Forks Washington on the Olympic Peninsula

The Olympic Peninsula Community Museum never ceases to amaze us. This colorful photograph of beautiful fall foliage in the Olympics, which is part of the Olympic National Park Flora collection, is just one small example of what you’ll find there. The online museum is organized into fascinating exhibits — each representing a different aspect of our richly diverse West End culture and history. While there are just too many worthwhile exhibits to mention, we particularly enjoyed learning more about the Mountaineers’ 1920 Outing to Mt. Olympus (what hardcores!); Fannie Taylor, Postmistress of Mora; and the Great Forks Fire of 1951. The archived images of Hoh Tribe Baskets and Artifacts also caught our eye. And that’s barely scratching the surface of what’s available at this interesting resource!

When people are asked to name one of the world’s finest trails, they often think of National Scenic Trails, such as the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail. Now, after an effort spanning nearly 40 years, the Pacific Northwest Trail has achieved National Scenic Trail status as well.

The Olympic National Park has made several announcements that may be of interest to visitors to the Olympic Peninsula this summer.
First of all, we like the sound of these Fee-Free Weekends at the park. Entrance fees (only) will be waived during the weekends of July 18-19 and August 15-16 this year. The fee is usually $15 per vehicle (or $5 per person on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, etc.). So, that’s one more reason to visit ONP this summer!

Fishers–those darling little critters similar to minks or otters–were recently reintroduced to the Olympic National Park. They disappeared in the mid-1900’s due to over-trapping and loss of habitat. Their recovery appears to be on the road to success, based on these first sightings of newborn fishers in their native habitat. Check out the cute-as-a-bug’s-ear video and pictures from from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Watch carefully as the mother fisher carries each of her four kits down a den snag in the forest and off to a new location. This is great news! Congratulations to the WDFW and the Olympic National Park on the success of the Olympic fisher reintroduction project.

According to this post from Backpacker.com’s blog, The Daily Dirt, a reported 30% increase in visitors to the Olympic National Park can be attributed to Twilight fans. As they put it, the increase is due to fans who are “there to immerse themselves in the Twilight landscape (and, presumably, to catch a glimpse of a vampire of their very own).” Whether or not this is really true (frankly, we’re still seeing the same ole crusty hikers we’ve always seen out there . . .) the post is a good read, with quotes from one of our favorite local rangers, Jon Preston. We’re all over Jon’s idea of a nature program on bloodsuckers! You’re not going to find forests more impressive than those found in the Olympic National Park anywhere–so whether your goal is to “see what Bella saw,” or you just want to see, um, “real” stuff like black bears, mountain goats and eagles in their natural habitat, be sure to check out this awesome park when you’re visiting Forks and the West End.