Ozette Lake

August 20, 2020 Thursday

We passed up the hotel breakfast and ate at the Joshua Restaurant next door. Good food at reasonable prices with a 10% discount. Our plan for the day was to drive to Cape Flattery which offered interesting trails, views of lighthouses and going to the most northwestern point in the continental US. I though that we were to experience a two hour beautiful drive on slow curvy road along Juan de Fuca Strait. That was only partially fulfilled. After a short drive out of town we connected to State Highway 112, which follows the very scenic Strait of Juan de Fuca which connects Puget Sound with the Pacific Ocean and separates the Olympic Peninsula from Canada.  Its namesake has an interesting history. Given the name, I though he was Spanish. Not so. He was born in Greece after his grandparents fled from Constantinople in 1453 after its fall to the Ottomans because they were Christians. He became a mariner and entered the service of the Spanish king , initially in the Far East, but in 1587 his ship was captured by an English privateer and he was deposited in New Spain. Eventually he became a pilot in the Spanish Navy and at the direction of the Spanish Viceroy of New Spain he sailed north up the Pacific coast in search of the fabled Strait of Anian, which was allegedly the Northwest Passage. His first voyage ended in failure when the crew mutinied against the Army commander (Fuca was the pilot and master). However during his second voyage in 1592 he was successful in finding the Strait, although he misplaced its longitude). Upon his return de Fuce did not receive the rewards he felt that he had been promised. At the Viceroy's urging he went to Spain to plead his case for rewards, but was again unsuccessful. He toyed with a proposal to enter into the service of Queen Elizabeth's navy, but ultimately declined and returned to Greece where he died in 1602. The Strait was named for him by a British sea captain.

We drove along rugged cliffs on one side and the Strait on the other side. We saw eagles, some otters, but no whales.

In order to get to the trailhead for the cape we had to go through the Makah Indian reservation to the small town Neah Bay. However the virus intervened. Shortly after a road sign announced the town closing, we came to a checkpoint with a guard station manned by a what appeared to be a private security guard. He appeared to be Indian and he told us that we could not proceed because the town was closed to non-residents. I saw no point in arguing with him and assumed that the closure was due to a desire to minimize the spread of the virus on the reservation. So we turned around and retraced our route to the turn-off to Ozette Lake which we had mistakenly turned on to on our drive out. It was 21 miles to the lake area. The weather was not looking too good, a very gray sky and a heavy mist which at times molted into light rain. Thus I was surprised to see that the parking lot was almost full and there were quite a few people removing hiking and camping equipment from their vehicles. 

There were several deer loitering in a grassy area very near the parking area, seemingly oblivious to people. We used the bathroom, prepared the backpack and took our rain coats and umbrellas before starting the hike.

 

This location is part of the Pacific shoreline portion of the Olympic National Park. It is a narrow strip of land, just 6 miles at its widest point that runs for 60 miles along the wild and largely undeveloped Washington coast. While there was a Ranger station, we did not see any Rangers and payment of fees, entrance and camping, was on the honor system. 

From the trail map I learned that there were two trails to the ocean, Cape Alava and Sand Point and that one could walk both if you walked for 3 miles along the ocean, the Ozette Loop.  In total it would be 9 miles, too much in the early afternnon and with weather coming in, so we decided to just do the round trip Cape Alava trail, allegedly 6.2 miles. The trail is the western end of the 1200 mile Pacific Northwest trail which stretches from the Continental Divide in Montana to the Pacific Ocean during which it crosses three national parks, seven national forests, two other national trails, several mountain ranges and three states. This trail was designated as a National Recreation Trail in 1981 (not sure what that designation means) and at its end it is the western terminus at the westernmost point of the continental US. I was very impressed that I might be a small part of that.

Shortly after the trail began  we came to a moss covered bridge which crossed the Ozette River that flowed into Ozette Lake. The lake is 8 miles long and 3 miles wide. It is the largest unaltered lake in Washington.

The moss was a preview of the rain forest environment we were about to enter. About a quarter mile after the bridge we came to the trailhead sign.The bear warning only increased the apprehension level since we had just encountered a returning hiker who said that she had seen a bear.

