A Silent Sanctuary

Off to the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles this morning to get information on Hurricane Ridge Road, so we can hike the Meadow Loop Trail. The trail provides visitors with terrific views of the Olympic peaks especially Mt Olympus at 7,965 feet. You can’t drive to Mt Olympus, the only way to see it is from a hiking trail or park road vantage point. Unfortunately there is still too much snow on Hurricane Ridge and the road is closed. We watched a film on the park which was fantastic called Mosaic of Diversity.

The ranger suggested we take a ride through the Elwa River Valley so we did. We drove Rte 101 to Olympic Hot Springs Rd near the Elwa River. There are 168 miles of roads that give you access to various points in the park. Most of the roads are closed in winter and 99 miles of the roads are pretty good gravel (our kind of road). All park roads are “spur roads” which come off of Rte 101 and none of them go across the entire park. The road twisted and turned through the tranquil valley as we followed it to the end. On the way we saw lots of deer grazing along the road. They are beautiful animals and not afraid, we‘re just an aggravation. We stopped at the observation point at the end of the road and took the West Lake Mills trail along the river. The trail was beautiful and we startled a few deer as we clomped along the trail. We had fun playing Robin Hood and Little John with our walking sticks as we crossed a log bridge (both being careful not to fall in). We sat along the river on a rock for a while listening to the quiet wilderness. After about a mile the trail turned deeper into the forest so we decided to go back to the car.

On our way back we took a side road and parked at the Madison Falls trailhead. We could hear the water roaring as we walked the short trail. It was a pretty waterfall and the water was really flowing for a change!

Leaving the valley we took Rte 101 to the turn off for the Log Cabin Resort on the north end of Lake Crescent. The resort was closed but the views of the turquoise lake were gorgeous. The road looked like it ended, but there was a spur road off to the right so twisting along this old logging road we found ourselves in the small town of Joyce on Rte 112. Rte 112 took us back to our favorite Rte 101 and now we’ve traveled almost all of the roads along the northern coast of Washington!

On our back through Port Angeles we stopped at the wharf area and saw ships waiting to be loaded with products. The docks were filled with huge cargo containers all piled on top of one another. Then we headed back to camp. You can’t describe the beauty here and the wilderness is breathtaking but scary too!

We decided to follow Diamond Point Road to the end to see Sequim Bay. The road took us through a residential area and we wound our way around corners and down a steep hill. Coming around a corner there were deer everywhere. These folks have apple trees galor in their yards which bring the deer. After weaving through the wildlife we stopped at a view point overlooking the bay.

Tonight we’ll visit the 7 Cedars Casino up the street. Many of these casinos have great history attached to them and are decorated with totems and designed similar to clan houses. 7 Cedars represents the S’Klallam Tribe. Resisting pressure to move from their tribal land to a reservation Lord James Balch led several communities in 1874 to combine their resources and bought 210 acres of land north of Sequim called Jamestown Beach. In 1981 the tribe achieved federal recognition. Their casino offers fine dining, big name entertainment, a gift shop with Native American art and of course the usual games.

It was a good day…..

Pictures: Lake Crescent Rd, Lake Crescent, Elwa River, West Lake Mill Trail, Madison Falls, Diamond Point Deer, 7 Cedars Casino