Cape Flattery

(August 2009) If you look at a map of Washington state, you’ll see that far northwest tip of the state. It’s actually the farthest northwest point of the contiguous United States. That was our next destination.

Cape Flattery sits on a point of land where the Strait of Juan de Fuca empties into the Pacific ocean. This area falls within the boundaries of the Makah Indian Reservation and is the northern boundary of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. The Makah’s have done a marvelous job of preserving this beautiful area as well as making it accessible to the thousands of visitors during the year. However, during the winter months it would truly be a miserable hike out to the Cape, since the trail goes out thru the rain forest of the Olympic Peninsula. Since we were there in August, it was warm and dry and beautiful!

To get to the Cape Flattery trail head you have to follow Highway 112 thru the towns of Seiku (see-q) (this is where Bob goes fishing with his retired plumber buddies) and then the native American town of Neah Bay. It’s a narrow, two lane highway along the shores of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On a clear day you can see the outline of Vancouver Island, British Columbia across the Strait. As we traveled along this day we also saw some of the locals….

This mom and her twins seemed to think this was their territory so we slowed down and let them take their time.

They headed up into someone’s yard to munch on their flowers, no doubt.

They claim the trail is one half mile long……both Bob and I disagreed. We think it’s probably closer to a mile. We’ve both here before and walked the trail but we were both younger and more fit.

At first it was an easy stroll. It did become a little more difficult but the beauty of our surroundings helped us to continue on.

In some places the dirt trail gave way to a boardwalk trail.

In other places is was a little rough.

At about this point my right knee was starting to scream and the trail was only getting worse. So it was here that I found a nice log in the shade to sit on and gave Bob my camera. I hated not making it out to the Cape but we both agreed that if I messed up my knee it would be a nightmare getting back up to the truck. I had walked about 2/3 of the way by this time.

The pictures from here on were taken on my camera by Bob. Next time I’ll wear better shoes and take a walking stick.

And the one big thing I missed by not going out to the end of the trail. A large gray whale was frolicking in the water, just off the shore and right below the overlook.

It was an exhilarating day, I was disappointed that my bad knee held me from reaching the end of the trail. But while I was sitting and waiting on that log, I enjoyed the beauty of the forest around me and also really enjoyed visiting with those who were coming and going on the trail. Many took advantage of my large comfortable perch to sit and catch their breath. When Bob came back up the trail huffing and puffing, he sat and rested for a few minutes and then we made our way back to the truck. At the trail head we looked back down the path at the beautiful natural forest where we had just spent several hours.

Heading back to Port Angeles we pulled into Neah Bay. Besides being a native American community, it’s a great destination for avid fishermen.

Back in Port Angeles we checked into our spot in the far corner of Albertson’s parking lot. It had been a long day and we were so tired.

To be continued~

Hurricane Ridge

(August 2009) On a cloudy and overcast day we headed out from Port Angeles for the 17 mile drive to Hurricane Ridge. Following a winding but well maintained road we leave sea level and end up at 5,200 feet elevation. A stunning 360* view awaits us at the Summit. Hurricane Ridge is part of the Olympic Mountains range and offers views of high meadows, wild life, wild flowers and the distant high peaks including Mt Olympus and Mt Angeles. Hurricane Ridge was so named for it’s sometimes intensive gales and winds. As we were driving higher into the clouds Bob kept saying, “I think we picked the wrong day to come up here~we won’t see a thing.” The fog /clouds were so thick. But I kept saying, “ I bet when we get to the top we’ll be above all this.” Well, I was right…..as we rounded the last big curve, heading for the parking lot….we were indeed above all the fog/clouds.

And it was beautiful! We always love to come to Hurricane Ridge and we’ve never been there when the weather was absolutely dreadful (maybe that’s why we keep going back.)

On a clear day you can see the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island, British Columbia from the vantage point below.

Hurricane Ridge has a fabulous Visitor’s Center for the 3 million or so visitors each year. It contains an interpretive center, theater, gift shop, restrooms, first aide station and snack bar. Even the views from inside the Center are breath taking. From the Visitor’s Center parking lot there are many paved meadow trails that lead off to various hiking trails. Along the trails are benches where one can sit and just take in the ever changing views. On this day the clouds lay in the valley below us when we first got there. They were swirling and blowing and by the time we left several hours later came swirling down over us as we sat on a bench on the other side of the parking lot watching a group of marmots playing in the meadow below us. This area is also home to black bear (we didn’t see any) and black tail deer (we saw lots of those).

A sweet little doe, Bob figured I was perhaps 15 feet from her. She would look up from time to time but then just keep on eating.

We walked on by her to enjoy more views of this lovely area. Below you can see the ski tow that operates during the winter months for skiers.

There is a trail that goes out to the rise in the background and there were people out there strolling along. My knee would not have taken that trail so we skipped it this visit.

Heading back to the Visitor’s Center we came upon the doe we had seen earlier or maybe another one….still eating and completely oblivious to the crowds of people snapping pictures of her.

We crossed the parking lot and just sat there for about an hour, taking in the beauty. An older couple came along and sat down, sharing our bench. They were from Germany…traveling around the United States in a rented motor home. We had a lovely conversation with them and they both said that the sights of Hurricane Ridge reminded them of the Swiss Alps.

The clouds came sweeping over us as we walked to the truck and headed back down to Port Angeles. It was an exhilarating day.

Come back for the next installment; Cape Flattery