Our Next stop, the Olympic Peninsula.

There are only two ways to get to the Olympic Peninsula from North of Seattle; one can either drive south to Olympia, Washington and then come back up the west side of Puget Sound, a trip of over 160 miles, or one can take a Ferry.  We decided to take the Ferry.  Unfortunately so did everybody in Seattle going west.  Although there are many Ferry crossing points, somehow everybody decided to take OUR Ferry!  We had a 90-minute wait in Edmonds, but it was sunny and cool and the wait was well organized.  Those Ferries can hold a lot of people, I didn’t check but there must have been over 100 cars and trucks in that little boat.  It was so smooth and quiet I did not hear it or feel it take off.

We made our way to Port Angeles and up to Sol Duc campground in the Olympic National Park.  We ended up staying in Port Angeles for the night.  The next morning was cloudy and the forecast was for showers and thunder showers.  The cloud ceiling never went above 2000 feet and we could not see the mountains.  We thought our day of hiking was wasted but we decided to hike in the lower attitudes in the Rain Forest.  We hiked on some trails in the National Park near the Sol Duc campground and then decided to go to the most northwester point in the U.S., Cape Flattery in the Makah Nation Indian Reservation.   

On the way there we saw some lumber processing operations where the entire timber being logged in this part of the Olympic Peninsula is being sent to China.  

We also stopped a Crescent Lake, a beautiful lake on the National Park.  We thought of going for a swim but the water was only 52 degrees.

As we entered the Makah Nation we were informed that we had to get special “recreation permit” to visit places.  The fellow at the Makah Nation Museum were I got the permit, informed me that that it was really a parking permit to support the upkeep of the tourist places.  It seemed like a worthwhile fee and I did not mind pay the $10.00 parking fee.  We drove about a mile from the Cape and had to hike the rest of the way.  It was a beautiful hike through the thick rainforest with old growth pines forming the canopy and rich wild vegetation below.  There were all types of Ferns that it seemed like the feeling one would get walking through a jungle in the age of dinosaurs.  It was an easy hike with an elevation change of less than 400 feet in over a mile.

Looking south

Looking Northeast from the Point

Looking west from the point we could almost see the Chinese coast.  I guess if Palin could claim she could see Russia from her house, I can claim I can see the Chinese coast from Cape Flattery.

Next stop La Push beaches and Forks Washington land of the “Twilight Saga.”  We will come back and hike in the Olympic Range on Wednesday.