We left the Airstream park in Lacey in a drizzling rain. Very little traffic on a Sunday morning, which was a nice thing. We arrived at our camp (Elwha Dam RV park) at noon. A quick lunch and we decided to take the drive out the Juan de Fuca highway. The highway follows the US coast line along the Southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The goal was to see some whales and get to the most Northwestern corner of the US (Cape Flattery). It became sunny for most of the drive. We found a great campground called Salt Creek Recreation Area. The RV area was three tiered such that every space had an unobstructed view of the water. While we were not able to spot any whales they were reported to frequent the area. It was also very easy to get down the the beach to explore the tide pools. By the way this is a county park and not listed anywhere. If we had known about it this would have been home.
The drive continued through Neah Bay and on to Cape Flattery. The problem was the weather turned sour on us now. We debated if we were going to walk in the rain the 3/4 of a mile to the cape in the rain. We decided that after we had driven this far why would another 1.5 mile stroll among the trees keep us from our destination. It turned out good because the tree cover kept most of the water off us while walking the trail. Too bad it did not let up at the coast. The pictures do not do it justice.
By this time it was getting late and we had not had supper. Our campground host had recommended Linda’s Wood Fired Pizza and it was a hit. While there we had a nice conversation with another couple who lived in the area. Before we knew what was happening they asked the owner if she had any Halibut for us. We paid twelve dollars for 2+ pounds of Halibut that had been caught that day. You just don’t know what you may get your self into.
The next day we woke up to sunshine. This was our day to drive up Hurricane Ridge. What a beautiful drive. Saw several black tailed deer along the way. As we got to the top it was a little windy, cloudy and cold with a few snow flakes in the air. The first picture is from town and you can see where we are headed. Next we are part way up and the view keep getting better. Now we are getting close to the visitor center at the top. A little cold here! Finally we are at the top and have lunch in the warm visitors center with Great views all around.
Arriving back down we still had some time left. We decided to go explore Marymere Falls. It was a 2 mile walk to the magnificent falls as you can see.
Another great day and we get a call from our good friends Candy and Steve Schmitt. They were on their way to meet us. We had a few errands to run. Shortly after returning they arrived. Sure good to see them. After some chatting we prepared a lunch and set out to explore the Sol Duc area. This is an area I had been in around 40 years ago. On that trip in September I was able to catch a picture of a Salmon in the air trying to go up stream to spawn. Sue always believed the picture was fake. Know she knows better because she got to see the fish with her on eyes. This time it was a Steelhead not a Salmon but the action was the same. As you can see I was able to get a repeat performance. By the way Candy was the first to see a fish jump.
Steve, Sue and I made the hike up to the Sol Duc Falls. There was some discussion about how to run the falls, but all decided we were not up to that.
Thank you Candy and Steve for a wonderful day!
Another sunny day and we are off to the Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach. We did the Spruce trail and the Mossy trail. Seen Roosevelt Elk on each. Probably a total of 7. The beach was supposed to be good for whales, but no such luck for us. It did provide a good place for lunch even though it was a little chilly.
Just wonder how this tree got here and still has the bark on it.
To see addition pictures from each day go:
Cape Flattery/ Neah Bay Drive in Rain
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