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Posts Tagged ‘Olympic National Park’

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.

The next morning we head back to Hwy 101 via NP2880. This road offers great views down the steep cliffs above the Dungeness River. We dismount in Sequim to find treats and coffee. We find both within a short stroll. The coffee joint could have been found on any Seattle-area street. The treats on the other hand, were quite scrumptious. Bell Street Bakery (173 Bell Street, Sequim, WA or 360-681-6262) has their won grain and flour mill. All of the ingredients are grown locally and milled in-house. Their pastries provided the local flavor that we look for during our trips.

Interesting driftwood on Dungeness Spit

With pleasantly full bellies we ride back to the Dungeness Recreation area via the old Olympic Highway. The Dungeness Spit is a more than five-mile sand spit that juts out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Near the end of the spit is the New Dungeness Lighthouse, circa 1857. The lighthouse has been updated to an automatic light and is now operated by the New Dungeness Lighthouse Organization, which took control from the U.S. Coast Guard.

We enjoy a long stroll down the spit looking over the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It would take a couple hours to make it to the lighthouse. A walk that would be well worth it if we had the time. After taking several photos we continue down Hwy 101 to Port Angeles.

The ride from Sequim to Port Angeles is relatively undramatic. It is a wide, fast and indifferent road from any other get-there-fast highway. Luckily, the destinations are worth the few minutes of boredom.

The Olympic National Park Visitor Center is located on a hill in Port Angeles. Just follow the many signs. The visitor center offers the typical gift shop, but also ha a very nice exhibit area about the park. This is valuable infomratio nthat keeps you informed as to the geological and climatic uniqueness that is visible from the road.

Turning right from the visitor center is a park entrance and Heart O’ the Hills campground. This is one of the larger campgrounds in the Olympic National Park. We find ample available sites. We stake our claim and set up camp.

The damp and socked in skies clear as we finish setting up camp. After a brief run into Port Angeles for dinner, we decide to forgo our evening planes and head up Hurricane Ridge.

Sun sets over the Olympic Mountains viewed from Hurricane Ridge

Hurricane Ridge Road climbs quickly. It rises up from sea level in Port Angeles to approximately 5,200 feet at the top. The road itself is worth the trip. Even on the cloudiest of days it twists and turns with a rockwall to the right. On the opposite side of the road is a small shoulder and steep drop off. There isn’t much room for error. An abundant wildlife population and park rangers eager to snag speeders means that motorcyclists should be mindful of the posted speed limit. That is completly alright as the views deserve every bit of attention that the road affords.

After passing through a couple tunnels and leaning through countless turns, we arrive at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.

The area is aptly named for unpredicable weather that rolls over the Olympic National Park. With clear skies, Hurricane Ridge Road and the views from it are suberb.

The view from the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center

We arrived to the top as the sun hung low in the sky. The visitor center was closed, but a Kingston-area school teacher was setting up some sort of contraption. Being the curious person that I am, I enquire for more informatin. The contraption is actually a project that he built with his students. It is a very high power telescope that is self-contained for transport. Throughout the summer he holds stargazing sessions from the top of Hirricane Ridge. The surrounding mountains block any light pollution and on clear nights (on which the program only runs) the stars move quickly, but clearly past its lens.

It was total happenstance that we stumbled upon this program. It doesn’t have to be a chance encounter for you. Plan to arrive just prior to dusk to take in the mountain views. Then after the sun sets you can take in the astronomical views.

We ride very slowly back down the mountain to our camp site at Heart O’ the Hills. After failing to get our damp wood to catch fire, we retire to teh warmth of our sleeping bags. At least we’ll have wood to burn to cook breakfast. As long as we can get it lit.

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 section of our trip through lavendar farms and Port Townsend.