Olympic Peninsula – Riveted

Makah Bay and Cape Flattery Aerials

Laura Domela — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:44:04 +0000

Here are a couple of stills from Kevin's flight with the quadcopter/GoPro from our campsite out to the southern point of Cape Flattery (1.3 miles):

Looking back toward camp:

Kinda pretty, yeah?

Another Ferry Ride and Another Cupboard Catastrophe

Laura Domela — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:41:20 +0000

Yesterday we drove from Makah Bay over through Port Angeles to Kingston to catch the Kingston-Edmonds Ferry to hook up with our Weaselmouth pals for the weekend. The road from Makah Bay to Port Angeles was crazy…winding and bumpy, and then super slow at times (one sign said 10MPH next mile—!!!) and once we came over a sudden rise in the road where I think we might possibly have gotten air. I said to Kevin, "Wonder what just happened back there in the trailer?" because usually after a road like this we show up and and it looks like rockstar party aftermath—pillows and cushions everywhere, bourbon bottles rolling on the floor—and Kevin replied "Probably everything you love is broken." Always the worry, isn't it?

We stopped for lunch in Port Angeles (OMG, Little Devil's Lunchbox! Pulled pork and chorizo tacos! So good!!) and when we checked the back of the trailer, our cupboard above the microwave had come open. Again. This is the second time now (the first time I lost my entire set of Franciscan Starburst dinnerware). This is a thing that happens apparently, and we need to get a better latch on that cupboard because I'm not going to be bungee cording a cabinet that should say the heck closed with normal things in it as you go down the road.

There was oil (yes, OIL) all over the floor, that had been sprinkled liberally with truffle salt (Salt Farm #10) and then broken glass. Perfect. We did our best to get everything up, found the open/empty bottle of walnut oil in the bathroom (where it had nicely soaked the rug in there) and decided we'd deal with the rest of it once we got to our next spot. (It did smell pretty good, which was a plus.)

I got to do the ferry jockying this time. Look how close!

Leaving Kingston:

Passing another ferry:

We saw a dozen or so porpoises on our ride over! So cool! The ferry employee guy we were standing next to said they only see them every couple weeks or so and he was pretty excited. The tiny black dot there? That's one of 'em!

Disembarking in Edmonds:

Our new spot for the weekend at Lake Pleasant:

Oh and here's one of the signs I was telling you about on the Indian Reservation in Makah/Neah Bay as we were leaving. Meth equals Death. That it does:

The good thing about the Airstream oil spill is that now our floor is REALLY clean and nice 'n shiny from being waxed with walnut oil. The bummer is that even with detergent and hot water, the two rugs are still all oily.

Tonight we're heading to the craft distiller's festival in Seattle (Proof). Forty or so craft distillers, local restaurants, etc.

"Sample craft spirits from more than 40 Washington distilleries, including gin, whiskey, bourbon, vodka and more. Snack on delicious bites from top local restaurants, let expert mixologists help you discover your new favorite drink, and get in on the ground floor of one of the fastest-growing beverage industries in America."

Sounds good to me!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention…as we were unhitching last night, a part of our new hitch broke. Kevin's at the auto parts store down the street now to try to figure out a temporary fix. I did remember to take photos during this mishap (I've got to get better at photographing the mayhem before I clean it up!) and we'll post about this thing when we've got it worked out with a nice ending and all. What a day, huh?!?!

Cape Flattery and Tatoosh Island

Laura Domela — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:08:00 +0000

Yesterday afternoon (after the Shi Shi Beach hike, and after some more work) we headed out to Cape Flattery. We wanted to REALLY be as far as we could out here in the Northwest corner of the (Continental) U.S. so we drove out to the Cape Trail and hiked out to the end of the trail. So beautiful! (That's Canada in the distance.)

There are all sorts of sea caves out here and it's kind of mezmerizing to watch the water go in and out of 'em.

Tatoosh Island straight out from Cape Flattery, and the Cape Flattery Lighthouse:

The trail out to the Cape has more of this great-looking boardwalk that gets you over some of the wetlands and super muddy spots:

…with an occasional wooden stepping stone or two:

All in all we hiked about 7 miles yesterday. The Cape Flattery trail is mostly down all the way out and up all the way back. It's short (3/4 mile or so) but rated "moderate" as well … likely due to the climb and all the stairs built into the boardwalk. (Luckily, there was considerably less mud than the earlier hike to Shi Shi Beach.) You need an annual tribal lands permit for many of these areas. They're only 10 bucks and there are several places to pick one up. We got ours at the Makah Tribal Center (Administrative Building 19), just before you turn onto Cape Loop Road.

Also! During our hike we realized that within the last year we've been to the extreme opposite corners of the U.S. with our Airstream: Key West, Florida in October and now Cape Flattery in Washington.

The Hike to Shi Shi Beach

Laura Domela — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:37:16 +0000

This morning we headed south a little bit to get to the trailhead for Shi Shi Beach. Here's a payoff picture so you can see where we ended up:

Those twisty rock formations are huge, and it took quite a bit of rock scaling to get out there and get this photo.

Anyway, for whatever reason (lack of actual research), all we knew is that it was couple miles out to the beach. The trail was rated "moderate" on the signs at the trailhead, but the trail was actually lovely. For most of the hike, the trail mainly looked like this:

And this:

And this (Cantilever Bridge):

But then oh bummer, sometimes also like this:

Maybe the mud was the "moderate" part.

