Two Girls Roving: Day 12 – Ruby Beach & Very Big Trees

Two Girls Roving: The tale of a 16 day, 3522 mile road trip to the Pacific Northwest in celebration of my friend’s college graduation! Follow along for all the shenanigans through thousands of miles, eight National Park Service units, night after night of camping, and even some coastal backpacking!

September 3, 2024

Our final day in Washington was upon us as dawn came in the Hoh Rainforest. Today we would work our way south, making the last stops in Olympic National Park before meeting my adventure bestie, Eric, for pho. Then we’d hit I-5 for a jaunt to our final campground of the trip at Sunset Falls Campground in the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest on the southern edge of Washington. I was feeling a bit of melancholy because I was not ready to return to society and the interstate highway system, but all good things must come to an end I suppose.

Though the weather was sunny and a tad too hot the afternoon before, the morning brought some PNW moodiness (a touch of “The Grey” as Eric calls it), but thankfully no rain (yay dry tent!). It was early morning, so our drive out on the Upper Hoh Road was quick, aside from a quick U-turn to photograph “Bob Moss.”

The first time Janice and I explored the Olympic Peninsula we had a Dodge Charger for a rental, and were thwarted in following random road signs pointing us down forest service roads to giant trees. Equipped a little better on this trip, the first opportunity we saw to take a random road to a big tree we didn’t hesitate to go… even if we mused this is how serial killers lure tourists deep into the forest.

We had no idea what the Duncan Memorial Cedar (or Duncan Cedar or Nolan Creek Tree… many names for this giant) was when we traversed the four miles of forest roads to get to it, except it was some sort of Very Big Tree. Turns out Duncan is the world’s largest known Western redcedar (though the Cheewhat Giant on Vancouver Island is disputed to be bigger… giant cedar tree wars, apparently), the largest tree of any species in Washington, and is one of the largest trees on our planet in general outside of California’s giants. It was discovered by loggers Wiley and Ed Duncan during a timber sale in the mid-1970s, and the local Lions Club in Forks petitioned for its protection.

The height of this tree is 178 feet tall, with a diameter of 19.4 feet at the base, and total volume of trunk is 15330 cubic feet.

Side trip was worth it!

Next we headed back into coastal Olympic National Park, and to Janice’s favorite place on Earth, Ruby Beach. We left Hoh Rainforest early in hoping to make it to Ruby Beach during the tail end of low tide so we could catch some of the tidepools.

Marked by impressive sea stacks and an insane amount of drift wood, Ruby Beach is the northernmost of the southern beaches in the Kalaloch area. Three miles north of the beach access is the Hoh River, and it is possible to hike the whole area (whilst paying attention to tides, of course). Destruction Island and its lighthouse is located four miles offshore of Ruby Beach, and can easily be viewed.

Janice and I headed to the tidepools first so we could find starfish and anenomes as the tide came storming back in. We then meandered south along the beach with no goal in mind except taking in the Pacific Ocean for one last time on this trip.

Back on the road, I saw another sign for a Very Big Tree, so we pulled into the parking area for the Kalaloch Big Cedar Tree. Located just a few hundred feet down a nice, wide gravel trail we met our second giant of the day. Unfortunately, half of the once 175-foot tall Western redcedar collapsed during a storm in 2014, losing its status as the third-tallest. Despite the damage, it still was neat to walk around the tree, and also glance at the other trees in the Western redcedar grove. The decaying portion of tree is now giving new life to seedlings as a nurse tree.

At Kalaloch Beach we stopped for coffee and snacks at the lodge, and popped into the ranger station for passport stamps (and another book for me I believe… hell, I bought so many on this trip it all started blurring together on when I acquired one of the dozen books I purchased – I had filled a bag and the glove compartment by this point!). We made a quick stop in Humptulips so I could mail some postcards, and continued towards Aberdeen. After visiting the world’s worst Starbucks and grabbing gas, we turned east and towards Olympia and pho. Bye-bye, coastal Washington!

Eric met us for pho in Olympia, and we spent several hours catching up on adventure plans and life, along with exchanging custody of Mr. Rock, a giant rock I picked up in 2022 that was too large to ever fly with and as a result had to live at Eric’s house until I visited with a vehicle. Janice and I still had a few hours to drive to reach camp for the night, so we eventually set out in the early evening, cruising down I-5, dancing in our seats with glimpses of Mount St. Helens every so often (and my resulting squeals, even though I am still convinced that volcano has a death wish against me, and roped Mount Adams into her nonsense as well).

Janice and I settled into the quiet Sunset Falls Campground just north of Vancouver in the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest shortly after sunset. Finally, after nearly two weeks of camping, Janice finally got really creeped out by only being protected by thin sheets of nylon as she smelled what she claimed is Sasquatch and got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Naturally, this all occurred just about the time I had to get out of the tent to pee. Janice refused to come with me, but I am happy to report that I made it back into the tent alive. Some excitement for our final night in the tent!

Travel states, facts, & things with no context from Janice and I:

• ~290 miles and 5 hours 50 minutes of driving
• 1 NPS unit visited
  • Olympic National Park
    • $30 fee (good for 7 consecutive days) or use an annual federal lands pass such as the America the Beautiful pass
• Go see the Very Big Trees
• All the memes about Aberdeen are true

Accommodations for the night:

• Sunset Falls Campground
  • Site 6
  • $29.70 for tent site (2024)
  • No cell service (Verizon)
  • Vault toilets
  • The good:
    • Quiet on a weekday in September
    • Walking distance to Sunset Falls
  • The bad:
    • Sasquatch is here, lurking around after dark
    • A bit expensive for the amenities offered