beach-4-olympic-peninsula-washington-8-22-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=3526","title":{"rendered":"Rialto Beach, the Hoh Rain Forest fiasco & Beach 4, Olympic Peninsula, Washington (8-22-12)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 15 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.<\/em><\/p>\n

After breaking camp at the Klahowya campground on the Olympic Peninsula; Lupe, Lanis and SPHP headed\u00a0SW on Hwy 101 to the town of Forks.\u00a0 There was a U.S. National Park Service Recreation Information Center in Forks, and SPHP wanted to stop in briefly to see if there was ANY place in Olympic National Park where Lupe could go on a trail.<\/p>\n

As expected, the news wasn’t good.\u00a0 Dogs are not allowed on any trails in Olympic National Park.\u00a0 However, there was one place dogs could go, provided they were on a leash.\u00a0 Dogs were allowed on Rialto Beach,\u00a0from the parking lot N about a mile to Ellen Creek.\u00a0 That sounded great!\u00a0 Since Rialto Beach wasn’t too far away; Lupe, Lanis and SPHP were on their way.<\/p>\n

The Olympic Peninsula was turning out to be a far more dangerous place than SPHP had ever imagined.\u00a0 On the way to Rialto Beach,\u00a0there were signs warning\u00a0about vampires!\u00a0 Just yesterday, Lupe had battled Big Paw, and now vampires?!<\/p>\n

\"No,<\/a>
No, vampires beyond this point!? Since when do vampires obey regulations?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The vampire threat level was Code Red!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If Lanis and SPHP were concerned, Lupe wasn’t.\u00a0\u00a0It was a bright and beautiful morning.\u00a0 Sundown wouldn’t be for many hours.\u00a0 Lanis and SPHP could just\u00a0chill for the time being.\u00a0 Vampires never saunter around in broad daylight – everyone knows that!<\/p>\n

Rialto Beach was wonderful!\u00a0 Lupe, Lanis and SPHP headed N along the shore.\u00a0 It was great to see the Pacific Ocean, see and hear the crashing waves, and smell the salty air.\u00a0 The white bleached trunks of huge dead trees were scattered along the high tide line, looking\u00a0like the bones of dinosaurs.\u00a0 Lupe didn’t quite know what to make of it all.\u00a0\u00a0She had seen the ocean at Puget Sound just a couple of days ago, but this\u00a0was the first time she had ever been right on the beach and\u00a0seen the\u00a0endless expanse of the open ocean.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe and Lanis at Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park. Lupe had never seen the broad expanse of the open ocean before.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Near<\/a>
Near the high tide line were numerous dead tree trunks, bleached white by the sun and sea.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe stayed up on the beach.\u00a0 She was a little afraid of the waves.\u00a0 Even though the waves were\u00a0quite small for the ocean, they were bigger than any waves she had ever\u00a0seen before.\u00a0\u00a0Lupe got close to the ocean, but she didn’t go in it at all.\u00a0 She retreated\u00a0ahead of\u00a0each incoming wave.\u00a0 She enjoyed trotting along the wet sand, and sniffing all the very strange scents.\u00a0 To Lupe, Rialto Beach was a very beautiful, but also a very strange and exotic place.<\/p>\n

Lanis became engrossed with shells, rocks and creatures he was finding on the beach, or in tidal pools.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP continued N alone, thoroughly enjoying the stroll next to the Pacific Ocean.\u00a0 Rialto Beach was the farthest W that Lupe had ever been.\u00a0 She had reached the\u00a0North American continent’s edge.\u00a0 She\u00a0could go no further W.<\/p>\n

