On Day 2 of our vacation we tackled the Quinault River-Pony Bridge Trail just past Lake Quinault. You have to drive about 15 miles on a dirt road to get to the trailhead, so it takes a bit longer to get there than you might plan. Once again, this trail took us into the Olympic National Park and we were surrounded by big trees! This trailhead is a starting off point for lots of trails: Graves Creek, the Enchanted Valley Trail, even to cross the entire park and end up on the west side in Dosewallips (someday!) Needless to say the trailhead was really crowded; easily 30 cars.
The trail has a couple bridges over the river right away and starts out as a converted forest road for the first couple miles. It was really well maintained, though quite rocky in places. Once again we were thankful that we've trained on Green Mountain in Kitsap County, because the steep, rocky trails have prepared us for these kinds of adventures. Along the way we saw huge trees, a few horses on the trail and a really cool little pool that we decided was the fountain of youth :-)
As we came around the bend near Pony Bridge and saw the beautiful teal river below, we understood why this trail is so popular.
The guidebook talks about being able to retreat back from the trail to find access down to the river, but we couldn't find a good spot. We ventured past the bridge along the river to find several small trails that look like campers have created. We ate our snack here and enjoyed the solitude of the river.
As we were hiking back we heard a familiar call in the forest, it was the same sound the owls made that we saw on the Wildcat Lake trail. We slowed down and kept following the sound until we finally saw it up in the tree!! We watched him for quite a while and then waited for some hikers we saw coming up the trail so we could point him out. They were really excited to see it too and started snapping photos. Of course, a little owl in a dark forest is hard to capture with a small hiking camera...
The hike was great and so was the drive home. We took the North Shore route back along Lake Quinault, and it was beautiful.
Along the drive we were stopped by a passing car of tourists from Germany who were worried they were lost. Apparently, if you're German, Chris has an accent that makes him sound likes he's from Texas. (That really bugged him!) It was another incredible day in ONP, amazing views, beautiful sunny weather and the best companion I could ever have.
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