Washington

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
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    Our first evening in Olympic National Park couldn’t have been much better.  We spent it writing from next to the camp fire, on a bluff over the Pacific Ocean, under a full moon, after eating a fresh salad and salmon cooked over the ole Coleman stove (thanks Kalley and Marquez).

    The drive from Seattle to Olympic was a bit slow due to the heavy traffic out of town, which was almost LA-ish, if you can believe it, but we got the chance to drive through Washington’s state capital, Olympia, which is also the hometown of our Seattle patron Tony Leahy.  Thanks again Tony.  At about 7:00 pm we were rolling through Aberdeen (home town of Kurt Cobain, and what is still apparently a very big logging community) and decided that we needed to catch Kerry’s speech.  Aberdeen has a pretty cool small town America feel; a fine place all in all to watch a campaign speech.  So, we pulled into this little bar and “card house” called Mac’s.  The bartender was good enough to put the speech on for us.  Great speech we thought, but a few of the other patrons in the bar seemed, umm . . . disillusioned at the political process to say the least.  One guy even walked out, after he called all politicians “cartoons.”  The bartender, however, seemed pretty interested (along with a few other ladies).  He even thanked us when we left, as if something Kerry had said struck a cord with him. Who knows, could have just been the tip we left him, but hopefully it was something in Kerry’s words.Continuing up the 101, the stretch from Aberdeen to the Olympics is surreal to say the least.  We had both seen clear cut forests on long backpacks, or from ridges on mountain hikes and drives, but what we saw today was miles and miles of heavy clear cuts right up to the highway, which have produced fields of dead and decaying stumps, that have nothing but 5 foot high trees (if even) to show as replacements.  Signs posted along the highway indicated that a lot of these clear cuts had been done in the early 1900s, before folks realized what a devastating effect clear cutting (verses some of the other methods used today) has on an area.  Some of the signs posted along the road boasted of reforestation, and some listed the years in which clear cutting, reforestation, fertilization, etc. occurred.  Efforts at reforestation just did not seem to be working.    Either way, the surrounding forests remained, offering up some gorgeous scenery in between the clear cuts. 

	The next morning we checked out the “sea stacks” at Ruby Beach.  For those un-familiar, sea stacks are former pieces of coastal landmass, which become islands rising several stories high out of the ocean due to wind and water erosion of land which formerly connected them to the mainland.  We had seen these stacks on the Oregon coast, but these were larger and, when coupled with the abundance of birds nesting on them (some have even been designated as wildlife refuges or bird sanctuaries for this reason), and the huge driftwood logs on the beach, generally more impressive. 

	In the afternoon we headed to the Hoh River Rainforest, which was billed as one of the world’s most impressive.  We set camp and then set out on the Hoh River Trail, which we took in about 3.5 miles, just past Tom’s Creek, before turning around.  Unfortunately, it has been so dry in the park this summer that most of the dense and vibrant moss and lichens which cover 200 foot trees, fallen and standing throughout the forest, were heavily scaled back or browning.  Still, the sheer size of the trees, the number of fallen trees, and the dense coverage made for some gorgeous colors and a really worthwhile hike.  We’re sure it’s even more spectacular in the wetter months. 

	On Saturday morning, on the way to Hurricane Ridge, we made the short trip to Marymere Falls and Crescent Lake.  Marymere Falls is an easy 1 ½ mile hike in, and is a nice stop if you are in the area.  Since it was getting late, we hightailed it towards Hurricane Ridge in a mad dash to get what we were told by a ranger would be the last few campsites at the Heart O the Hills campground, just inside the Hurricane Ridge entrance of Olympic NP.  Luckily we got the third to last site, and it was a beauty.  We quickly set the tent and then headed onto Hurricane Ridge to do the Hurricane Hill hike; a beautiful 3 ½ mile climb, over 700 feet to 6,000 feet with 360 degree views of the Strait of Juan De Fuca and the San Juan Islands to the North, and Mt. Olympus to the South.  There are also rolling hills of wildflowers over the entire hike, sort of Sound of Music-ish.  Mike was in the mood for a challenge and ran up it, while Ruthie hiked, and we walked down together.  On the way down we got some cool pictures of a deer from about 5 feet.  They are definitely habituated to humans.After our awesome sunset hike, we decided to head into the little town of Port Angeles, right at the base of Olympic NP, where you can pick up the ferry to head to Victoria, Canada.  We had a yummy dinner of pizza, pasta and salad and went to watch the Manchurian Candidate (not as tight of a story as the first one, but still a good movie) at an old school style theater which only shows one movie at a time.  Not really a night of rough’n it, but fun.
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