We took the right fork. The forest we walked through was lush, green and wet. As usual with seemingly most of the forests in the US, this area was heavily logged into the early 20th century, but has regrown.

The weather was initially dry and the trail was packed gravel. However it began to rain lightly so we unfurled the umbrellas. Luckily, as we proceeded further into the forest the trail frequently became a beautiful ceder boardwalk. So we meandered through the forest under-story, largely shielded from the rain with lots of ferns, evergreens and red ceder trees.

After about 2.25 miles we came to the Ahlstrom's Prairie. This giant, soggy meadow was once farmed by two Swedish immigrants. Today all evidence of farming has given way to plants and animals. The final stretch was uphill, over a ridge. I strained to hear the roar or smell of the ocean as I knew that would be the end of the trail, but as the trail was more like 3.5 miles (that is what my pedometer said) it became a stagger to the end. However as we descended the ridge and I saw the ocean through the trees and heard its roar I felt a great sense elation and imagined that was what Lewis and Clark might have felt as they arrived at the Pacific coast.

The beach was rocky, foggy, windy and had a lot of driftwood. There even were some ducks paddling in the ocean. 

We spent a bit of time on the beach admiring the view and resting our legs. The weather was worsening, the rain was becoming steadier and it was approaching 4:30 pm, so we commenced the return trip. I was amazed that during our return trip we encountered several groups hiking in who were going to be camping that night. It appeared that it would be a rainy camp out. The wind broke my umbrella, but my raincoat kept my upper body dry. However the rain was steady and now dripping off the tress, so my shoes were a different story.

Some interesting sights on the way back. It is interesting how different things look when hiking in the opposite direction, but it was a pretty soggy trip back to the car.

We drove back to the hotel in the rain and arrived about 8:30, in time we thought to eat dinner at the Joshua restaurant adjacent to our hotel. However, even though the restaurant's posted hours were to 9:30, when we entered the adjacent bar (no food there) we were told that they closed early due to the virus. So dinner out of our food cooler.

Olympic National Park

August 19, 2020 Wednesday

The hotel's breakfast handouts were supplemented by our reheated pizza. Not the best way to start the day.

Charged up the car at the Chevrolet dealership while we ate breakfast. 

Following breakfast we set out for Olympic National Park, the primary reason for the trip. The Port Angeles entrance is the most popular one for park entrance and the Park Visitor Center was only a mile south of town. However it was closed due to the virus so we missed the hands on exhibits about the Park's history and biology. The Rangers were outside answering questions and handing out maps. 

The Park's origins go back to the later 19th century when President Grover Cleveland established the Olympic Forest Reserve, primarily in response to public outcry about the extensive logging going on in the area. The Washington State legislature was unable to implement further protections so President Roosevelt created the Olympic National Forest in 1907 and upgraded the area to a National Monument in 1909. Present FDR made the area a National Park in 1938, but illegal logging continued for several years thereafter. The Park still has a small ski area which has two rope tows and a poma lift. It is operated by a nonprofit and offers ski lessons.

The Park has four major geographic areas. While there are about a score of entrances to the Park, the majority of the Park is inaccessible by car. We were entering the biggest area, the center of the Park which has the highest mountains and receives over 400 inches of snow annually. As a result of the large snowfall there are many glaciers that cover the sides and ridge lines of these mountains, the tallest of which, Mt. Olympus rises to 7,965 ft. The three other areas are: the Pacific coast area which stretches 60 miles along the coast and is physically separated from the rest of the park; the temperate rain forests which receive over 150 inches or rain annually, the most in the continental US; and the eastern side of the park which has old growth forests, but is much dryer than the rest of the park.    

Armed with maps and a destination we drove a meandering 17 mile road up the Hurricane Ridge Road mountain. That drained all the electricity in the car battery. We parked at the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center. Again, it was closed , except for the gift center and there were rangers outside. There was a patio with comfortable Adirondack chairs that offered wonderful panoramic views of the center of the Park. We sat there for while just taking in the view.

