Port Angeles, Washington

Good morning, my friends. It was a hectic day of driving yesterday, but we got some "life" things taken care of. The biggest task was to get our leaking tire fixed. We dropped the truck off, drove to the RV park, checked in, got some lunch, and by then, the truck was ready. It seems we’d picked up a 5mm nail somewhere along the way. So, I dropped Mike at the tire place, and then drove back to the RV park to start some laundry. By the time I had the laundry started, Mike was pulling into our assigned spot. All of that took about 3 hours. 

But let's back up to yesterday morning when we drove out of the park at Neah Bay. Several times driving in and out, we found these two dogs lying in the road. We're assuming they're awaiting someone's return. They were friendly and approached our truck with wagging tails when we stopped to say hello. (Don't tell Smitty and Sadie, okay?)

Driving through the town of Neah Bay, I noticed one of these giant Adirondack chairs. We saw these all over, and on our hike. They were for folks to take selfies. We didn’t indulge.

After driving a distance, we passed by this private residence. There was a carport on the road side, and I noticed this quilt block. It isn’t painted. Instead, it’s created from blocks of wood put together to form the design.

And Happy Fall, my friends! We’re seeing that fall color. Washington is the "Evergreen State," and so we’re not seeing much fall color in the national forests.

Here, we were passing by Lake Crescent. Wikipedia tells us that

Lake Crescent is a deep lake located entirely within Olympic National Park. . . .With an official maximum depth of 624 feet (190 m), it is the second deepest lake in the state of Washington (after Lake Chelan). A lake-wide bathymetric survey . . . shows the maximum depth as being 596 feet (182 m). 

Continuing on, Wikipedia tells us

Lake Crescent is known for brilliant blue waters and exceptional clarity caused by low levels of nitrogen in the water that inhibit the growth of algae. The lake was formed when glaciers carved deep valleys during the last Ice Age. Initially, the Lake Crescent valley drained into the Indian Creek valley and then into Elwha River. Anadromous fish such as steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout migrated into the valley from lower waters.

Approximately 8,000 years ago, a great landslide from one of the Olympic Mountains dammed Indian Creek, and the deep valley filled with water. Many geologists believe that Lake Crescent and nearby Lake Sutherland formed at the same time, but became separated by the landslide. This theory is supported by Klallam tribe legend which tells a story of Mount Storm King being angered by warring tribes and throwing a boulder to cut Lake Sutherland in two, resulting in Lake Crescent. 

We’re in an RV park. It has a good vibe. It was good to find a nice laundry room for my first laundry day of the trip. We’re close to where the Elwha Dam once existed. It was breached in March of 2012 in order to restore salmon habitat. You can read more about it right here. Nevertheless, there is an "interpretive center" and a "viewing platform" nearby. One wonders what we might see there, and so our curiosity will force us to check it out.

There are some funny and inspirational signs posted around the park, giving the place a friendly feel.

There’s a “help yourself” vegetable garden. 

Things are pretty well picked over at this point, but it’s a nice idea.

There were flowers too.

The pocket angel below was tucked into the pot with the black-eyed Susans.

I've seen the next quote before, but I didn't know it was from Audrey Hepburn.

Okay, so on today’s agenda, we’re going to Hike the Marymere Falls Trail. It’s a 1.8 mile hike,. We’ll drive back to the Storm King Mountain visitor center in Olympic National Park. We should reach a big waterfall at the end, but there’s no telling how much water will be flowing so late in the year. It’ll be a good walk through old growth forest either way. Here's what our AllTrails app says about the trail:

The Marymere Falls Trail is a short hike through wonderful Pacific Northwest scenery from Lake Crescent, through large towering trees, and encompassing incredible river views. It is one of the most popular trails in Olympic National Park. The trail begins by the Storm King Ranger Station and features a nice gentle rise in elevation up to the falls and a pleasant descent. 

Lush greenery and beautiful waterways abound on this short trek. The waterfall is breathtaking. The beginning of the trail is relatively flat but eventually, it goes into well-maintained switchbacks. The switchbacks are nothing to fear, there are only 2 or 3 of them. 

We're also going to need to make a quick trip to a grocery store. We're nearly out of kitty treats, and so you can see it is an impending emergency. There are a couple of other items on our list too.

We'll probably wait until after lunch when the weather is supposed to be a little better. I believe I heard rain on our roof last night. There's a 20% chance of rain up until around the noon hour, but then little chance after that. So far, our rain gear has remained in the closet. 

All right then. Strap on your hiking boots if you're coming with us. 

Nothing Doing...or Doing Nothing

Good morning, my friends. Since we took advantage of yesterday's nice weather for our hike on the Cape Flattery Trail, we had nothing on the day's agenda. That meant a day of relaxation. We're not sure if Sadie was happy for us to hang around or not. She was doing her Greta Garbo routine: "I vant to be alone." She took her morning nap inside the cubby over our bed, dedicated to the use of the kitties when we're in the camper.

In the morning, I took the first stitches on the last block for the "Snowmen and Reindeer" project.

Mike suggested driving into Neah Bay for lunch. There wasn't much open on a Monday, but we found a place the served fried oysters. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Mike's basket looked a lot like mine except that he had fresh ling cod instead of fried oysters.

As we paid, I noticed the images and art work on the walls. I love this kind of art. For my next "Quilter's Choice" quilt, I might decide to do something like this.

Here's some information about the artist.

Outside, and across the street from the restaurant, were these two figures. They were on the front lawn of a Makah Cultural Museum. We're not really museum people, and so we didn't go to the museum, but I liked these guys.

