We headed to some free DNR camping near the Hoh Rain Forest and Olympic National Park about one third of the way down the west coast

Minnie Peterson was the daughter of Swedish immigrants and lived her life as a guide, outfitter and notable packer until 1978.

The rain forest gets a up to 14 feet of rain a year, fortunately we had sunshine every day and just marveled at the lush vegetation all around us.

We couldn’t believe this campground was empty when we arrived, and we got the primo spot, site 3.

Such beautiful old trees with moss draping from them.

The view from the coach down the lane where the other campsites were. While others were paying $50 a night for electric and water hook-ups, this campground was perfect for us, free and no hook-ups.

The Hoh river is about 50 miles long and flows from Mount Olympus to the Pacific Ocean

So we seen the biggest truck, biggest piggy bank, now we have the Tallest Red Cedar Tree, at about 180 feet tall and although it doesn’t look it, it’s still alive with new growth at the very top

  

About 15 miles to the south west were the beaches and the closest was Ruby Beach.

It was a lovely spot but a struggle to get down to climbing over the old driftwood. There were people swimming in the ocean, but they were fully clothed

The next beach was Beach 4, followed by 3, 2 and 1. Don’t know why they only named Ruby Beach.

This was an interesting tree, growing on top of a fallen tree

On Day 2 of our tour of beaches the weather took a turn but it didn’t matter as the lush surroundings was a feast for the eyes.

Although this trail to the beach was terraced so easier to navigate going down, it was steep coming back up

So we stayed at Minnie Peterson as long as we could dry camping, we hadn’t come prepared so after 3 days we were getting low on water and supplies. So, reluctantly we had to leave and keep heading south.