Driving Through Olympic National Park

 

Took this picture just before sundown yesterday (Wednesday)...other than the two sites to the left of the dumpster, I think all the other sites were full on the north side of the campground, and on the south side there was one or two available last I had looked.  It was a quiet night, with the purrrr of the ocean waves about the only sounds we heard.  I am still surprised that the park did not fill up all the way...in fact, I only recall seeing about three parks with signs out that said the park full on our entire trip.  Maybe the high gas prices have kept people from traveling...

       

Much of our drive today was on open roads, a few vehicles here and there, and about 5 construction zones controlled by stop lights.  No wait was longer than 3 minutes, and all involved either bridge reconstructions, or damage due to landslides.

About 20 miles west of Port Angeles, we past by Lake Crescent , a deep lake located entirely within Olympic National Park.  With a depth of 624 feet, it is the second deepest lake in the State of Washington.  For comparison, Lake Tahoe is 1,645 feet deep while Crater Lake is over 1,900 feet deep.

 

The lake is known for blue waters and clarity because of low levels of nitrogen in the water, inhibiting algae growth.  I tend to gently touch up many of our photos, but this photo above is just how it turned out.  The lake is real blue, much like Lake Tahoe was when I was young.

 

The last time we were at Olympic National Park was back in August of 2015.  I remembered the view from the Visitor's Center at Hurricane Ridge as being spectacular...but smoke from a rare Olympic NP fire obscured the view...so that was the one spot we wanted to see today.  On the way up the Hurricane Ridge Road, you come to Morse Creek Overlook, and you can see Mt. Baker way off in the distance, and the water way in the picture is the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with a bit of the Puget Sound way off to the east.  The largest city in the far east in the picture would be Bellingham, which is north of Seattle by 80+ miles.  So Seattle is just to the right of the picture.

 

 

Well, surprise, surprise...the Visitor's Center, formally known as Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge burned down back in May of 2023.  They were working on a massive remodel of the 1950's era building, and the fire totally destroyed the entire building.  They are in the process of planning a new Visitor's Center there.  The views from the old building were spectacular...now all views here include this fence.

 UNLESS, you are a deer...

 

Above is a picture from 2015 of the names of all the mountain peaks you can see from the Hurricane Ridge area.  Below are some of the pictures we took today.

There were lots of cars in the parking area, construction equipment, and people, people and more people...and a few dears too.

Tonight we are in the 7 Cedars Casino parking lot.  They have hookups for around a dozen RVs, at $20 a night, but we don't need electricity so we are camping for free.  Gotta love these Casinos.  Tomorrow we hope to make it the 170 miles to Mt. Rainier after a stop in the Olympia  area for gas and groceries at Fred Meyer.  

South Beach Campground, Olympic National Park

 

Last time we were at South Beach Campground, part of Olympic National Park, was in August 2015.  We arrived around 5 pm, and barely made it into the park.  It is a first come, first serve park, costing $10 with National Park Senior Card.  Today, we got here at 2:30...and the park wasn't even half full!  It is nearly 9 pm, and there are still a couple of spots, and people are still coming in.  Last time we were here I think we stayed 3 or 4 nights...today it will be just one night.

   

The left picture above is the north side of the park, the right is the south side.  I took these about 90 minutes ago...now the empty spots are nearly all taken.

Thought this mural on the Ace Hardware in Raymond WA looked kinda neat...the whole town was full of metal art pieces of animals, Oregon Trail wagons and oxen, and stuff like that.  Looked like a neat little town, and we enjoyed eating breakfast/lunch there along the side of a park.

 

 

Much of our trip today looked like these pictures...lot of trees, lots of open road, very little Ocean.  Accidentally missing a turn for Highway 101 and we ended up going about 10 miles up Long Beach...which is a peninsula that ends at Leadbetter Point.  At least I caught it before I went the entire 20 miles before finding out I missed a turn.  That's what I get for not using the GPS, which is a rare thing not to have it going.

 

GOOD NIGHT!