Olympic National Park

Have now been back from my trip up north a little over a week and have already loaded back up and spent a couple more nights in the camper.  Petey and I love being out in the woods just roaming around. Tiffany and Max were on a college viewing tour to San Diego and Denver so I figured since the weather was almost perfect I'd do a little exploring over in the Olympic National Park.  I've still got lots of catching up to do on future posts from my trip up north to Alaska and plan to get to them soon.  Figured I'd go ahead and post up this little excursion while it's fresh.  I had read about a road off of Hurrican Ridge called Obstruction Point Road so I wanted to check it and do a little hiking up top.  Had been told that it's a real sketchy road and can be dangerous.  A huge exaggeration in my opinion. Funny how anything the government has control over they tend to inflate the potential danger.  Try Lippincott Road in Death Valley if you want something that can give you a little "pucker factor" depending on the conditions.  Tiffany and I did it this past spring pulling a trailer and the "pucker factor" was going strong.  Click on the following link for the trip to Death Valley.  Obstruction Point road has beautiful views but as far as being dangerous.....it's not! Perhaps if one is an idiot, vehicle has no brakes, driving drunk, blind, etc., etc., I'd say it's a road to pay attention to, nothing more. I drove in taking my time and actually survived! The road dead ends up top around 5500 feet and offers a great view of the Olympic Range. Here one has a selection of trails which access the surrounding ridgelines or drop rapidly down to a couple of valleys. I got up top around 2:00 in the afternoon and after letting Petey chase (he never catches anything) Marmots for over an hour, then decided to go for about a 4-mile hike along the ridgeline.  When I got back there were no other cars to be seen, the weather was perfect, a beautiful sunset was starting to unfold and I had beer in the cooler, sardines and crackers, so I decided to spend the night right where I was parked. Not an official campsite but didn't figure anyone would come along since it's an eight-mile drive from pavement to get here.  I knew there would be a full moon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind.  Figured it would be worth it to stay put for the night even if the temps would probably drop somewhat considering I had gained a little altitude coming in.  The temps got down around 40 but we were toasty in the bag. A beautiful night and I had it all to myself.  When I finally rolled off the following morning at 9:30 I still hadn't seen anyone.

Hike along the ridgeline towards Grand Pass

Camp for the night

Full moon was really something. When I got up the following morning it was still high and easily visible.  I don't think I've seen the moon stay up this long once the sun came up.  I was up at daybreak and watched the sun come up in the east while the moon was still prominent in the west.  Got this shot about 8:00 am that morning.

Let Petey do his thing for another hour and then loaded up and headed to the Sol Duc area of the park.

 Petey on the hunt.....but capturing nothing!

The drive to Sol Duc is another nice drive which takes you along Crescent Lake.  A hike in from the Storm King Ranger Station takes you to some old growth forest and the Marymere Falls.

 Some old growth

 Selfie at Marymere Falls

Spent the rest of the day just kinda doing nothing.  Couple of short hikes and some pull overs next to the Sol Duc River for some shots.  There is a hot springs on the Sol Duc road but it's pretty commercialized and expensive.  Rather than make the springs somewhat natural they've put in a swimming pool.  Shame because it's a beautiful setting.  I've been in it once many years ago but haven't been back since.  Probably never go again.

Fall colors along the Sol Duc River

Stayed up in the Sol Duc area until dark and decided to drive back to Port Angeles for the night where I got another free campsite.  Wal-Mart parking lot!  Was just trying to shave some time off the drive home and Wal-Mart was calling.  I'll bet there were another 30 rigs in the lot.  Some I talked with were waiting to catch the ferry over to Vancouver Island the following day.  I wonder what Wal-Mart makes in sales off of RV'ers since they allow them to stay over for free.  I know they ended up with some of my money.

Will be continuing with the Alaska/British Colombia posts soon.  Stay tuned!