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.