Sunday...a glorious, sunny day.
This enormous park fills most of the northwest peninsula of Washington. It will be a two-day adventure. Jonathan saved the best for last!
Coasts, forests, mountains......this park protects the largest old-growth forest in the Pacific Northwest. Waves booming on wilderness beaches, rugged peaks, glaciers and subalpine meadows combine to create this spectacular wilderness park. It is home to 8 American Indian tribes. It is also home to a variety of wildlife some of which we hope to see along the way...though I doubt we will see cougars or bears!
For the most part, this is not a "drive-through" park; it is made up mainly of hiking trails. There are also campgrounds and some small vacation homes.
We started out in the pristine rainforest. Very similar to that of Alaska .....Deep and dark! The forest floor is carpeted with ferns. Some of the trees are enormous. Much larger than the ones logged outside the park, since they are allowed to grow. We took side trips along the way with short walks for me. The first one took us to Lake Quinault fed by the Quinault River. A tiny offshoot of the road led to an enormous ancient cedar, which one could walk into, look out through a hole in the side and up though another hole in the top. This tree serves as a nursery log for all sorts of species of plants. Our next turn-off took us along the Queets River Valley, where Jonathan paddled in glacial waters and studied caddis fly larvae! Otter would be so proud!
From there, we drove up the coast where there are a series of beaches, mostly at the bottom of cliffs. Wonderful views of surf and trees skeletons, but no access for me. At Ruby Beach, I managed a short trail to see more sea stacks. But it was at Rialto Beach, much farther north that I walked onto the most spectacular beach. The beach consists, of small flat pebbles. There are more sea stacks. What is most impressive, however, is the litter of bleached tree trunks, some truly enormous. They look like beached white whales. Some still have their roots attached, but they, too, are bleached and almost petrified. This is the work of the unforgiving winds. I had seen Jonathan's photos from last year, but I gasped when I saw this beach.
Since it was Sunday, there were many people on the beach...bundled up. The sun was warm, but the wind cold. Children had buckets and spades, but no bathing suits! People had found shelter among the trunks and were reading or picnicking.
Along the way, we snacked on Mt. Rainier yellow cherries which we bought yesterday. Soooooo good!
Next stop, Lake Crescent....a blue I don't think I have ever seen before! and a quick stop at exquisite Madison Falls.
Final stop for the night...Port Angeles on the north coast of the peninsula, directly across from Vancouver Island. A working shipping and ferry port. Jonathan had booked dinner at the same place he ate in last year. A funky place with wonderful local food...and terrific taped music from every era. I had baked Hamma oysters and Dungeness crab cakes. (Dungeness is just up the road.) Jonathan had pan sautéed oysters.....very different from fried oysters. For dessert, we had them pack up some fruit crumbles for us to take back to the motel.
Monday dawned warm and sunny...beautiful blue skies. Jonathan was more than happy because last year this area had been very misty. So he was able to see all the views more clearly.
We set off at 8am for the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, stopping along the way to view and photograph the snow-capped mountains, especially Mt. Olympus with its Blue Glacier. We saw black-tailed deer ( a sub-species of mule deer...and they definitely have very large ears!) including some Bambis right by the side of the road. Also western chipmunks, marmots and hares....and one raccoon! We heard a pileated woodpecker drilling away! Stunning views in every direction of the coast, including Canada, and the mountains.
Once up at the Center, we walked a path through sub-alpine meadows.... scarlet paintbrush, lupines, cinquefoil, woolly sunflowers, goatsbeard, cow parsnips, yarrow, penstemon, bistort, erigonum (also known as "dirty socks"), red willow herb, gentian, asters....and these are only the flowers we could see from the path!, There are many, many more. And very close to the path, well camouflaged by the flowers, a beautiful tufted lark!
Next stop, Hurricane Ridge itself, where Jonathan hiked a trail for an hour while I stayed in the car to write the blog. A road Jonathan had wanted to take last year and had hoped to take this year is still closed because of snow!
Once back down to the main road, we found a Fonzie fifties diner in Sequim. There was no juke box, but they played all fifties music over the sound system. It was great fun.
We then headed east and then south to find the Mt. Walker road. Mt. Walker is the easternmost peak in the Olympics, but it is not in the national park. From the summit, the views are spectacular, especially of Puget Sound and the Cascades.
Now it was time to think of getting to the airport. We zig-zagged over to Southworth and took the ferry to Fauntleroy, via Vashon Island. From there, it was a short trip to Seatac airport and the red-eye home!
What a wonderful two weeks in the Pacific Northwest! Thank you, Paul and Amy, and my dear, dear son, Jonathan, for making the trip so memorable and such fun!
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