I recognize the Western Red Cedars near Quinalt. I have a picture or two, but hers is way better.
I used to do a lot of backpacking in the Olympic National Park. As recently as four years ago my son and I did a 52 miler up on the Skyline Trail to Low Divide and back down the North Fork of the Quinalt River.
I prefer the alpine and sub-alpine areas of the rainforest to hike in. That's the best of both worlds. You have to hike the low country to get to the high country. It's all beautiful!
Mike

The 2001 Global Forest/University of Washington book Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast by Robert Van Pelt shows and describes 117 individual trees in detail.

oh boy. do i have my Sitka Spruce .. in the wrong space.. lol ..

of course.. i probably wont be around in a few hundred years to worry about it .. lol

ken

Amazing trees. Wow!

Here's a moss draped Acer macrophyllum growing in the Hoh Valley. Picture taken the first week in April 2006 just before leafing out.
It's a magical place to hike, both in the summer and winter. Many Roosevelt Elk spend the winter there and keep the old growth rainforest relatively open.
Mike
{{gwi:771603}}

WA used to have huge numbers of elk, the dense thickets of brush we have today are probably a result of European settlement. Kind of ironic, considering what Britain and northern Europe look like.

Wow...the more photos I see of this place the more I think I need to visit. You say that both summer and winter are good times - which is your favorite and why?
Sara

Don't forget your rain gear! That place is dripping wet even when it's dry.

+oM

The Olympic Peninsula's mountains are like an island. The windward side is to the southwest and very wet. The leeward side is to the northeast and relatively dry.
When we have our clear, dry air coming from the north is when to go hiking in the rainforest. That's when it's fairly dry, even in the winter. The lowland valleys in the rainforest rarely see snow, so hiking in them then is a real treat....as long as it's dry. At that time the high country is inaccessible. A few thousand feet in elevation makes a big difference.

When the prevailing wind was coming from the southwest I'd go hiking on the northeast side, up behind the town of Sequim. I read that Sequim is the driest place on the coast north of Los Angeles. It's situated in a 'rain shadow'.

I should scan some of my old hiking pictures so I can post a few.
Mike

Generally in western WA precipitation peaks in November and bottoms out in July-August. November is the stormiest month of the year, while there may still be multiple nice days as late as Halloween - the heavier rainfall comes on rapidly in fall, then after the November peak trails off gradually, over a period of many months. We just had thunderstorms and downpours last night. In the lowlands spring is February to July.

Due to the annual July-August drought, right in the middle of the growing season plantings of anything not well established and adapted to summer drought have to be watered generously to be any good - even though it "rains all the time". This regular summer interruption is also why it is pointed out that the otherwise sodden Olympic valleys are not true rain forests.

I'm not sure of Bboy's definition of a rainforest, but the Hoh valley typically gets 140 to 170 inches of rain annually. I live in Port Angeles which is less than 40 miles away from the Hoh valley as the crow flies and is the location of the park headquarters. Here, we average ~25.5 inches of rain as a result of being in the rain shadow of the Olympics. Across the entire region, roughly 80% of our annual rainfall comes from October through March.

The maritime influence significantly moderates our temperatures. The highest average daily temperature is 70 degrees and the lowest daily average is 34 degrees. As Mike has suggested, there really isn't a bad time to visit. I would recommend visiting anytime between May and September when you can also appreciate the maples and other deciduous trees.

Sara, let us know and we'll provide some detailed route recommendations.

Bill