We then got back into the car and drove about 3 miles more to the end of the road. The primary parking area was full so we retraced our drive and parked at Picnic area B and walked back to the Hurricane Hill trailhead.  This is a 1.6 mile trail which takes you up 750ft. to Hurricane Hill. 5757ft. The Hurricane Hill trail project, a three year effort to restore this trail had been completed 8 days before we arrived. That made for a smooth, paved trail virtually all the way up. The trail was steep at times, but it offered spectacular views of the mountains and the Juan de Fuca strait out as far as Canada. There were lots of wildflowers, some animals and patches of snow. There were not a lot of people on the trail, but given the nicely paved trail we saw many wheelchairs and strollers being pushed along.  When we got to the top, we took time to sit and gaze at the view. A big view day.

 

It was a pleasant and easier walk back down. At the picnic area we retrieved food from our car and had a picnic lunch in the woods. There were several deer that wandered through the picnic area very close to people, but totally obvious to the humans in their mist.

 

We then rolled back down the mountain retracing our drive and picked up half a dozen electric miles through the regen feature on the car to highway 101. Then we proceeded west to the Elwha River Valley reached by Olympic Hot Hot Springs Road. We could only drive about 2 miles to the Madison Falls area due to a road closure caused by a road washout. 

The Elwha River has an interesting history. When the Europeans arrived in this area they found a 21 mile pristine river valley that was rich in 10 varieties of salmon and trout. In the early 20th century a Canadian entrepreneur saw in the river and its narrow gorges as an economic opportunity to  build dams to supply the increasing demand for electricity to power the lumber mills in Port Angeles. The Elwha Dam was finished in 1913 and a second dam, Glines Canyon, was finished in 1927. Lots of electricity, but contrary to state law there was no provision for the fish to swim and this spawn upstream. As the mills closed down and the adverse environmental impact of the dams became apparent, there was agitation to remove the dams. In 1992 Congress passed the Elwha River Restoration Act and by 2014 both of the dams had been removed. The cost of the dams' removal was 20 times the cost of their installation. The trout have returned in large numbers, but the salmon are still recovering.

 We parked and took a short walk on a paved trail to Madison Falls. 

 Driving back to town we took the back roads. There were hones out in the woods and many of them had Trump signs. Only saw on Biden sign. Located a charging station and walked around downtown. Lots of murals and sculptures.

 

 We ate dinner at the Downriggers restaurant on the waterfront. Good seafood with a view of the harbor.

Port Angeles

August 18, 2020 Tuesday

The virus struck again. The hotel, which normally serves a hot buffet breakfast had eliminated that due to the virus and instead handed out requested items, beverages, fruit bars etc, to be eaten in our room. Not tasty, but somewhat filling and grabbed bars for the rest of the day. 

I identified a car charging station at a nearby Chevrolet dealer. I drove the car over there and the staff was very helpful. I had a conversation with several of them who were eating breakfast outside. They claimed that this dealership sells more electric cars than any other Chevrolet dealership in the state and that buyers come from out of state because of the dealership's outstanding service. Most of those whom I spoke with are fervent Trump supporters. They firmly believed that the Democratic governor's restrictions on activity was wrong and unconstitutional. Anyway, it was easy to charge up there.

My spouse was feeling tired so after I returned with the car I set out alone to explore Port Angeles. I drove threw town and parked in the park near the pier. The town has two long main streets running in parallel along the waterfront. It had a mixture of local businesses and chain fast food outlets. he park/pier area had a wealth of plaques and murals which described the area's history.

Port Angeles is the largest city in and county seat of Clallam County. Most of the county's 20,000 people live within the city's boundaries. I walked through the transit center and was surprised to discover an extensive bus network that seemed to run throughout the county. A Spanish explorer entered the harbor in 1791 and named it, but European settlers did not enter the area until the mid 19th century. The area got its big boost when Victor Smith convinced the then Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase to move the US Customs Port of Entry for the Territory of Washington from Port Townsend out  to Port Angeles. More patronage followed when they got President Lincoln to designate 3520 acres in the area as a federal reserve for a lighthouse and military purposes. That lead the Army Corps of Engineers to plot out a federal town plan and street plan which still exists. (That makes Port Angeles the only city other than Washington DC to be laid out by the federal government.)

