Olympic

From Wikipedia – Situated on the Olympic Peninsula, this park includes a wide range of ecosystems from Pacific shoreline to temperate rainforests to the alpine slopes of the Olympic Mountains, the tallest of which is Mount Olympus. The Hoh Rainforest and Quinault Rainforest are the wettest area in the contiguous United States, with the Hoh receiving an average of almost 12 ft (3.7 m) of rain every year.

• Established: 6/29/1938
• Annual Visitors: 3,104,455
• Size: 922,649 acres

4/13 – On the way heading north to Olympic National Park

We cruised north up the coast of California then we enjoyed the numerous state parks on the seacoast of Oregon.

The hotel in Crescent City, CA was a good stop for us. We were in walking distance to a beach for sunset strolls and a marina of fishing trawlers, motor boats and sailing vessels. We drove to a woodland hike and enjoyed great Rueben sandwiches at a local hangout, Port O’ Pints. We awakened to frost on the grass outside our room’s sliding glass door; heard the sea lions barking “Good Morning” and the lighthouse horn was keeping everyone in the harbor safe.

Wearing a face mask varies town to town in CA. Monterey has signs posted re: a $100 fine for not wearing a mask outside on the wharf but the smaller town’s locals didn’t wear masks very often inside or out. Some exceptions were entering large businesses, chain stores and hotels where the individual company required it. We wear masks inside public locations but not outside. Loads of people were wearing masks outside as well. We are both fully vaccinated.

We stopped at Whalehead Beach, OR to enjoy the thousands of migrating geese flying just off shore. I must say, I think these birds had too much to drink the previous night as there was no obvious formations and a consistent chaotic flying “pattern” seemed to be the norm! See pic. The breathtaking scenery of the Pacific coast was calming and made me feel grateful and appreciative to have public access. My only ocean experience growing up was visiting my father on the Montauk Long Island, NY coast in summers. Many miles of which are more private or quite inaccessible to the public. Unlike the vast state park shores of Oregon. Gary and I both grew up in VT and now live in Phoenix, AZ so visiting the ocean whenever we can is a thrill for us both!

We came across a line of cars stopped at a bridge and anticipated the structure to rise up (“draw bridge”). Surprisingly the large steal structure turned on it’s axis and spun in a circle! (“swing bridge”). We had never seen one in action in our over 60 years and thought it was interesting. See pics.

Continuing up the Oregon coastline we stopped at Cook’s Chasm and Thor’s Well. These tidal, wave forced, water spouts made for natural entertainment. The ocean rolled in, gained speed as they channeled into a narrow passage and slammed against the large cliffs spraying high into the air. Some water would travel under the cliffs and exit out tunnels in the rock making a spout of thunderous water followed by a delightful mist that lingered in the air.

4/14

The next day of moving northward brought us to Yaquinta Head, OR.  Sometimes the best experiences, and in this case, some of our best pictures, come from an impromptu sighting. We rounded a bend in the access road to the lighthouse and there, pretty close to the road, atop a large evergreen tree, were an adult and a juvenile eagle. In Gary’s accommodating fashion he looked behind him, no cars coming, and stopped quickly. I took out our 150-600mm lens and snapped away! See pics. We then enjoyed the beautiful seals on the rocky shores below and Gary got a fabulous shot of the lighthouse by walking up a knoll with Rangeley.

We then enjoyed Devils Punchbowl but did not spot any sea otters that are claimed to be there : (  We saw a common sparrow who was not afraid of the tourists (pic) but the best part of this stop were quaint coastal looking stores at the parking area. A small restaurant (Mo’s Seafood and Chowder – not yet open for the season), The Flying Dutchman Winery, Cliffside Coffee and Sweets (think homemade fudge!) and Pura Vida Surf Shop with water rentals of all kinds. Now that’s my kind of stop…what else does one need!

As mentioned above we enjoyed a lot of coastal state parks in Oregon. Another stop was Boiler Bay, where we saw white terns. According to a bird watcher with her binoculars, this was a rare occurrence at this time of year in this particular location. See pic. Although this, and some of the previously mentioned stops right off the US101, are known for spring and fall whale sightings, we did not see any spouts in the choppy waters this time.

