I didn’t expect to ever see Olympic National Park again when I said goodbye to it at the end of our Open Road trip in 2015, but the route we had planned for in this 2021 trip had now been officially abandoned to avoid heat waves and fires going on further inland—thus we fled to the coast of NorCal when we were ambushed by the Shasta fire, and now were slowly and steadily working our way toward the Canada border, hugging the ocean.
We bid a reluctant goodbye to Oregon’s charms, and after a night spent on the stony bank of the Hoh River at a farmer’s private no-frills campground (Allen’s Bar on Google, highly recommend for $5) we managed to nab a beachfront spot at the South Kalaloch Beach Campground in Olympic National Park.
The trick to getting a spot in a first-come-first-serve campground (our only hope with the parks so crowded and no reservations available) is to arrive early in the morning with your patience pants on, and be ready to pounce as soon as anyone vacates their spot.
Stre…
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