You finally get to the edge and you can hear and then see the ocean and it looks like this (Point of the Arches):

And this (we call this "Chocolate Bunny Rock:):

And then you climb/shimmy down some root-step switchbacks (about a 150-ft cliff…definitely the "moderate part"), sometimes with the aid of a rope, and arrive at the beach and there's no one there. It's a short shimmy down to the beach, and it's stunning.

We climbed out to the twisty rocks (first photo) and then climbed around the tidepools for awhile before climbing back up the cliff to the trail.

Here's a huge bald eagle in a tree way up on top of one of the tall rocks:

We noticed there were hardly any starfish in the whole area, and then we got to one area and there they all were!

And here are what my tennies looked like after the hike:

At one point, okay at several points, my entire foot was submerged in the mud. It's super pretty today but it's been raining a lot for the past couple days so the trail was extra muddy. Plus, you know…rainforest.

Sunset at Hobuck Beach

Laura Domela — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:05:37 +0000

After dinner last night (duck confit, roasted tomato and garlic soup, and a kale salad, yum!) we noticed the rain letting up and the sun coming through the clouds so we headed out to the beach to take it all in.

I think this makes up for all the rain.

Hobuck Beach

Laura Domela — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:09:06 +0000

It stopped raining for about five minutes so we went for a walk on the beach. Glad we brought the GoreTex. Here's our spot at the Hobuck Beach campground:

When we first got here, there was just the older Airstream there next to us, a small small generic trailer, a newish fifth wheel, and a super sketch motor home with a bunch of junk outside and torn curtains. It made me have second thoughts about staying here, but since then maybe 4 more newer trailers and motor homes arrived and now the place doesn't feel nearly as sad. It's amazing what the clientele will do for a place's image!

The beach is prettty but it was mostly raining so I didn't take many photos. Here's what I got before it started raining:

Kelp family portrait:

More kelp…there are PILES of it all over the beach:

Okay and we probably saw fifty or so WHOLE sand dollars on our short walk. This is DEFINITELY not like the beaches in California.

I love the perfect little star in the middle of this one:

I'm roasting tomatoes now and I'm going to make some roasted tomato and garlic soup for dinner, along with a couple of duck legs confit (I brought them, frozen…don't worry…I'm not making my own duck confit in the Airstream tonight) and a salad. Nice warm meal for a cold rainy night. We finally have gotten on campground Wi-Fi, so we may watch the second episode of Orphan Black. The first one we watched last night was quite good!

South Beach to Makah Bay, Olympic Peninsula

Laura Domela — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:19:05 +0000

Today we headed up to Makah Bay where we're staying at the Hobuck Beach Resort. It's fine. It's nowhere near as cool as our last spot was at South Beach (that was a tough act to follow, for sure.) We did see about a dozen or so bald eagles on our drive though: bonus!

This is looking toward Cape Flattery:

And this is toward the South:

It's been rainy most of the day, but we have work to do anyway so it's not too much of a bust. After we left South Beach this morning we stopped at Ruby Beach to explore a bit. Ruby Beach is the northernmost of the southern beaches in the coastal section of Olympic National Park, and it's gorgeous.

We stopped at the Thriftway in Forks, WA for some groceries and then headed North to Clallam Bay and then West out toward Cape Flattery, through Neah Bay where we cut across below the Cape to Makah Bay. We're on the Makah Indian Reservation now.

Neah Bay marina:

As a tourist to this area, it's interesting to drive through and see tons of signs (obviously hand made by kids as part of an awareness campaign) that say basically: Don't Do Drugs, Don't Drive Drunk, Don't Fry Your Brain, Keep Your Babies Healthy (and many other variations on those messages) — makes you really aware there's a problem, and it's a bit depressing. It's beautiful here, and I'm glad we came to this furthest corner of the Continental US, but I kinda wish we were just passing through. Maybe the sun tomorrow (and a walk out to the Cape) will help.

p.s. Oh yeah, forgot to do cell report: No service on AT&T at all. We're using Verizon data which works great, so Verizon phone is probably a "go" as well. Haven't checked Sprint because, well, because Sprint almost never has coverage. It looks like they have Wi-Fi here, but so far I can't get anywhere with it.

Gray Morning at South Beach

Laura Domela — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:27:44 +0000

It rained a good part of the night last night, which was lovely on the aluminum roof. This morning it's warm and gray and we're heading more north after breakfast and a bit of work.

I could stay here much, much longer.

Sea Otters! Frolicking in the Surf!

Laura Domela — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:17:14 +0000

Because this place wasn't magical enough already.

I can see them from the doorway of the Airstream (better with binoculars). I don't think you can see any in this photo, but they're out there! Doing cute little otter things!

Sunset, and some Hexacopter Aerials of South Beach

Laura Domela — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:45:47 +0000

Gorgeous afternoon/evening yesterday at South Beach Campground:

And one with the Airstream:

Kevin took the hexacopter up with the Sony NEX5n on it for some aerial stills of the campground so you could get a feel for what the place looks like overall. Here we are:

Here's a pulled back overall shot:

And here's looking down the beach from just in front of our Airstream…pretty great place to camp, don't you think?

I love it here. Also yesterday early in the evening there were several whales passing by that we could see from the Airstream even without binoculars. Spectacular!