We passed through Lincoln City, OR at the 45th parallel. Gary mention it to me because our dog is named after Rangeley, ME, also at the 45^th parallel and just below the northern border of Vermont and Canada, not too far from where we both grew up, is also at the 45^th parallel.

We drove by farmer-owner co-op since 1909, Tillamook Creamery, in Tillamook OR. Well known nationwide for their cheese and other dairy products.

We enjoyed Ecola State Park where Rangeley, with his usual large stick in his mouth, was referred to as a “branch manager” from a passerby! That’s the best description of his stick carrying obsession yet! We have also heard “he has a free toy”, “what a great witling project” and, “he’s collecting firewood!”.

We ate at the Astoria Brewing Company in Oregon. Rangeley loved the ducks swimming in the Columbia River and this is where we crossed the bridge from Oregon to Washington state.

We made some changes in original travel plans. We have decided to skip Glacier National Park this trip. We’ll return without the dog another time. One reason for the shift is we had to change our dates for North Cascades NP. We needed to coordinate a hotel in Chelan, WA, a ferry to and from Stehekin, WA and two night’s stay in a cabin in Stehekin…quite a feat! So we’re doing Olympic NP, then Rainer and on to North Cascades next.

Olympic National Park – Day 1 April 15, 2021

We arrived at Olympic National Park’s coastal section and enjoyed one last beach romp for this trip. This section of the Park, between the Quinault and Hoh Indian Reservations, is on-lead dog friendly!

We visited the Hoh Rain Forest in the center of the inland section of Olympic NP. The area gets 12 feet of rain per year. Phoenix gets 6 inches per year! I walked the ¾ mile Hall of Mosses trail. Hemlock, cedar, spruce, maples and fir trees are draped with moss making a magnificent lush green canopy.  See pics.

Gary met a hiker in the parking lot and being used to getting rides to town himself when Gary walks the AT, we gladly took Owen into Forks, WA on our way to Port Angeles. Unfortunately, Owen headed out with a friend…or who he thought was a friend…and was ditched. The other guy turned around and carrying their food with him, took the car and left. Owen was an interesting guy. In his early 30’s, Owen owns a salmon fishing boat in addition to fishing for others in Alaska, has traveled to Thailand and was in the Navy.

We had lunch in Forks and then headed up and around to Port Angeles by way of Crescent Lake. The US 101 rides directly beside the lake at the very northwestern end of the park.

Olympic National Park Day 2 April 16, 2021

Our first adventure on our second day in Olympic NP on the northern coast of Washington. We went to the Olympic Visitor Center just a mile and a half from our hotel. The bookstore and educational sections were closed to the public, still, due to COVID, but I was able to tell them what I wanted, a commemorative park pin, a few postcards, a map and a stamp for our passport book and the park ranger went inside and purchased them for us. We then drove up to Hurricane Ridge, at just over 5,200 feet. It was a beautiful day. Sunny, 58 degrees, no wind and magnificent views of Mount Olympus (7,980ft) in the Olympic mountains and Mount Baker (10,781ft) in the distance. Rangeley had a wonderful time in the snow! We took some amazing scenery shots and some of Rangeley, of course as well and another traveler asked if he could take a few pictures of us which is always great.

Our last stop in the park today was Madison Falls. The falls are in the Elwha Valley near the Elwha River and Madison Creek. The water falls in what is referred to as a horsetail pattern for about 50 feet. Rangeley was able to take the handicap accessible trail as well. We took a 1.5 mile walk up and back the road past the falls parking lot due to the remainder of the road being closed to traffic due to a spring washout.

We lunched at the docks in town Port Angeles and returned to the hotel to complete this journal and post on the website!

We are heading to Mount Rainier National Park next. Gary has climbed Rainier twice with guides, but unfortunately was unable to summit either time due to heavy snow and high winds – in June. No hefty mountaineering this trip but I am excited to see where he has been.