Prosperity and growth followed, but then disaster struck. Victor Smith died in the sinking of the Brother Jonathan paddle steamer off the coast of California. Without its patron the Customs House was returned to Port Townsend and Port Angeles fell into obscurity for two decades. When the Puget Sound Cooperative Colony was established in 1887 growth resumed. Logging, lumber and pulp mills and shipbuilding powered the economy well into the 20th century. The mills began to close in the 70s and 80s and now one remains open. Tourism has become the major economic driver spurred by the construction of the Hood Canal Bridge cutting travel time to Seattle, ferry traffic to Victoria, Canada and increased popularity of Olympic National Park.  The area had and still has a significant presence in the area. Indeed the town's street signs were printed in both English and an Indian language.

However now the place was pretty quiet due to the virus. Many restaurants were closed, the ferry service to Canada has been idled and the sidewalks were pretty empty. The park had a small beach,("Hollywood Beach") a large pier and a tower that overlooked the Juan de Fuca Strait. I could see Canada from the tower. I encountered two older men with MAGA hats on and I asked them what they liked about Trump. They said he was a great man and that there was nothing he could do or say that would dissuade them from voting for him.They were from Idaho and very pleasant. I stoped for a burger and brew in the Barhop Brewing and Artisan restaurant. The bartender bemoaned the reduced tourism and said that normally the streets would be crowded and that there would be lots of people streaming off the ferry. He said that there had been a recent spike in virus infections in town and he worried if he would be able to remain in town if he lost his job.

                                             The idled ferry to Canada, a victim of US virus

After a few hours walking around town i returned to the hotel. However I got ansey again and again drove out to the park again. This time I walked west out of town to Ediz Hook, a spit of land that extends north and then east protecting the harbor and ending in the Coast Guard Air Station. I was not permitted to enter the Station. I walked around for a few hours again noting that there was a marijuana shop,  decorative windmills and a bridge memorializing a sister relationship with a Japanese city.

                                                    Canada in the distance
  I picked up dinner at Little Caesar's Pizza which was running a 2 for $10 Tuesday pizza special.

Beginning the Trip The Drive through Idaho and Oregon and to Washington

 August 16 and 17, 2020 To Washington State

I have long had a desire to visit Olympic National Park, both because I have been told and read that it has a wonderful variety of climates ranging from glaciers to a temperate rain forest, and that it has a very low visitation rate. The latter being a real positive in the age of the virus. I had scheduled the trip for this summer and had to reschedule twice, but now we were on our way.

We left from from our borrowed condo in Park City. This was our last day in that condo so we not only had to pack for the trip but we also had to clear out the condo. We finished packing up by 9:30 and drove down to our condo in SLC to unload some of our belongings and to leave one car packed with stuff in the garage. I also watered my tomato plants and picked up the mail. We left about 12:20, well be hind my hoped for departure.

We quickly got on to I-15 north and settled in for a long drive listening to podcasts, Malcolm Gladwell and Chuck Rosenberg, and satellite radio. After about 1.5 hrs we transitioned toI-84. This portion of the road seems to primarily go west, at one point it even intersects I-86 so I do not know why it has an even number. The drive was pretty boring and the landscape nondescript.

By dinner time we had exhausted our electricity and the gas gauge was getting low so we pulled off in Boise to gas up and eat dinner. I had intended to stop at a mall to eat, but its electric chargers were not working and on Sunday evening there were not many choices so we ate dinner at the Brixx Craft House. Lots of draft beers and good burgers and deserts. Not many people there and few masks.

After about an hour in the restaurant we got back onto I-84 and drove for 2.25 hours into Oregon to Baker City. We picked up an hour as we crossed into the Pacific Time Zone and it was light for most of the drive.  We climbed for a good part of the drive through Oregon through heavily wooded mountains. Stay at the Oregon Trail Motel and Restaurant where we stayed in 2018. It had not improved and I was unable to charge up the car from our room since there was another car parked outside our room. After checking in and moving into our room, I walked into downtown and again viewed the Grand Geiser Hotel, where we had also stayed and eaten during a 2019 visit. Main street was well lit and I was surprised to find that since our last visit here the city had added almost a score of animal sculptures.

