October, 2020
Today was our last full day here. There were still lots of things to see and do in the area, closeby and at just a little bit of distance. But we were running out of time. So today we chose to forego everything else and take a very slow drive along the road that runs along the south shore of Lake Quinault. We were going to explore the “town” of Lake Quinault.
Not all clumped together as in a usual town, but spread out along the shore here, there is a fire station, and an office door in another building that says it’s “police”, there are two gas stations, three restaurants, a mercantile, a very old and sizable lodge right on the lake shore, several homes, two State Park campgrounds with gorgeous huge trees and with campsites meant just for tenting or for small RV’s (no trailers!), and there are some really cool historic cabins right on the lake shore too (although they aren’t open to the public). And, of course, there’s a cemetery. Fun times! 🙂
So we explored most of those things using the big white truck to get there, but we often parked and walked too. We had a great time doing that.
First we stopped at Lake Quinault Lodge, built in 1926. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. With 91 rooms, many with a front row view of the lake, it has a room for you!
Oops, I didn’t notice the damage to the ceiling light fixture above until I uploaded the photo to the blog. I hope someone at the Lodge notices the damage and fixes it.
Next up the road was the Quinault Mercantile … anything you could ever want was for sale in there.
I couldn’t find information about how old the Mercantile is, but it seems to have been here for many decades. The siding and the gutters and the roof and those support posts seemed “new” but the wooden plank floor inside was very old and worn. I liked that it felt old.
On the other hand, while we were here at the Mercantile, this absolutely modern and monstrous semi truck/trailer arrived, parked barely off the road in front of the Mercantile, and off-loaded lots of items that would be sold in the store … clothing, food, dishes, etc. That was the biggest semi trailer I had ever seen. There must be a place up-road for it to turn around, yes?
A bit further up the road, we found this sign, below. Hooray, let’s go see the cemetery!
There were people buried here from many years ago. There were also a few graves here that were relatively recent. The three oldest are below …
Ellen Hulten, born in 1848, died in 1935 at about 87 years of age. One wonders who she was, how she came to live at Lake Quinault. I hope she loved it here.
On one edge of the cemetery, we found a path that led through a few trees and came out the other side of those trees onto this …
It was a very nicely manicured lawn in the middle of the forest, with a packed gravel road along one side of it. But there were no signs anywhere … no fences either, to keep us out … but nothing to tell us what this was. In the photo above, you can see there are 15 pair of PVC pipes on each side of the field … one big PVC pipe and one smaller PVC pipe. I’d guess that each pair was about 30 feet apart. What are these pipes? Sewer and water? Or sewer and a vent? There was no evidence of vehicle tracks on this land, but the land was obviously being perfectly mowed and was almost weed-free. What’s up?
And then we walked a bit further on that pathway through another bunch of trees to find this sign below, and we found the start of what looked like a really pretty trail.
It surely was tempting, but we didn’t have time today. Maybe the trail to Gatton Creek and to Cascade Falls will be on the list on my next trip to Lake Quinault.
The drive today was great. We drove all of maybe three miles along the lake, then we turned around and drove another three miles back to the resort/campground. But we stopped often and explored and chatted with folks and wondered about the things we didn’t know about. It was a great day and a lot of fun. Sometimes these sorts of easy, simple days are the best. 🙂
That first headstone was a surprise to me as my mother’s name was Helen Higley. My mother was born in 1908 however and is buried here in England. I too like to think that all three of the women buried at Lake Quinault surely loved living there.
What a coincidence. I like that. Henry, I like to think that your mother Helen loved living where she did too. Thank you. 🙂
That’s one handsome Lodge. Every blog you write, Ann, there’s always somewhere we want to go. Thanks for keeping us retired people entertained. I wonder if that large empty property is going to be small cabins to rent, maybe with water/sewer in the ground and then they’ll get overhead electricity.
I hadn’t thought of that possibility, Tim, that the land may be planned for future cabins. That’s a great idea. In fact, I think you and your wife should get over here and make that happen. My friend Jan and I will come visit and pay you money. 🙂
Cemeteries are fascinating, especially small ones where you can find generations of names and then wonder about the history of those families. Love that Lodge!!
Isn’t that Lodge just great?! And cemeteries too? Thanks Wanda.
Love the interior of that Lodge, I could just sit there and be warm and perfectly happy.
Jim
Oh, yes, that’s exactly how it felt to be in that room … so warm and comfortable you could just sit down and live there forever. 🙂
I drove truck for a few years. That semi driver did not come all the way up this road without knowing there was a turn-around, you can bet. But yep it is a big trailer that’s for sure. I was thinking the same thing Tim was, that maybe those PVC pipes are for rental cabins that haven’t been built yet.
Yep, bet you’re right Joe, that truck driver knows exactly where he/she is going to go to turn around. Sometimes I fret about turning my trailer around, but those semi trucks are bigger than I am and those drivers sometimes deal with less space, you know! Come here and help Tim and his wife build those cabins. 🙂
What a treat that trip was!
Oh I’m glad you liked it. It was super. I sure wish you and Russ and Charlotte could come along. The only reason for my blog is you, you know. 🙂 Eeek!