Kalaloch Lodge in Olympic National Park

We stay at the Kalaloch Lodge in Olympic National Park, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The lodge is adjacent to eight beautiful beaches (which we'll explore) and a short trip away from the mountain and rainforest trails.  We arrive and walk out to the beach at the lodge.

The lodge rests on a fifty-foot (15 meter) bluff overlooking the ocean, just north of the Quinault Nation reservation.  This spot was one of the few safe spots for landing dugout canoos between the Quinault and Hoh Rivers ("Kalaloch" loosely translating as "good place to land").

In 1925, Charles W.  Becker, Sr. purchased a 40-acre plat from the government and built the lodge and cabins using milled wood from driftwood logs washed up on the beach.  In the late 1930s, President Roosevelt designated about 1 million acres (1,560 sq. miles, 4,045 sq. km) as the Olympic National Park and in 1978, the National Park Service purchased Becker's property and opened the Kalaloch Lodge.  In 1981, the Olymipc National Park became a World Heritage Site.

The beach at the lodge

The bluff

The lodge

View out our cabin window

As the sun sets, we (and almost everyone else at the lodge) wander over to the bluff to watch the colors change over the Pacific.

Sunset begins

We dine in the Creekside Reseaurant in the lodge (the next closest restaurant is about 20 miles (32 km) away), which turns out to have fabulous locally-sourced meals.  We have fish and chips, made with locally-caught cod.

Dinner

The sun continues to set over the Pacific as we dine on our fish and chips and glasses of local white wine.

Sunset continues

We wind up our day, planning and preparing for some serious beach exploration tomorrow.