The Olympic Peninsula :: Rialto Beach - August 12th

Returning to U.S. 101 after visiting Neah Bay and Cape Flattery, I continued south a short distance to Forks, apparently one of the "sites" of the "Twilight" movie - there were several billboards advertising "Twilight" Tours. I turned onto highway 110 to go to Mora Campground, which is in a portion of the coast that is part of Olympic National Park.

The campground was nearly full so I couldn't be too picky but I drove through three of the five loops of the campground (100+ sites total) before finding an open site that was relatively level.  Then I headed on down to Rialto Beach, about two miles from the campground. It was 3 p.m. and it was cold, damp, and blustery on the beach. I stayed for an hour or so then returned to the campground for a late lunch/early supper. By that time the campground was full.

At about 5:30 p.m. I went back to the beach. The wind had calmed down and it was quite pleasant walking along the shore.

I didn't stick around for the sunset, it was still rather misty and I was tired... However, if you want your sunset "fix" I stayed at Mora Campground in September 2010 when there was a beautiful sunset at Rialto Beach!

The next morning I had the beach practically all to myself for about an hour and a half. The tide was out and I walked all the way over to the "islands" on hard-packed sand.  The sun had not yet made its way over the tree tops and the misty fog gave the place a rather strange, eery, yet interesting feel. About 8 o'clock I headed back to Forks and highway 101, southward bound.

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Becky Wiseman, "The Olympic Peninsula :: Rialto Beach - August 12th," Kinexxions, posted October 4, 2015 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-olympic-peninsula-rialto-beach.html : accessed [access date])

The Olympic Peninsula :: Cape Flattery Trail - August 12th

Returning to U.S. 101 after leaving the site of the Glines Dam, I continued west to Sappho, where I turned north onto highway 113, whith connects to highway 112, which goes along the coastline of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Highway 112 was a really fun route to drive with numerous curves and hills to go over and around. And the views weren't bad either. At the end of the route 112 is Neah Bay, the primary community of the Makah Indian Nation and a spur road that takes you about six miles up to the Cape Flattery Trailhead. A Makah Recreation Pass ($10) is required to park at the trail head and can be purchased at several businesses in Neah Bay.

Only 3/4 of a mile in length, the trail consists of boardwalks, dirt paths lined with tree roots, and numerous steps going through a forest to get down to the northwesternmost point of the continental United States. Oh, and there is an elevation loss of 200 feet. Photos of the trail (a good excuse for taking numerous rest breaks) were taken on the way back up to the trailhead.

At the viewing platform a family was taking a group photo.

Almost back to the trailhead.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "The Olympic Peninsula :: Cape Flattery Trail - August 12th," Kinexxions, posted October 2, 2015 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-olympic-peninsula-cape-flattery.html : accessed [access date])

The Olympic Peninsula :: Freeing the Elwha - August 12th

Olympic National Park comprises a rather large area of wilderness, much of which is inacessible to the average person. On the northeast side is the visitor center, the campground, and Hurricane Ridge. U.S. 101 passes through the northwest tip with several short roads going into the park, and then on the western side is the Hoh Rain Forest visitor center and campground. There are also long, narrow strips of the park along the Washington coast with portions accessible along U.S. 101.

One of the short roads off of U.S. 101 on the north side of the park, west of Port Angeles, winds its way along the Elwha River and up to the Glines Canyon Dam.

My first visit to Lake Mills and the Glines Dam on the Elwha River was on September 10, 2010. At that time the water was gradually being released  to lower the lake level in preparation for the removal of the dam. The Elwha Dam, further downstream, was also slated for removal. I was curious to see what the area looked like after the dam had been removed.

Lake Mills was created by Glines Dam in the early 1900s - photo taken September 10, 2010

The Elwha River now runs through the site of the former Lake Mills.

The Glines Dam and Lake Mills - photo taken September 10, 2010.

Actual removal of the dam began on September 15, 2011 with an excavator sitting on a barge in the lake. Explosives were used when the canyon became too narrow for the barge and the last 30 feet of the dam were removed by a blast on August 26, 2014. A large crane had been used throughout the process to transport the concrete debris, which was then hauled away. To save money, parts of the dam that did not block the river were left in place.

The Elwha River, now running free, looking downsteam from the site of the dam.

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "The Olympic Peninsula :: Freeing the Elwha - August 12th," Kinexxions, posted September 30, 2015 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-olympic-peninsula-freeing-elwha.html : accessed [access date])

Iron Creek to the Olympic Peninsula - August 9th to 11th

Sunday morning (August 9th) I departed Iron Creek campground. I really wanted to stay longer but felt the need to get the windshield replaced. On the way to Interstate 5, I stopped at the Salkum public library. Like the library in Packwood, the library in Salkum is a public wifi hot spot available when they are closed. Both had good wifi even in the parking lot. I did a search for windshield repair in Olympia and came up with several, selecting the one that I thought would be easiest to get to.

After writing down the address and directions, I headed for Olympia. According to the map, Millersylvania State Park was on route 121 about 5 miles off of I-5 and about 15 miles from Olympia. I arrived there mid-afternoon and had a nice, relaxing stay.

Monday morning (August 10th), I left the campground about 8:30 a.m. and arrived at Auto Glass Professionals  within half an hour. Yes, the windshield would have to be replaced. Yes, they could do it today but not until 1 o'clock and it would take 2 1/2 hours.  Fine with me, I was just glad to be able to get it done so quickly.

I had some "chores" that needed to be done anyway. Grocery shopping. Laundry. While I was doing laundry, the van was facing south again, and that third "tendrill" extended about two more inches down the windshield then turned a couple of inches toward the drivers side. Simply amazing. I went across the street to a restaurant for lunch then went back to the repair shop at about 12:15, a little early but I didn't have anywhere else to go.

The repair was completed by 3 pm, a little ahead of the promised time. I was very happy to be able to leave the city before the evening rush hour. I found my way over to U.S. 101 and drove north for several hours before stopping at Dosewallips State Park near the town of Brinnon.

Tuesday morning (August 11th) I made my way toward Olympic National Park arriving in early afternoon at a campground just inside the main entrance (Hear O' the Hills). After getting a site for the nite I drove up to Hurricane Ridge. It's about a 30 minute drive, uphill, with a lot of curves. Terrific views but there was quite a bit of haze from a fire in the back-country though you couldn't smell the smoke. It's rather unusual to have a fire in a rain forest but the entire Pacific Northwest had an extremely dry summer as have many (most, all) of the western states. This fire was started by lightning the end of May.

I didn't take any pictures during these 3 days... but more to come in future posts!

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "Iron Creek to the Olympic Peninsula - August 9th to 11th," Kinexxions, posted September 29, 2015 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2015/09/iron-creek-to-olympic-peninsula.html : accessed [access date])