The Olympic Peninsula provides a wide diversity of weather and sights. The leeward side is ‘advertised’ as a “blue hole” of sunny skies, calm seas and little rain. Unlike the rain coast, which houses the Olympic NP rainforests! So – for us it rained everywhere;-(!! But, that was OK as ‘windows’ of good weather were found to achieve the objective – which was to enter the NP from two little visited areas – and see a few WA state parks while at it.
The Olympic NP was established by FDR in 1937, and when looking at a map the massive, mountain interior of the Olympic Peninsula is pretty much all NP. It is made up of a mountain wonderland in the middle and east, lake country to the north and northwest and rocky beaches and rain forests on the west.
First up – Staircase, a well kept secret of Olympic NP. Possibly because in order to get to this area of the park, one must travel about 13 miles on an unpaved road out of Hoodsport. Much of that road parallels Lake Cushman – which provides its own beautiful sights – –
Staircase features a number of subalpine hiking trails in the old-growth forests surrounding Mount Ellinor. Today’s hike would be the Staircase Rapids Loop Trail, which would take us on bridges across the Slate Creek and the North Fork Skokomish River, through striking forests, around moss covered rocks (everywhere!) and even send a blue jay to escort us!
The next home base for a few nights was Fort Worden State Park just north of Port Townsend, where we had a fantastic parking place. (Too bad it rained the entire time there;-( ) Port Townsend was established in the mid-eighteenth century as a strategic military outpost and the entire downtown is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Fort Worden is a historic army base perched at the entrance of Admiralty Inlet. If you look closely at a few of the pictures of the parade grounds, etc., you might recognize them from ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’!
The best part of the stay here was getting to visit with friends from Vi – the Fisher’s;-) Several visits to their beautifully situated home on Marrowstone Island allowed us to join them for a nice dinner and lunch, watching the Ryder Cup, hiking Fort Flagler Historical State Park – oh yes, and using their washer and dryer for laundry;-)!! Their hospitality was much appreciated – as was the ability to get to know them a bit better. Thank you.
As is always true, not enough time anywhere – so on our way to the rainforest side of Olympic NP. On the way a wonderful stop for lunch at Lake Crescent. A spot remembered from several years ago and delighted to return. It is really beautiful here – –
Off to the Rainforests – and BOY did it rain!!! Therefore, there were day car trips instead of hikes. Ruby Beach was quite fun, even in the rain. The sea stacks and rocky beach were something to see and explore – –
On the way back to our underwater campsite, the Quinault Lake Loop Road provided great sights of the Quinault River, Bunch Falls and Merriman Falls.
One must always visit the old NP lodges when in the Parks. Since Olympic NP is so large, it has many lodges. This visit included Kalaloch Lodge, a midcentury rustic property perched on a sea cliff. As was found in many of the lodges, food was only available for take out. The NP’s, like all establishments, are having problems hiring so there just weren’t enough employees for servers. But, that was OK. We took our bag of food to MiniMagic and enjoyed the views.
The Lake Quinault Lodge (which is in the area where we were parked) was built in 1926 in the tradition of the WPA park lodges and was really quite handsome. It even had a totem-style rain gauge that measured precipitation in feet. (I think it had been moved to preserve it and was not really an accurate measuring tool.) FDR ate in the dinning room here in 1937 just before he created the NP. Not to be outdone – we also ate dinner here;-)
Have to say – the rain (and lack of sewer connection in the campground) got to us. So – ready to move on and perhaps find sunshine?!?!?
The time around all the corners of Olympic NP were enjoyed, even if they were wet memories. Most of all, our time with the Fisher’s was special. Can’t wait to be home at Vi and see all our friends.
Moving on – E & G
Elizabeth & Gary's Magic Bus Tour 