\"Pacific<\/a>
Pacific Ocean from Rialto Beach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Pacific<\/a>Lupe\u00a0couldn’t go any farther N, either.\u00a0 As Lupe and SPHP approached a\u00a0towering upright rock near the shore, suddenly a park ranger came running up.\u00a0 Lupe couldn’t be here.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had transgressed\u00a0by crossing Ellen Creek.\u00a0 Lupe was almost all the way to Split Rock, which just wasn’t allowed.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, Ellen Creek was just a\u00a0little trickle of water coming out of the sand 10 feet from the ocean.\u00a0 Upstream, it had\u00a0disappeared\u00a0underground long before\u00a0reaching the beach.\u00a0\u00a0The ranger wasn’t upset; she said Ellen Creek is 20 feet wide in the spring, but there was a drought going on.\u00a0 Now that it was late August, Ellen Creek had almost completely dried up.\u00a0\u00a0The ranger\u00a0wasn’t surprised SPHP had missed it, but Lupe still had to go back.<\/p>\n

\"Split<\/a>
Split Rock at Rialto Beach, where the park ranger said Lupe couldn’t be. Lupe and SPHP had to turn back.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reluctantly, Lupe and SPHP\u00a0returned S looking for Lanis.\u00a0 Lanis was still busy looking at rocks and crab shells, but he was ready to go when Lupe found him.\u00a0 Lupe, Lanis and SPHP left Rialto Beach, and headed back to Forks for Subway sandwiches and ice cream bars.\u00a0 Lupe liked both, but clearly favored the ice cream.<\/p>\n

SPHP thought it would be fun to take Lupe to the Hoh Rain Forest.\u00a0 SE of Forks, off Hwy 101, is a turn to the E on Upper Hoh Road.\u00a0 Upper Hoh Road\u00a0enters Olympic National Park,\u00a0and ends at\u00a0the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center.<\/p>\n

It made no sense, though, to pay the park entrance fee, just so Lupe could sit in the Element.\u00a0 SPHP came up with the bright idea of taking\u00a0a different\u00a0road to South Fork campground, instead.\u00a0 South\u00a0Fork campground isn’t in\u00a0Olympic National Park, but\u00a0is pretty close to it.\u00a0 In fact, it’s not\u00a0even very far from the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center.\u00a0 Lupe could probably experience the Hoh Rain Forest just as\u00a0easily at South Fork, and avoid the dog restrictions.<\/p>\n

The turn to South Fork campground was a little farther S on Hwy 101,\u00a0past the turn for Upper Hoh Road.\u00a0 The South Fork road wasn’t bad,\u00a0although it was narrow and winding.\u00a0 After a while, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP found themselves high up on a mountainside.\u00a0 The little road went on and on.\u00a0 This couldn’t be right!\u00a0 South Fork campground was supposed to be down on the South Fork of the Hoh River, not up on a mountain.<\/p>\n

Some miles back, the road had divided.\u00a0 SPHP must have told Lanis to take the wrong fork.\u00a0 There was nothing to do, but turn around.\u00a0 It wasn’t going to be easy up here.\u00a0 Lanis slowly, and very carefully, turned the Element around on the narrow road.\u00a0 Success!\u00a0 Lupe, Lanis and SPHP went back\u00a0down the mountain the way they had come up.<\/p>\n

This time, Lanis took the other fork in the road.\u00a0 Sure enough, it eventually led to South Fork campground, but the road went on even farther from there.\u00a0 Lupe, Lanis and SPHP went all the way to the end of the road.\u00a0 At the end was a place that looked like some kind of small defunct rock quarry.<\/p>\n

\"Lanis<\/a>
Lanis and the Element at the sort of rock quarry place at the end of the road beyond South Fork campground. So, now what?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lanis, Lupe and SPHP got out of the Element.\u00a0 Hmm.\u00a0 No one else was around.\u00a0 Was this a trailhead?\u00a0 There didn’t seem to be any trail.\u00a0 The rock quarry, if that was what it ever was, didn’t look too promising.\u00a0 It was surrounded by forest, but the forest didn’t look like anything special.\u00a0 The forest back at Klahowya campground, where Lupe had spent the previous evening, looked much more like a rain forest than this did.<\/p>\n

