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| Forks RV Park |
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| Olympia, WA to Forks, WA |
We pulled out of the campground in Olympia just about 8:00 in the morning. The plan was to drive Rt. 101 and circle Olympic National Park in a counter-clockwise route. I planned to take two days. I soon discovered that two days is way too little to see the sights of the Olympic Peninsula. You probably need to spend a week here. Guess that means I'll have to come back someday. :-)
My truck is a diesel and about every 5,000 miles I have to add a product called Diesel Exhaust Fluid for pollution control purposes. The Truck Stops sell it, but about double the price of the local NAPA. So I did a search on my iPhone (AKA smart phone, or as my friend Dave Wright likes to call them, smarty pants phone) and found a NAPA about ten minutes from the campground. Like magic, I instantly had door to door directions. Isn't technology great!!
Look at your left hand, palm facing you, and the Olympic Peninsula is like your thumb, separated from the rest of the Washington by the Puget Sound. Highway 101 circles the peninsula, with various park entrances like spokes in a wagon wheel.
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| Highway 101 circling the Olympic Peninsula. |
The drive up the east side of the peninsula was very pleasant. Highway 101 hugs a long arm of Puget Sound. I passed through several small resort towns that were long and narrow. The mountains come right down to the water, so there isn't much flat land to develop on.
As you turn west at the top of the peninsula, the land is flatter and the resorts are larger. Port Angeles is a major port. There are ferries to Seattle, Washington and Victoria, British Columbia. There were huge piles of logs in the ship yards waiting to go somewhere. From the docks, look north and you can see Canada. Look east, and you see more of Washington.
The Olympic National Park Visitor Center, as well as the Hurricane Ridge entrance to the park is in Port Angeles. I drove up to Hurricane Ridge, which is at an elevation of 5,240. If you consider that Port Angeles is at sea level, than that's a climb of a mile! From Hurricane Ridge you can Mt. Olympus, the highest peak in the park, to the south and Puget Sound and Canada to the north.
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| Driving up to Hurricane Ridge. |
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| From Hurricane Ridge, looking north to Puget Sound and Canada. That's a patch of snow in the foreground. |
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| Looking south to Mt. Olympus. |
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| View from Obstruction Point. You can barely see the camper in the center. |
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| Trail from Obstruction Point. |
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| Zoey thinking, "Oh please, not again." |
After leaving Hurricane Ridge, I continued west on Highway 101 and decided to camp for the night in the town of Forks, which is just after 101 turns south.
On Thursday, Zoey and I plan to check out the Temperate Rain Forest area of the park.
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteI have been following your adventure and enjoy it as much as our face-to-face conversations. Honestly, you write and tell you day's story like we were sitting around the kitchen table in Hannawa Falls, having a cold beer and "spinning a good yarn." I have always appreciated that in you; always will.
I took the liberty of sharing your site with one of my Cortland High colleagues, Jim Ulrich. How is this for a small world: he was Katie Leuthauser's supervising teacher when she did the high school earth science component of her student teaching experience through SUNY Cortland. Jim was happy to hear the good news about Leuth and will surely share some of your photos from your trip. He did a cross-country trip B.C. (i.e., Before Children) and is looking forward to the day when he can do the trip again. Trip envy instead of truck envy :-)
You're the best, Siph. Gosh it was good to see you again.
Good Journey...
Ron
Thank you Ron.
ReplyDeleteWhen you travel alone, its hard to share adventures. This blog is my way of sharing and communicating. Thanks for staying in touch.
Dave