home from a sunny weekend on the Olympic Peninsula
We were on the Olympic Peninsula again today, and headed home, arrive home just before midnight.
I'm too sleepy to write much, but I have a lot of notes.
Continuing later:
The next morning, we slept late. We went to the Forks Coffee Shop again; prices were again very inexpensive, and the portions were more generous than yesterday's meal. Behind me, a couple of guys were trading hunting and fishing tall tales; yes, we were out in a land where people actually get mud on their pick-up truck tires.
Forks is probably best known as the setting of the Twilight books and film adaptations, and we saw signs of Twilight tourism everywhere. It's even more conspicuous than Twin Peaks tourism was in Snoqualmie and North Bend back when the show was at its peak. Neither J nor I are interested in the Twilight books or movies, but I'm sure it would be a fun place to visit for fans.
"J" had written and addressed some of the post cards she bought in Kalaloch, so we went to the post office to buy stamps and mail them. It was closed, but someone suggested going to Thriftway. We went to Thriftway, and not only did they have post card stamps, the cashier offered to drop the cards in the mail for J.
We set out from Forks, were amused by the town name "Sappho" (for which we could find little sign of an actual town), and continued on to Lake Crescent, which is notable for being so deep that its depth is unknown, and for the clarity of its low-nitrogen water. On our outbound trip we had passed the lake, and J told me a story about someone who had died in the lake whose body had not been found until decades later, and said that we should look up the story later. On this trip past the lake, she remembered telling the story, and looked it up on her phone as soon as she got a data signal. She guessed a good search phrase on the first try, and found an informative article: "The Warren Wreck. (Continuing this message on Sunday, I found this longer article: "Lake Crescent Mystery". Quite a few vehicles and bodies have been found in the lake besides Blanch and Russell Warren.) It was nice that she had a good story about the lake while we passed it.
About two-thirds of the way along the shore of the lake, we pulled off the highway to see the Lake Crescent Lodge, a quaint 1919 hotel. We stopped for a look around; J bought a couple of souvenirs in the gift shop, and took turns walking her dog. During my turn, I passed a woman sitting on an outdoor chair with a small dog that barked at anyone or anything that moved, and strained at its leash. J's dog was curious, and walked toward the barky dog to the limits of her leash, her tail wagging enthusiastically.
In a very cranky voice, the seated woman shouted something like, "You better keep that dog on a tight leash!"
J's dog never came closer than ten or fifteen feet from the barky dog. Trying to sound cheerful, I replied, "I know how long her leash is."
The woman replied with nothing but a scowl. Her dog continued to bark and strain at its leash, with body language like it wanted a fight - even though it was about the size of a shoe box and J's dog is medium-large. J's dog just continued to wag her tail. I stayed away from the barky dog and the cranky woman.
When J finished her souvenir shopping, I told her about the incident. We were both surprised anyone would be in a bad mood like that while sitting on the shore of a beautiful lake on sunny afternoon. I wonder whether her dog was puzzled, since everyone else she came near had petted her.
Not far down the road, we reached the town of Elwha and the Elwha River. We drove up the river toward the 210 foot (64 meter) high Glines Canyon Dam, to see it before it is demolished. Along the way, we stopped, and saw some people rafting down the river.
As part of the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration Project, the second largest ecosystem restoration in the history of the National Park Service (after the restoration of the Florida Everglades), the Glines Canyon Dam and the 108 foot (33 meter) high Elwha Dam will be removed in stages, and the river channel and vegetation restored. A sign at the site said that there will be a web camera, so we can observe the demolition while it happens.
J had suggested taking the Whiskey Bend Road to see the dam from the other side of the gorge, where the view is better, but the road was closed. We didn't have time to make the hike without skipping some of the other places we wanted to see. Farther up Olympic Hot Springs Road there is supposed to be a hot springs, but we weren't sure where it was so we didn't continue that way either. After looking at the dam for a while, we returned to the car and headed back down the road.
On the next segment of our trip, the road itself was a big part of the place we went, not just a way to get there. After returning down most of the way to the main highway (US 101), we took a smaller road (not shown on a print map she had bought as a souvenir), the Little River Road. J was surprised to find it paved much of the way - she remembered it being gravel - but shortly after Black Diamond Road we reached the gravel section she had remembered. After a short stretch on Lake Dawn Road, we reached the Hurricane Ridge Road. There were a number of scenic stops where we stopped to take in the view. Shortly after one of the stops, we saw a fawn. We had seen two of them earlier on the trip, but they had disappeared pretty quickly. This time the fawn just stayed on the side of the road minding its business and eating. But the wildlife got better: just past the fawn, we saw a young black bear, the first J had ever seen in the wild; she may not have even seen one in a zoo.
As we proceeded up the road, the temperature dropped from 66°F to 41°F at the end of the road. There was more and more snow too - and the weather worsened. Although it was sunny most of the way, it was raining right at the top, and all the way down, continuing until we got home.
We were pretty hungry, and stopped in Port Angeles for food. J remembered a sub shop as being delicious, so we went there. It was closed - at 7 pm on a Saturday evening. We laughed about that, and continued on to the other restaurant she knew there, Thai Pepper. We had a nice little meal there, and very good service.
On the final segment, we made it to the Kingston ferry terminal without any serious wrong turns. We waited for about an hour at the ferry terminal, boarded for the half hour crossing, arrived in Edmonds, and continued home. We arrived just before midnight. We took a few things out of the car, I wrote a little, and we went to bed to collapse in exhaustion.
It had been a wonderful weekend expedition.