Spruce Railroad Trail to Olympic Discovery Trail

10.1 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •

Today started out to be a fantastic day. We started out by visiting Hurricane Ridge to get a spectacular view of the Olympic Mt. Range. It was such a long drive that we weren't able to go hiking until about 2pm in the afternoon.

We decided on the Spruce Railroad Trail as it was very close to Hwy 101 and on the way back to Forks where we were staying. All we expected on this trail was the typical railroad trail, but it was anything but that! The first 3/10 mile is your typical railroad trail, but after that the trail becomes narrow and dives down to track the coast of Lake Crescent. I would vote this as being the least like a railroad trail then all others I have been on! After about a mile the view of Lake Crescent is amazing and you'll get to a steel bridge that spans across a small portion of the lake itself! The bridge is very well built and you can see deep into the clear turquoise water! After that short span of views the trail becomes more of a forest type hike, but you will get views of the lake through the trees. Towards the end of the hike you will come upon the remains of an incomplete tunnel, and the info found online tells you not to go in. I assume the structure is unstable! Towards the end of the hike you will also get more outstanding views of the lake and surrounding mountains. At about four miles you will meet up with the Olympic Discovery Trail, which is paved but with a gravel shoulder to walk on. We followed that for another mile. It's worth looking online for info on the Olympic Discovery Trail as the plans are for this to be a very long trail system!

After such a nice hike, and near sundown, we were driving back to Forks when a large deer walked out in front of our car!!! My wife was driving and it was amazing how she didn't veer off the road or swerve into the oncoming lane to avoid the collision. She braked as fast as possible, but without jamming it on completely, but the deer unfortunately didn't stand a chance and was killed instantly! : ( My wife was practically crying while breaking knowing the deer had no chance, but that veering wasn't an option. The deer had stopped and just stood there watching the car, but paralyzed by the lights, and then the car went over it! Some very nice people stopped and were very supportive, and the gentleman dragged the deer off the road as other cars almost hit it. We called 911 and a State Trooper was there within about 10 minutes. The Trooper dragged the deer off the side of the road down the embankment and into the high grasses. He was very supportive and said my wife had the absolute best response as off to the right was a ditch and wall of dirt and on the left another car and then drop off. The result for us would not have been pretty, and we feel terrible about killing a deer! : (

Fortunately, our Subaru Forester is quite the vehicle in that only some front end damage occurred. No leaks or driveability issues had occurred. We were quoted about $1800 damage by the auto body repair shop, and it's fully covered with no deductible since the damage was due to an animal.

Our dinner plans didn't happen as we got back too late, 9pm, and just barely caught a sandwich before a drive-in closed. What a sad end to a day with a fantastic start.

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