Not Your Typical 21st Birthday in the Olympic Peninsula
With the state of the world being what it is now, I’ve been finding it difficult to dream about traveling. In my room, I have a whole wall dedicated to photos from my travels. When I have an off day, one of my favorite things to do is look up at the wall to see all the faces I have met and reminisce on all the stories I made with each person.
Ever since the shelter in place order went into effect, I have been finding it difficult to get excited about travel. Most days a “win” is simply changing out of my pajamas! I have been in survival mode lately just trying to provide for my family, my community, and supporting others who I know are struggling.
Then I saw a photo of me and some of my best girlfriends, from one of my favorite trips of all time, and I felt the travel bug bite me again.
When I was 21 my parents gave me the best birthday party ever, a cabin weekend at the Olympic Peninsula with some of my favorite people. To give you some background, I wasn’t your typical “let’s go to Vegas for my 21st” type of girl - literally, the hashtag for the cabin weekend was #sobersammy21 (haha!)
To help orient you to this part of the country, the Olympic Peninsula is on the far NW corner of Washington State. It’s a large area, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the north, and the Hood Canal in the east. The natural beauty throughout this region makes it a great destination for a road trip type vacation. In this area, there is a combination of federal lands such as Olympic National Park which covers nearly 1 million acres of the Peninsula. This area also includes state forests lands and tribal lands; in fact there are eight tribal communities that still recognize relationships with the region. The map below shows an outline of what land boundaries make up the Olympic Peninsula.
My family and friends were mostly coming from the direction of Vancouver, Washington which meant we had to drive about three hours north. However, people can fly into Portland International Airport (PDX) and drive north about 3 hours or fly into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and drive west for about 1.5 hours to get there. Because there are many sites to see, areas to hike, and beaches to explore (I’ve highlighted some of my favorites below) you’ll want to take some time to plan your route before you go to minimize drive time, and maximize exploring time! Plan your route here.
Our home base for the weekend was a cabin that looked out on Lake Quinault. Each morning the fog would hover over the lake and then slowly dissipate as the day warmed up, exposing the nearby snow-tipped mountains. We would start our day with a delicious breakfast, which could feed around 15 people, and then groups of us would break up to do different activities throughout the day. Some would hike, stay back at the cabin, or venture into town.
I found our trip to the Olympic National Forest as a great representation of the Pacific Northwest for all its natural beauty, from the moss on the trees to the beaches. Nature has a way of putting things into perspective. At one point my aunt was standing next to one of the tallest trees and it reminded me of how limited our time is and how powerful nature is.
Here are a few of our favorite places we visited during out time on the Olympic Peninsula:
Ruby Beach is a beautiful beach to stop at and represents our region well. Something to keep in mind about the Pacific Northwest beaches is they tend to be colder and more wet but never underestimate their beauty. Here’s a local tip: bring a light rain jacket no matter what time of year.
The Hoh Rainforest is a MUST see any time of year! The natural beauty here is unbelievable, and worth the drive itself.
Lake Quinault - we rented a cabin here and it was a great home base location for us to optimize our time on this vacation.
Olympic National Forest has 8 nature trails that can mostly be enjoyed year-round and are considered low elevation. I recommend giving yourself extra time to take your time on these trails and to take in all the beauty on these trails.
It was a birthday trip full of gratitude, nature and being together (something I’m missing more than anything right now). Sometimes the most magical places can be found right in our backyards.
I hope this post inspires you to visit the Olympic Peninsula someday and brings some joy to your day.
Stay safe out there friends,
Sammy
LBT Blog Contributor
Photo of cabin group *not everyone photographed*