From Port to Peak and Beyond

North America » United States » Washington » Forks
October 11th 2006

Published: October 14th 2006

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This morning was another “errands” morning… Food, Fax and Post Office! Carl’s passport is now winging its way to Washington, DC for his visa stamp. Carl had mixed feelings about seeing it go as he had guarded it with his life ever since the “episode” in Madrid! Our host at the hotel was again very solicitous - after informing us that we were the last people to breakfast at 8am - and plied us with lots of sugary stuff. Yum yum, said Carl as he demolished most of it!!

Statistics

Starting Destination: Port Angeles, Washington
Ending Destination: Forks, Washington
Ending Destination GPS: N: 47° 56.848’ W: 124° 23.149’ Elev: 309’
Miles Driven: 137.1
Distance Walked: approx. 2 miles (3.2 km)
Tunnels Driven Through: 2
Most Interesting Boat Name: Bananas

The not so Hurricane Ridge

Once we finally got started we headed for the Port - Maria had seen a “blue” ship last evening when we came in on the ferry and took a picture; unfortunately, it looked like a black ship in the evening light. Along the way, we saw some interesting boat “garages,” I guess you would call them garages - they had roller doors!! Our next stop was the Olympic National Park Visitors’ Center… This was where our luck ran out - it was only open from Thursday to Monday, and - we had to stop and think - this was a Wednesday. So we picked up the park guide and the Newspaper and headed to the Wilderness Registration for a little more information about walks.

Our first destination was Hurricane Ridge - so named because of the very strong winds that gust up there.

However, being from Kansas we were not at all impressed by their performance! Seriously, it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there was hardly any wind so we had some incredible views - nearly 270° view, from on top of the world. You can drive up to 5,242 feet, and Mount Olympus is only 7,980 feet; which sounds a lot (of difference) until you realize that Port Angeles where we started was only 61 feet! We actually saw several cyclists putting in some miles - one, in particular, made it look very easy… Maria asked Carl whether we needed to stay overnight and try the climb tomorrow - he said no… Probably because he knew that Maria would well and truly beat him to the top; Maria was glad because then she didn’t have to feel bad about leaving him behind! We stopped several times along the way to read the interpretive signs and take pictures, noting that even though it hadn’t rained - the road was still wet where the sun hadn’t hit it. At the top of the “hill” we drove out to the start of the trail for the Hurricane Hill Hike, but on second thoughts decided we would do one closer to the ridge.

After lunch with a view, we started out on the trail and ended up at Sunrise Point (left) where we could see back into Canada - it really isn’t all that far away - as well as the Olympic Mountains.

Back in the truck, we retraced our steps out to Highway 101 - there are no “through” roads in the park as much of the interior is considered a Wilderness Area; so you have to circumnavigate using Highway 101 and then take the side roads into the park. So we set off going west out of Port Angeles with no particular ending destination in mind! Our first stop was Lake Crescent, which being fed by glaciers should have been a beautiful blue color - it was, it was just that we couldn’t see it due to the angle of the sun. So we stopped in several places and then drove around the north side of the lake in the hope of being able to find just the right spot to see the color. Unfortunately, most of the lake front property is privately owned (in a national park?) and you can’t actually get to the lake shore - even the National Park campground was closed, so there was no luck there. In the end, all we got were a few tantalizing glimpses of the lake through the trees… And, the consolation prize; a really cool tree with all this moss hanging from it in the parking lot for the Boat Ramp where we turned around!

Where to stay for the evening?

By this stage it was getting late and the decision about where to stay for the evening was looming… Maria thought that it might be interesting to stay at the Sol Duc hot springs - along the way we have passed several hot springs, but never tried them… So we started up the road deeper into the park to investigate. The road followed the path of the Sol Duc River and there were plenty of opportunities to get out and view - a few too many opportunities in Carl’s opinion. We had stopped at the Salmon Cascades - apparently the Sol Duc River is one of the few places where the Salmon run all year long, so there was the possibility that we would see some... But of course, we didn’t! Carl, however, was trying a little too hard to look into the water and slipped on an icy (yes icy) rock, causing a few scrapes and banging up his knees. The 64 thousand dollar question was, of course, would this affect his riding? Only time will tell!! We stopped at most of the interpretive signs along the way - this valley is supposed to be unique as it can’t really make up its mind whether it should be a true rainforest with one set of trees or more temperate with another set of trees - so you can see all of them growing in the valley. Or you could if you knew how to identify them - needless to say Carl and Maria are not very good at this! We made it to the hot springs and did some investigating - we looked at the pools, viewed a room and most importantly smelled the aromas… there was definitely a scent of Hydrogen Sulfide! For Maria, this was the deciding factor - we would need to investigate our fall-back position! So we started back down the road (catching the one interpretive sign that we missed on the way in) a little bit wiser and a lot more banged up than when we started!! Our fall-back position was the town of Forks - in an attempt to lighten the mood Maria looked for the accompanying towns… Spoons and Knives, but couldn’t find them. The major problem was that we were driving pretty much straight into the sun, which combined with the number of bug suicides and the condition of the inside of the windscreen made driving a little challenging! But we made it, found a small hotel with a room on the ground floor that we could drive right up to, a guest laundry and Wi Fi - we were set!!

Brown Blob Update

We haven’t updated you on the brown blob count for a while… mostly because we haven’t had anything to add!! Today, Carl saw a black tail deer and two fawns in the Hurricane Hill parking lot, he got the picture left, but doesn’t think that they count - the doe was nosing around the hand of another “spectator,” indicating that they had definitely been fed by well meaning (?) tourists… We had thought that the best opportunity would have been when we were driving out from Sol Duc around dusk, usually the best time to view any wildlife; however, there was no sign of anything… Perhaps tomorrow?

What’s your opinion about trees? Part One

As you can probably imagine, in both Washington and British Columbia we have seen a lot of timber operations—from the ubiquitous logging trucks (watch out), to the timber mills, pulp/paper plants and clear cut land… Whatever your opinion about logging; almost none of us can deny that we use the products generated from these activities every day. In many ways trees are a crop - Maria remembers seeing the plantations in the South East of South Australia when she was growing up and the signs indicating when they had been planted. We saw one of these type of signs today - Clear cut 1930, 1986; replanted 1987; Expected Harvest 2036… It is just - if the sign is to be believed - that the crop cycle is 50 years instead of: less than a year for wheat, corn or soybeans; or over a year for cattle or other animals…

Carl’s Travel Trivia

Yesterday’s Answer: St. Johns, Newfoundland
Today’s Question: After a request for easier travel trivia questions… What is the most northwesterly point in the lower 48?

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