Olympic 国家公园Olympic National Park
山上的大雾，湖边的早餐，和暑假里难得宽松的森林Fog on the ridge, breakfast by the lake, and room to walk in a summer forest
去 Olympic 国家公园，第一天先看了一场大雾。Hurricane Ridge 在公园北边，天气好的时候，据说可以望到加拿大。我们去那天，连自己这边的山也没看见。公路在前面拐进白茫茫里，树一排比一排淡，最后只剩近处几根枝条。原本是上山看远处的，结果这么近的地方就够看了，毕竟以前也没见过这么大的雾。
第二天在 Lake Crescent 吃早餐。山坡上的树林一直长到水边，湖被夹在中间。早饭是三明治，没有什么特别的安排，不过吃早饭的地方选在这里，就已经很不错了。
这一趟绕着半岛开，真正需要赶早的是 Hoh Rain Forest。我们八点左右到，车已经在门口排着了。夏天来国家公园，谁都知道要早一点。好在这里的队没有一路排进林子，入口限着车，里面的人和车就都散得开。
国家公园的夏天，我喜欢的其实是这种宽松。有路开进去，下了车还能好好走一段，不用一直挤在人群里。林子很大，步道只占窄窄的一条，倒下的树上也还长着东西。我们一路走，又遇到不少松鼠。
走完回到车上，接着绕半岛。出了这一片林子，路两边还是树。
Our first day in Olympic National Park went to the fog. Hurricane Ridge is on the north side of the park; in clear weather, apparently you can see Canada. We couldn’t even see the mountains on our own side. The road bent into white, each row of trees fainter than the last, until only a few nearby branches remained. We had driven up for a distant view and ended up with plenty to look at close by. We had never seen fog quite this thick.
The next morning we had breakfast at Lake Crescent. Forest covered the slopes right down to the water, the lake tucked between them. Breakfast was sandwiches. Nothing elaborate planned, but choosing this spot to eat was already a pretty good arrangement.
We drove around the peninsula on this trip, and the Hoh Rain Forest was the stop that called for an early start. We arrived around eight, with cars already queuing at the entrance. Everyone knows to come early to a national park in summer. Fortunately the queue didn’t follow us into the forest. They held cars at the entrance, leaving room for people and traffic to spread out inside.
This is what I like about national parks in summer: having a little room. A road that gets you in, then a proper walk without being pressed into a crowd the whole way. The forest was big, the trail just a narrow strip through it, and even the fallen trees had things growing on them. We saw plenty of squirrels along the way.
Back in the car, we carried on around the peninsula. Beyond this stretch of forest, the road still had trees on both sides.
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