BestScenicRoutes.com

Posts Tagged ‘Olympic Mountains’

Glines Canyon Dam - by Scott Church

Continuing the relaxed nature of this trip, we weren’t in a hurry to leave the comfort of our sleeping bags. The sun began to warm the ground by the time that we woke up. This was to be our last day on the Olympic Peninsula.

After gathering our food from the bear-proof cabinet, we begin striking matches for a fire. The purchased bundle of wood is too damp to ignite. After many attempts with paper and evergreen branches, I ask the neighbor for some lighter fluid. He offers small fire sticks instead. Now we’re in business. One of our camping favorites is Spam and eggs on bagels or toast. The warm breakfast gives us the kick start needed to pack up and get on with the sightseeing.

We leave Heart O’ the Hills campground at the crack of… oh heck who am I kidding? It was 11 a.m. before we were back on Hurricane Ridge heading back toward Port Angeles. As soon as we reach town we turn west on Hwy 101 for a few miles until we turn South on Olympic Hot Springs Road. This pot-hole ridden road leads pat the Altair campground to one of two dams along the Elwha River.

These dams were built with absolutely no regard for the historical lifeblood of this area. No salmon can make it past the first dam. The dam won’t block salmon passage for much longer. This is the last year that the 100-year old dam will hold back the drainage from the Elwha Mountain Range. In 2011, the dam will come down and hopefully the salmon will begin to climb the rapids to their ancestral spawning grounds for the first time since 1910.

View of the Elwha River and Glines Canyon Dam from overlook

It is easy to see why the owner of the surrounding land, Thomas Aldwell was able to convince George Glines to finance the dam projects at this location. A strong water flow carved a deep and narrow gorge that allows the natural rock walls to do much of the work. The actual dam is perhaps 100 feet long and at 110 feet high. It isn’t a huge dam by any means, but it does hold back a very large amount of wate.r It was interesting to see man’s impact on this area. A future trip may be in order to see it restored to its natural free-flowing state.

Beyond the first dam the road turns to dirt. Many hairpin turns snake their way aboce the dam to a great lookout. The road ends and hiking trails begin just a couple miles past the Elwha Dam overlook. Now familiar with the road, I exercised my throttle hand a bit to make tracks back to Port Angeles.

We arrive to Port Angeles in late afternoon. Despite the heavy tourist traffic, most stores are closed as it is a holiday. A parade marches through town. We walk the parades’ flank and do some window shopping and walk into an antique store or two. Monica is a fan o fthe Twilight books and movies. The small movie theater in downtown Port Angeles is included in a few scenes of one of the movies. This being opening weekend for the latest Twilight movie, the theater and silly teeny-bop tourist trap Eclipse-themed stores are quite busy.

We take some photos and wave goodbye to the numerous cardboard cutouts of the cast members peaking out of windows throughout Port Angeles.

Sunshine Herb and Lavender Farm Sequim, WA - by Monica Ponce-McDermott

We didn’t make it as far as we would have liked. It was time to make our way back home. It is pushing 7 pm when we arrive to the ferry town of Port Townsend. Holiday travelers in their cars are beginning to form a long line for the Port Townsend to Keystone (Whidbey Island) ferry. I find my way around the line and up to the ticket booth. They take our fare for the ride to Whidbey Island and inform us that we’ll be on the 8:30 pm sailing. It happens to be the last sailing of the day. Not knowing the schedule, we are lucky to have arrived when we did. We have an hour to wait until the ferry boards.

We leave the parking lot and ride down main street. Port Townsend is a cute town. It deserves a weekend on its own. We walk along the streets and shoreline until it is time to get on the ferry. We will take the short ride back to Port Townsend in the near future. There is a 50’s themed diner and ice cream shop with my name on them earmarked for future indulgences.

As peninsulas go, there are three options for day trips (west side, north side and east side.).  This is the final article in the four-part series covering the Olympic Peninsula. The trip is  split up into separate articles by day. This allows you to pick and choose which parts best fit with your schedule and what you’d like to see. Time didn’t allow us to make the western Pacific Ocean portion of the Olympic Peninsula. Feel free to use the comments section to post ride reports and places that you have visited in the Olympic National Park. A future trip will include routes to the Hoh Rainforest, Kalaloch and Neah Bay.

Leaving from Tacoma, our motorcycle takes us across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge northward to Bremerton along Washington State Route (SR) 16. We ride the V-Strom 650 through Bremerton to check out the Puget Sound and harbored Navy aircraft carriers. The large ships dwarf nearby buildings as they wait for orders.

The Dalby Water Wheel near Union, WA is a great place to stop and stretch the legs while getting the camera out.