SPHP didn’t give up.\u00a0 Looking around, SPHP spied what looked like an old abandoned road or trail heading into the forest.\u00a0 Lupe, Lanis and SPHP set off to explore it.\u00a0 They didn’t get far.\u00a0\u00a0A stream coming down the mountain had washed out, and completely exposed, a\u00a0giant culvert.\u00a0\u00a0A 50-100 foot wide section of the\u00a0mountainside had collapsed, too,\u00a0taking the\u00a0trail with it.\u00a0 The\u00a0trail did continue beyond the huge gap, but there was no reasonable way forward to get to it.<\/p>\n

So, that was it.\u00a0 The whole Hoh Rain Forest episode was just another of SPHP’s adventure fiascoes.\u00a0 A lot of time had been lost winding around on little roads to get nowhere.\u00a0 Even SPHP was ready to give up.\u00a0 Lupe came all this way to see the ocean, not a bunch of trees!\u00a0 There were trees back home, different types, but they were still trees.\u00a0 It was time to return to the Pacific Ocean!<\/p>\n

Back at Hwy 101 again, Lanis turned S.\u00a0 Hwy 101 curved SW, and followed the Hoh River.\u00a0 At the coast, Hwy 101 curved S again.\u00a0 The highway was now at some height above the ocean, but not far from it.\u00a0 Lupe, Lanis and SPHP stopped at a parking lot for Beach 4.\u00a0 A trail led down a steep little hillside to the ocean.<\/p>\n

This was what Lupe had come all the way to the West Coast for!\u00a0 Beach 4 was marvelous.\u00a0 Lanis, SPHP, and even Lupe went wading in the Pacific Ocean.\u00a0 For a few minutes, the\u00a0cold water felt\u00a0good.\u00a0 Then it was time to warm\u00a0paws and feet up again on the\u00a0dry sand.\u00a0 Back and forth,\u00a0in and out of the sea, again and again.\u00a0\u00a0Lupe, Lanis and SPHP\u00a0wandered N along the beach.\u00a0 Waves crashed against rocks sending spray from the collisions skyward.\u00a0 The sea, the sea, the beautiful sea!<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe and Lanis at Beach 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beach<\/a>
Beach 4, Olympic Peninsula.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"At<\/a>
At Beach 4, Lupe went wading in the Pacific Ocean for the very first time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Lupe<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Full<\/a>
Full of deep meaning and profound significance, this what-cha-ma-call-it was at Beach 4. SPHP suspects it may have been built by a tribe of modern Lanis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Oregon coast\u00a0has a reputation for\u00a0the most beautiful scenery along the Pacific Ocean\u00a0in the lower 48 states, but\u00a0Washington state’s Beach 4, where she\u00a0waded\u00a0in\u00a0the sea for the first time,\u00a0was a place of wonder for Lupe.\u00a0 Lupe, Lanis, and SPHP lingered at Beach 4 enjoying the beauty of the ocean, as the sun began slipping from the sky.<\/p>\n

And that’s where this post leaves them, until another post by and by.<\/em>\"Beach<\/a>\"Lupe<\/a>Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Adventure<\/span><\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Prior Adventure<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s 2012 West Coast\u00a0Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0Dingo Vacations Adventure Index<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span> or Master Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 15 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast. After breaking camp at the Klahowya campground on the Olympic Peninsula; Lupe, Lanis and SPHP headed\u00a0SW on Hwy 101 to the town of Forks.\u00a0 There was a U.S. National Park Service Recreation Information Center in Forks, and SPHP wanted to stop in briefly to … Continue reading Rialto Beach, the Hoh Rain Forest fiasco & Beach 4, Olympic Peninsula, Washington (8-22-12)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[429],"tags":[105,516,106,26,517,104,513,514,515,501],"class_list":["post-3526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2012-west-coast","tag-american-dingo","tag-beach-4","tag-carolina-dog","tag-dingo-vacations","tag-hoh-rain-forest","tag-lupe","tag-olympic-national-park","tag-rialto-beach","tag-vampires","tag-washington"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/P1030746.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3526"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20771,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3526\/revisions\/20771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}