I'm off to ONP in a few days and the long range forecast (though I know it can change, and I hope it will ;-)) is for clouds and showers to replace the great sunny days Washington has been enjoying.

I remember reading somewhere that if it's overcast, it's not worth visiting Hurricane Ridge. Is this really true?

It's often true, since it would be as if you are in a very foggy location with no views, BUT...sometimes the clouds are high, in which case you will still get views, or sometimes the cloud cover isn't too thick, and you get some neat views through swirling clouds. I'd call the visitor's center up there that day and ask-mountain weather is very changable and you never know.

A common weather pattern in this part of the world is that a cloudy day may turn sunny in the afternoon--sometimes in the very late afternoon.

About fifteen years ago I was with visitors in Port Angeles on a cloudy day and we were all disappointed that the view at Hurricane Ridge was obscured. However, during an early dinner the skies cleared. We skipped dessert and drove to Hurricane Ridge. It was a great day for all of us.

BRING STRONG BUG SPRAY!!!!!

Where's it buggy?

Pretty much all of ONP. I remember being attacked on Hurricane Ridge in particular...it was our "day of arrival" hike, so we weren't really in the mode yet, and we left with no bug spray at all. On the next few hikes in the rain forest we use the "family friendly" OFF that we brought with us...we still got lots of bugs on us. We finally bought spray with DEET and it helped. If you were to ask my daughter what she remembers about our wonderful trip to the ONP, I fear she would say "the bug!" (Note: don't know if it's seasonal. We were there in early August.)

Bug season's a little different every year, but this late in the season I can't imagine you'll encounter very many. Taking spray just in case is always a good idea, though.

I was in ONP the 1st week in August and we had to buy bugspray at the Hoh Rainforest visitor center. They were horrible and although we didnt get bitten really, they still fly up to you and around you enough to be very annoying.

We were there in July and there weren't any bugs. I read an article about effective bug sprays. One of the best is Repel or one like it made with eucalyptus and lemon oils. I used it in Alaska and the mosquitoes never touched me. The best part is that there's no poison and you don't feel bad leaving it on your skin all day.

One of the surprising things about living in the PNW is the lack of bugs in the cities, at least. Some people don't even have screens. Maybe it's because we have drought-like conditions in the summer, with little standing, stagnant water.

I know you can grow mosquitos if you try, though, as we had a pond that grew them when we didn't run the fountain in Portland when we were remodeling. It was like having our own little incubator! How cute! All these babies! I'd never seen Mosquito larvae before that. When we realized what was going on, we drained our little swamp of a pond and that was the end of the problem.