From Bremerton, we head south of Hwy 106 along the southern finger of the Hood Canal. This scenic route winds through communities of vacation homes along their protected seaway. The area hangs in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. Ominous clouds may look dubious in the near distance. Places like Sunset Beach, Shady Beach and the small town of Union, Washington are mostly sunny places to enjoy summer day. We find a small wooden waterwheel near Union. The Dalby Waterwheel is the most photographed spot in Mason County. At least according to the proprietor of the wine tasting room just up the street. The Dalby Waterwheel was originally built in 1922 and sat about 200 feet up the Dalby River. It was moved to its current location in 2006.

Firmly planted on the V-Strom, Monica and I travel a short distance further on Hwy 106  until it intersects with famous US Highway 101. Just a few miles after turning north we pass through the town of Hoodsport. This cozy, yet busy little sea town is home to Hoodsport Winery. This is a good place to pick up a bottle of local wine to enjoy at the end of the day. The line of wine tasters stretched into the small parking lot right off the road. We decide to leave the line in the mirrors and keep on keepin’ on.

Our original plan was to leave Hoodsport and head up Hwy 119 toward the Staircase area of the Olympic National Park. A split-second decision shifts our focus to Hamma Hamma — about 15 miles north on Hwy 101. Just past the town of Eldon, National Park (NP) 25 starts as a twisty paved road that climbs quickly away from the Hood Canal coastline. Shortly after the Hamm Hamma campground, the road comes to a “T” intersection. We turn south (left) and follow the dirt road along the Hamma Hamma River. Yes, I just like to say that name, Hamma Hamma.

Hamma Hamma Falls crashes just 75 feet through the narrow gorge carved through the mountainside.

The dirt road puts a smile across my face from left to right ear lobe. It rapidly climbs high up the mountain. Sharp tree-filled cliffs remind me to pick solid lines with delayed turns to maximize vision of on-coming vehicles. Of which, we never find. We do eventually find what we’re looking for, waterfalls. The Hamma Hamma Falls are somewhat hidden. The photogenic falls crash 75 feet in a gorge below a cement bridge. NP 25 continues on, but our goal is to reach Sequim early enough to pitch our new tent for the first time in the daylight.

Hwy 101 fits neatly between the green hillside and the greenish blue of the Hood Canal. The sediment of the many snow and glacier fed rivers drain into the canal and give it an interesting hue.

Hwy 101 leaves the salty water just north of Brinnon. The scenery changes to grazing farmland with hills to the west. The sun hangs low over the mountain and my mind is increasingly concerned about setting up camp.

Before long we enter Sequim. We ride west through town in search of Kitchen Dick Road. Though a horrible name for a road, it leads to a very unique place. A more than five-mile sand bar stretches out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca called the Dungeness Spit. This growing geomorphic formation is the largest spit in the United States.

Our goal was to set up camp at the Dungeness Recreation area campground. This being a busy holiday weekend means that the popular campground is full for the night. Plan B was to head to a nearby primitive campground with hope that the family and minivan crowd would rather the conveniences of nicer facilities.

The dual personality of the Suzuki V-Strom gets put to use. Heading south from the Dungeness Spit, we cross over Hwy 101 onto Deer Park Road. The paved road undulates up and down the gentle roll of the foothills overlooking farmland. The paved road gives way to the dirt of  Fire Road (FR) 2870. This is the second dirt road of the day. It gives me a smile in my growing worry about finding a place to pitch a tent. We turn onto FR 2880 and head toward the Dungeness Forks campground.

My plan to avoid the minivan crowd works. It also works for everyone in Jeeps, Land Cruisers and Westfalia vans as well. The camp sites are all occupied. Lucky for us, a kind couple looked up from their camp fire and saw us scouting unofficial spots that would make due for the night. They see the compactness of our motorcycle and suggest that we take a corner of their site.

Kind folks let us take a corner of their campsite at Dungeness Forks Campground.

We pitch our tent in minutes and turn our attention to cooking hot dogs over the already burning fire. All is good. I wish I could remember the kind people’s names. They saved us from a headache. Don’t wait as long as we did to occupy the no reservation camp sites of the Olympic National Park.

After dinner we cozy up in our sleeping bags and get some much needed sleep. Tomorrow we’ll see the small towns along the Strait of Juan de Fuca and more of the Olympic National Park.

As peninsulas go, there are three options for day trips (west side, north side and east side.).  This trip is being split up into separate articles by day. This allows you to pick and choose which parts best fit with your schedule and what you’d like to see. Time didn’t allow us to make the western Pacific Ocean portion of the Olympic Peninsula. Stay tuned for the next article on the northern section of our trip.