Washington Day 4

Today we had some of the strangest experiences that we will never forget...it was a day of the beautiful and bizarre.  So, today is our "springs" day as this park has an area where there are some natural hot springs you can visit in the Sol Duc valley.  The beautiful part was a hike to the huge Sol Duc falls...it was a gorgeous hike through the forest of pines, cedar and hemlock trees dripping with moss. Ferns were everywhere and the moisture was filling the air.  The end was the falls which cascaded down 4 different huge canyons.

Sol Duc Falls

We then headed to the Sol Duc hot springs resort.  There are some hot springs there that you can swim in and they were literally turned into swimming pools like you would see at a resort.  So we dared to go...the first thing you notice is the smell of sulfur that almost knocks you off your feet and then you wonder, I have to swim in that? Well, everyone else was as the joint was packed so in we went.  They had 3 different pools that varied in temp from 99 to105 degrees.  They also had a normal chlorine pool.  Since it was only 55 degrees out, I was strangely happy to get in that stinky, hot spring.  It did feel nice and the people watching was top notch...everyone from Europeans speaking other languages to the old, young, small and large- all in swimsuits, in stinky hot tubs...it was bizarre.

Stinky hot springs

 But it got even more bizarre as we finished up, I was thrilled there were free hot showers as I have not had a real shower in 14 days now...I was thrilled until I entered the locker room to find communal showers with no curtains...it was just all open with women of all shapes and sizes, soaping up completely nude...my girls were so traumatized and Leah's eyes were bulging out of her head.  Tim and Noah had a similar experience in their locker-room.   We  ran out of there fast and headed to Forks for laundry while Tim and the kids got some ice cream.  Then it was back to camp for dinner and that beautiful sunset from our campfire.  Interesting day!

Ocean view from our campsite