Adventure Seekers: Olympic NP

My gloom soon lifted when we set out on a few day hikes from our camp ground. There were lots of interesting activities to do here in the North Cascades from exploring creeks along Ross Lake by canoe to hiking Desolation Peak. So with too much to choose from and thoughts of our time slipping away we decided to keep on driving westwards to the coast.

We arrived at Whidbey Island and drove south to Deception Pass State Park for the night and stayed at the campground located just below Deception Bridge. I was beside myself with excitement because the campground was full of ripe blackberries and western red huckleberries, so as soon as Dude was parked I headed out with my container to pick as many as I could for our breakfast.

Afterwards we walked along the beach where I had a wonderful time fossicking for pebbles. Although there had been a few showers during the day and it was cold enough to be rugged up in jeans and fleece jackets we still went in for a dip. The water took my breath away and I was surprised when I suddenly realised I was now in salt water. We dried off, pink and tingling with cold, then sat for a while to listen to the gurgling of waves as they were sucked back through the pebbles out to sea. When we arrived back at Dude I was in for another surprise because John had turned on the hot water so we could have a shower.

Deception Pass

It was a lovely clear day when we drove to Oak Harbour in Coupeville. While we waited for the Port Townsend car ferry to arrive we made a cuppa tea and walked over to the waters edge. It was a smooth 30 minute ferry ride which we spent on deck watching the beautiful clear blue water beneath us.

We walked around Port Townsend and enjoyed it's charm but we were disappointed at not finding a place to buy fish and chips. So with plans to catch a ferry into Seattle the next day we drove down to Bremerton to reconnoiter parking for Dude. It turned out to be a nightmare driving Dude around the narrow streets and finding limited parking and road works in progress so with one look at each other we decided to high tailed it back out to the peace and quiet.

We camped that night in Kitsap Memorial State campground and that afternoon I had a great time harvesting the fresh berries from the many bushes around the campground….it was wonderful. Later that afternoon we walked down to the pebbled beach and watched the sun set behind the mountains.

The next day we woke to a nice sunny day and drove back northwards to Port Angeles. After a quick look around the town we drove up a narrow winding road to Hurricane Ridge skirting past some deer darting across the road on the way.

Hurricane Ridge

The sunshine was too good to pass up so we spent the rest of the day hiking to the top of the Ridge. We got views of the Strait of Juan De Fuca, Vancouver Island and Mt Baker to the north and snow covered Mt Olympus and the Olympic Mountains to the south. Hiking back down we saw our first grouse camouflaged in amongst the grasses.

Our first Grouse sighting

Back in town we called into a small establishment called Colonel Hudson’s Famous Kitchen to accommodate John’s hankering for fish and chips. So with the aroma spurring us on we drove 3 miles along the “Ediz Hook” sand spit to find a nice spot by the ocean to enjoy our meal.

Beer, Fish & chips ....ahhhh

Our clam chowder entree was the best tasting we have had to date. The sunset over the ocean had us mesmerized so it was nearly dark when we set off for Elwha Valley where we arrived at the campground in the dark and went to sleep with the hum of the Elwha River.

On our way out of the Valley we stopped to look at Madison Falls before driving onto Lake Crescent where we then hiked out to Marymere falls. For most of the hike I was distracted by the hundreds of juicy red huckleberries and filled my water bottle cover to the brim with fresh berries.

Madison Falls

Later in the day we checked into the Sol Duc Campground and headed straight down to the Resort to soak in their hot springs. We walked back to Dude for an early dinner and then without hesitating went for another soak in the hot springs. By now it was raining but it didn’t matter.

Hot Springs

It was still raining the next morning when we drove up to Sol Duc Trailhead. We hiked in the rain to the falls and when it started to ease we continued on up to Deer Lake. It was very peaceful in amongst the lush forest on our leisurely hike back we stop frequently to pick some more berries.

Boardwalk at Deer Lake

Rain, what rain?

Sol Duc Falls

We called into the Visitors Centre at Forks and enquired about the iconic coastal backpack from Rialto Beach to Ozette Lake but this late in the season the logistics of getting back to Rialto Beach was tricky so we decided we would do a day hike along the beach instead. It had taken us 5 months but here at Rialto Beach we had finally returned to the Pacific Coast.

After a feast of berries for breakfast we drove down to the beach. It was overcast but no rain. We followed the trail and as I crested the sand dune the wild coastal scene opened up before me. Grey coloured waves with foaming cream crests pounded the grey pebbly beach, logs surged in and out waiting to be tossed up high onto the dunes.

Rialto Beach

The tide on its way in had swallowed up the beach so we had to scramble over hundreds of logs marooned on the high water mark. We continued like this until we reached the “Hole in the wall” a section passable only at low tide so the only option was to climb up a precarious trail over a ridge to the other side.

When we turned around it was easier going as the tide had gone out enough so we could walk on the pebbly sand and by the time we arrived back at the “Hole in the Wall” we could dash through it, if you timed it right.

Hole in the wall

By now I was feeling dog tired and the last mile took a lot of effort to cover and it made me realize that backpacking 15-20 miles a day would be hard work.

The next morning it was raining heavily as we drove down to the Hoh Rain Forest and made camp.

Raining as we started our Hoh Rainforest hike

We didn’t let the rain put us off our 12 mile return hike to the Happy Four shelter…….after all we were in a Rain Forest and true to its name the rain did not let up at all for the entire hike.