The Hoh River means many things to many people. For me, a prettier river would be hard to find, and the thought of a wild Hoh steelhead jumping with my fly in its mouth sends shivers up my spine. There is something mystical, almost enchanting, about walking around in a rain forest. You expect to see a hobbit scurry behind a fern, or an elf tucking behind a tree. Standing in the rain forest you feel very small.
Humongous trees tower all around and the surreal canopy of green mosses casts a glow on everything.
An aqua ribbon of water, the Hoh, winds down from Mt. Olympus through the Hoh Rain Forest, one of three major rain forests on the Olympic Peninsula. Temperate rain forests look like a tropical jungle. The difference, obviously, is the temperature. They are no less intriguing through, with an intricate biological interwoven ecosystem. Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas fir and western red cedar all grow to incredible dimensions in the rain forest.