Washington Coast
Lots of Oregon left unseen; Columbia River, Columbia Gorge Scenic Road among them, Dan and were now in Washington State and ready to continue north along the coast of the United States. In Yachat Oregon, the owner of a BBQ restaurant had taken an interest in us having a good time in the West and he had taken the time to write an itinerary he had done to enjoy the coast of Oregon and Washington. Dan and I would use his suggestions to stay on rt. 101 and see the Willapa Bay Wildlife Refuge and continue on to the Hoh Indian Tribe’s National Park campsite, after Astoria.
Huge Trees in their natural habitat
Willapa Bay Refuge was closed when we arrived and too remote to stay overnight, so we continued on rt. 101 to Quinault (I think) where in the Quinault Indian area, forests have been allowed to grow un-timbered. As a result there are huge, live trees of spruce and cedar to be admired and photographed and hikes to take farther into the Olympic National Forest. Hopefully the trees will remain for a long time to come. There were signs along the road either advocating for or anti someone’s plans to allow some cutting.
Hoh River Camping
After the tree hike we went on to the Hoh campsite; an 11 mile detour off the main road, along the Hoh River. It wasn't too isolated as there is a camping store with clothing, camping items and tour/trips there and a small deli where we bought wood and ice. There, because it was nearly the Fourth of July and a weekend, it was quite crowded. At night large, four or five inch brown slugs came out of the damp, grassy areas and were everywhere, even one crawling on the tent, leaving a slime trail as it moved. Flick-goodbye! As the sun became warmer they vanished or evaporated into a tiny pool of gunk. I didn’t think to get a pic until the sun had scared most of the BIG ones away. Later when looking over the information I had on the Old Growth trees we had visited, the brochure mentioned a bright yellow 6” long slug-so I guess we were lucky to have the brown baby brothers in Hoh.
"Go West, man"
We packed up after the tent dried from heavy dew and we were off. I’m hazy on what we did next but I do remember we were both driving as usual probably on rt. 113, when Dan stopped to check the map. A young motorcyclist thought we might be in some kind of trouble and stopped to help. He was a local rider who suggested that we were almost to the furthest West point in the US, Cape Flattery, we shouldn't miss that. and he and some rider friends were going there so, “why don’t we come along?”
Well, why not-good idea! I parked the car and trailer at a nearby parking lot, grabbed a few things, put on my helmet and hopped on for a zoom out to the cape, rt.112. We kept up with “the kids” for awhile, but then slowed down a bit to enjoy the ride-narrow, twisty road with close cliff face on one side, Pacific Ocean on the other.
At the turnoff for Cape Flattery we parked and walked the mile or so, meeting “the kids” on their way back- on the wooden walkway to the overlook. This area is accessible to the public and runs right through Makah Tribe land. On the coastal shore, a scenic road shows in the Atlas followed by undeveloped road or places where there is no road paralleling the coastline through the Indian Territory and Olympic Wilderness National Park. We accessed the Cape on the northern route.
It was exciting to think that leaving from the east coast of Florida, our stop in Key West in November "didn’t count" now, but that had been even farther south. Dan and I were now at the western-most point of continental US. Pretty cool-so we took pictures.
The Indians and others fish for salmon in the waters here. If we weren’t on a motorcycle, we might have bought some fresh fish to cook. We enjoyed a spectacular walk down to Neah Bay and incredible view from the overlook of this usually windy, dangerous for navigation, rocky coastal area of Washington. We spoke to a sailor, however, that races in the area, so at times the wind is not so strong or variable. The Coast Guard from the Columbia River training facility spends a lot of time between the river and this Cape.
Next Camp- 4th of July
We rode toward Seattle along the northern coast, stopping at the town of Joyce. Happy Fourth of July. Campgrounds are full. We found a private one with one space left and grabbed it. Quite the lush accommodation. For the toilet there was one old, nasty trailer with one RV type toilet available for twenty campsites, most with tents! . We did meet a nice couple who fed us and shared their fire ring as we chatted. They have an RV but want to go sailing permanently, too so we had a bit to talk about.
Riding Hurricane Ridge
Dan wanted to ride another road he had heard about, named Hurricane Ridge. The Olympic National Forest off of rt. 112 is where this 17mile up mountain, twisty is located. In winter it is a ski area with the reputation that one can surf and ski in the same day. We zipped through Port Angeles and on to the visitor center, arriving at the gate sometime in the afternoon. We pulled in in time to grab a campsite in Heart O’ the Mountain campground and returned to Port Angeles for dinner. The next morning we climbed up the paved, winding, scenic road to the snowy mountain top viewing area, with Ranger Station, snack bar, gift shop at the top.
Part of the downhill road was still closed due to snow ,so we retraced our earlier 17 miles to the campsite.
Enjoy the slideshow of this outstanding part of the coast and Hurricane Ridge:
You may have noticed better resolution in the photos. They may need a little more time to load.
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| 14 WA trees, CFlattory, Hurricane Ridge |
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