                                                    Grand Geiser Hotel

The next day I discovered that the car in front of our room had left early so I moved our car to get a few electric miles. We ate a good breakfast at the motel restaurant that was part of our hotel bill. The service was very good and the breakfast was tasty and filling. After breakfast we walked around town and along the river path, and saw the animal sculptures in daylight. At the Bella Main Street Market we did some shopping and purchased some Oregon wine. I noticed that the store clerk at the market had eaten at the restaurant. She told me that the animal sculptures were a recent addition, on loan form a local artist. By the time we got back to the motel it had gotten hot and the car had charged up to 9 miles. 

                                                Sculpture outside our motel

                                                The Market giving covid advice

                                             Not much activity in Baker City in the morning 

We resumed our trip and returned to I-84. We stopped first at highway arch and then a pioneer rest stop, Deadmans Pass, which had a lot of narrative displays about the Oregon Trail pioneers. This site was midway between an three day ascent and then a steep descent to the Umatilla River

 

For the next 3 hours we drove up through green forests in Oregon and then down into the Columbia River Valley where we crossed into the State of Washington and on to I-82. There the environment almost immediately changed to dry, hot and brown. For the next hour we passed lots of vineyards,fruit orchards and hops fields. The latter are grown on 7 ft high triangular supports. The other feature of the landscape were the thousands of produce boxes stacked along the farms to be loaded and similar boxes at teh food processing plants that were scattered along the interstate. We stopped in Yakima for refueling, both gasoline and electric, an early dinner and a cash withdrawal. We walked around downtown a bit, very hot and pretty deserted and ate at the Second Street Grill. Indoor eating is prohibited due the virus, but the shaded outdoor patio made for a pleasant dinner. The car was charged up to 18 miles courtesy of a free chamber of commerce charger. It was a GE charger, one I had never seen before.

Following dinner we returned to I-82 and began a 5 hour drive to our hotel. We passed over the twin span Fred Redmon Bridge spanning the Selah Creek which when completed in 1971 was the longest concrete arch bridge in the US and won an award "for excellence in the use of concrete". It was named for the first chairman of the Washington Highway Commission. All that information was courtesy of a stop in an overlook just after we crossed the bridge.

 

We transitioned to I-90 west and passed over the Snoqualmie pass, elevation 3022 ft. which receives a lot of snow in the winter, is frequently closed due to the snow and averages over 30 accidents a year. We did not have to deal with that, but as we were descending from the pass we noticed an extremely long traffic back-up going eastbound due to road construction. We were in the middle of no where in the Cascade mountains and while it was very green and beautiful, there are no other roads in this area so the eastbound traffic just inched along for miles. On the as of yet undetermined route back we will not take this road.

East of Seattle we turned south off of I-90 and circumvented both Seattle and Tacoma. Too many virus inspired closings in those cities to visit them. We rounded the southern end of Puget Sound and as we began our trip north up the Kitsap peninsula we crossed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. This twin span, one built in 1950 and the other in 2007, replaced the original span which was build in 1940 and 4 months collapsed under 40 mph winds due to aeroelastic flutter. That event is the subject of a much viewed film  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940)#Film_of_collapse. The State could not collect on one of its insurance policies on the bridge because its insurance agent had absconded with the premium. The only fatality was a dog, Tubby, which resisted rescue attemps and bit one of the would be rescuers. The owner of the last car on the bridge, and Tubby received a settlement of $50 for his lost car and $362 for its contents, including Tubby

 During the original bridge's short life it was the third longest suspension bridge in the US. The replacement bridge had tolls, but amazingly when the bonds were paid off the tolls were removed. Sadly after completion of the second span they were reinstated in 2007, but only for eastbound traffic so we did not pay them.

Following a winding and darkening drive north and then west on the Olympic Peninsula we arrived at our motel in Port Angeles about 9:00.