Bauers in Seattle

[Jack] We got an early Saturday morning start to this trip and caught the first ferry over to the other side of Puget Sound. Linc and Donna, uncle and aunt to Chris and Matt, had invited us to breakfast of pancakes and freshly picked blueberries and we certainly didn't want to miss that!

As Chris and Matt have described, their house is beautiful and overlooks Point No Point on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A deer and her fawn wandered just outside the dining room window as we arrived. And a plethora of birds were constantly at the nearby feeder (along with 3 little douglas squirrels picking up the sunflower seeds that the birds tossed their way.

Breakfast was as delicious as we had imagined and it got the day off to a fantastic start. Thanks Linc and Donna!

We eventually pushed out chairs back from the table and headed west to the Peninsula. Crossing the floating bridge that connects Kitsap Peninusla with the Olympic Peninsula was fun for the young engineers.

We headed directly to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. It's a scenic drive up the mountainside to an overlook with views into the center of the park. The weather was perfect and the vistas from up on top was as great as we expected. Chris and Matt rambled off on a short hike up to another small knob and I re-sorted the car (we had thrown everything in this morning as we stumbled around in the early morning light...).

From Hurricane Ridge we headed further west on Highway 101. Next destination the beautiful Crescent Lake (not to be confused with the Crescent Lake we hiked cross country to on the Northern Loop Expedition earlier in the week...). We bought some Subway sandwiches in Pt. Angeles (Chris was surprised that a "cheddar loaf" wasn't one of the bread selections...) and stopped at a picnic area for lunch. Kids were swimming at the small beach and a water skier was cruising across the water.

Then it was off in the car again to drive along the south shore of the lake (sometimes just a few feet from the water). This, to me, is one of the most beautiful stretches of highway in all of Washington. The lake is a deep blue and the surrounding mountainsides covered with green trees is spectacular.

We eventually found our way to the Mora Campground on the beach at the Pacific Ocean. I didn't have much hope of finding a campsite on a Saturday afternoon - but we got lucky and there were 3 empty spots to choose from (out of about 100 total). We grabbed space C49 and set up our two little tents amid the RVs and large family tenting estates. After we got the tents up, it was time to head for the beach.

Just a mile down the road is the Pacific Ocean - Rialta Beach. What a difference that mile makes! We had been basking in beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine all day. The campsite was the same. The ocean beach was very, very different. Cloudy. Cool. Breezy. It was like a gray curtain was pulled down just before the beach.

It was high tide and we wandered up the beach and looked at the huge logs that had been tossed up, the bits of driftwood, the many smooth rocks, and the birds flying about. After an hour or so of this, we jumped back in the car to head back to camp and then off to Forks (the closest town) for dinner. As we left the beach the eerie clouds disapated and we were back in sunshine at our campsite. Weird...

We headed to Forks and on arrival noticed some signs along the side of the road leading into this small lumber town announcing the "City Faire". We stopped at this bit of local color and found it a bit disappointing. A few stands selling geegaws, two food booths that didn't really look too appetizing (or healthy), and a blue grass band (which was kinda fun) was the sum total. A fifteen minute circle of the small park and we were back in the car looking for some Mexican food for dinner. We found it and it was delicious.

Back at the campsite (after driving around to find a bundle of firewood) we took in the nightly educational program at the camp. It was an introduction to intertidal zones (the area between high tide and low that is open to discovery during low tide). We learned about barnacles, sea stars (NOT starfish!), urchins, hermit crabs, and other sea creatures. With a low tide the following morning at 10:00am, it was all good information.

We shuffled back through the dark to the tents and had a restful night (though a bit noisier than we're used to in the wilds of the Northern Loop...).

Early the next morning we struck camp and were one of the first cars leaving. We headed over to nearby La Push (a town on the Indian reservation) and after a quick circuit of the tiny village headed to the trail head for "Third Beach". Orange juice and cinnamon rolls was the breakfast menu in the car at the trailhead and we soon headed off down the green trail to the beach. Of course, as we neared the ocean, it got cloudy...

Third Beach was a good destination as there are many tidepools where the intertidal sea creatures could be viewed. We saw them all. Sea stars (NOT starfish!), urchins, shrimp, fish, crabs, etc.

After climbing rocks, viewing the wildlife and generally having a fine time for a couple hours at the foggy gray beach, we headed back to the car. Just a thousand feet or so up the trail we were walking with sunny blue skies over our heads.

Our next destination was the Hoh River Rainforest - another part of the Olympic National Park. This would be the third very distinct part of the park that we had visited - Alpine (Hurricane Ridge), Beach (Rialta Beach), and now Forest (Hoh River Rainforest). The rainforest included a mile long hike that had a comfortable bench overlookint the Hoh River for our lunch (Subway sandwiches again - they are the choice of lazy hikers everywhere...).

The HUGE trees, lush green mosses and plantlife in the rainforest made this a very nice walk. Maybe a few too many tourists - but I guess we couldn't really complain on that point since we were part of that problem...

Then it was back in the car for the long drive back over the same route home. Crescent Lake was just as beautiful as ever. A side trip to Port Townsend gave us a chance to walk along the historic main street (this was a boomtown in the 1890s when it was assumed the railroad from California would end here - instead the railroad chose to go up the east side of Puget Sound and terminate in Seattle - Seattle boomed and Port Townsend busted). Many of the old mansions and historic buildings have been (or are being) remodeled to their 1890s splendor. It's a very nice stop.

After this jaunt, we headed back to Highway 101 for dinner at Fat Smitty's. This grease pit is a traditional stop for hikers on the Olympic Peninsula on their way home. The walls and ceiling are covered with dollar bills that people have pinned up with messages written on them. The general decor is full of signs to "Support our troops" and also a lot of pro-lumber ("Are you an environmentalist or do you work for a living?" and "Hug a lumberjack and you'll never hug a tree again").

The burgers are legendary. Oh, did I also mention huge? Two (count 'em - 2!) 1/3 pound beef patties on a triple decker bun arrangement along with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, cheese, and bacon. When the Smitty Burgers arrived at the table they were about 5 inches tall! Chris and Matt gave them two thumbs up!

We waddled back to the car and had an uneventful (other than the one hour line to get on the ferry) journey across the Sound and back home.