Back at the campground, we took a walk out to the beach. Along the way, I spied these wild asters.

Also this clover.

Now you might think this photo was taken in black and white, but it wasn't. It's in full color, but this is how it looked. We didn't really get any rain...just a little misting in the morning. By afternoon, the sun appeared occasionally, but it was cloudy and gray most of the day.

It was breezy and cool on the beach, so we were only out for a few minutes. Back at the camper, I spent some more time on my slow-stitching.

And that was our day. A day of rest is always good.

This morning, we'll be heading toward Port Angeles. We have an appointment at the local Les Schwab to get our tire fixed, and then we'll have two nights in Port Angeles. We have one hike on our agenda, and we're hoping for good weather tomorrow for that. The forecast is looking good so far.

So buckle your seatbelts, my friends. I hope y'all have enjoyed your own day of rest. You'll probably want to rest up again today. Our hike tomorrow is about two miles with a 324 foot elevation gain. Get a good night sleep, okay?

Neah Bay, Washington

Good morning, my friends. We had a beautiful day of weather for our drive north to Neah Bay yesterday. We drove just a few miles out of Forks before turning onto state highway 113 heading north. Eventually we turned onto state highway 112 heading west, and then drove along the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula for the remainder of our journey. The bays we passed by were beautiful.

Passing through the small town of Sekiu...

we could see this:

Just past the town we spied this one barn of the day.

We could see ships at sea. And Hey, Canada! We see you over there!

It was only about 30 miles after we turned north, but this was one winding road along this rugged coastline.

We could see lots of sea birds sitting on rocks. I have an idea we're seen gulls, cormorants, murres, and black oystercatchers, although I couldn't zoom in for enough detail to be sure.

It took me several tries to capture these stacks. Finally, I captured them through a break in the trees.

There's the harbor at Neah Bay. We're on the Makah Indian Reservation here.

Okay now go that way...

If you hear this going off.

Nearing the end of our journey, we crossed over the Wa'atch River using the Wa'atch Bridge. (Sorry about the reflections. They're unavoidable.)

We found our campground. The office was closed when we arrived, and so we could only look at the map of the place. The hook-up sites happened to be about a mile down the road. We'd searched unsuccessfully for them and so we'd already chosen a dry camping site by the time the office reopened. We were able to purchase our Recreational Use Permit there, and it is required while visiting the area. We're just here for two nights, and we're completely self-contained, so no worries, and it is a nice and spacious site. Also, we'll save ourselves $60 by not using their hookups. 

Besides, there was no time to waste. It was a beautiful day, and the forecast had today as cloudy and a 20% chance of rain. We haven't seen any rain yet, but it's much darker and a little foggy today. We decided to do the hike in the sunshine. It was just about ten miles up the road.

Here's a little information about the trail. Please pay attention to the rules, and mind your manners.

And here's a little information about the area designated the "Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary."

Most of the way, we were walking through dark and dense forest.

Eventually, we were on a boardwalk.

In some areas, we had to pick our way over roots and rocks. The walk out to the observation platform was all a gentle slope downhill.

At the first observation platform, we saw this:

Changing positions, we could see this:

We could see large ships at sea.

At another observation platform, and on the other side of the trail, we saw this:

Looking down at the third observation platform, we could see large kelp beds.

Looking to the right...

From there, we could see Tatoosh Island and the Cape Flattery Lighthouse. It was decommissioned in 2008.

Looking to the left, we could see this:

Zooming in on some of the rocks, we could see hundreds...maybe thousands…of sea birds.

Here's another shot looking left, including some of what we could see below.

Look out under the branches, and you'll see gulls in the water.

Reaching the end of the road and the final observation platform, we could see Tatoosh Island. 

Here's another shot of the lighthouse. You can learn about its history right here. It's an interesting story, and I encourage you to read it. It was first illuminated in 1857.

To the left side of the island, we could see more sea birds.

To the right side of the island, we could see sea lions. They were barking furiously, and we could hear them at the beginning of the trail more than a mile away.

Here's another large boat traveling through the strait.

And more sea birds.

I believe these are murres.

Looking east, it looked like this.

From there, we hiked back the way we came...uphill now. We stopped and tested their benches a couple of times. As we crossed back over the Wa'atch Bridge, heading to the campground, we saw a great egret...

And another great blue heron.

There are trees between us and the ocean, but we can easily hear the waves crashing on the beach. We took the short trail leading out. Looking to the right, it looks like this:

Looking left, it looks like this:

And that brought us to the end of our day. We'll probably take another walk out to the beach today. It's cloudy and chilly right now, but we're hoping for brighter skies in the afternoon. We have just one more night here, and then we'll move on to Port Angeles about two hours down the road. 

As we were packing up yesterday, Mike noticed a tire on our truck is losing air pressure. We'll have to take it someplace in Port Angeles for repair. There is a Les Schwab there. I don't know about the rest of the country, but Les Schwab is the place for tires in the northwest. They'll fix a flat for free, simply asking you to remember them when you need new tires. We have, and we do, and we'll do it again this trip. We have one hike planned there, and the tire issue shouldn't interfere with our plans.

Also today, we might drive into Neah Bay and check out the town. We were disappointed to find all of the restaurants closed on Sunday and Monday. I'd read advertisements for a place that served Indian Fry Bread, which is just about one of my favorite foods ever. But no...they're closed. They won't reopen until noon tomorrow, and I expect we'll be gone by then. Oh well.

All right then. I need some breakfast, and then I'll probably take the first stitches on the final "Snowmen and Reindeer" block. It's going to be an easy-going day.