Day68

Bear Creek (2mi E of Sappho)[MAP]

Ozette-Cape Alava, Olympic National Park (Day 68)

Ozette-Cape Alava, Olympic National Park (Day 68)

Walked to Cape Alava this morning along an impressive 3.1 mile elevated wooden boardwalk that ran through forest, swamp and grasslands until it got to the beach. The sun was still low by the time I reached the beach and there were a number of deer feeding nearby who seemed oblivious to my presence. The low tide had pulled back the ocean to reveal a sharp rocky reef covered with a seaweed that crackled and popped as I walked on it. Further out there were a number of larger island rock outcrops covered with trees and vegetation and I must have taken a dozen or more photos of the area. I walked three miles south along the beach to Sand Point and then found another elevated wooden boardwalk that took me the three miles back to the ranger station. I tip my hat to whoever had to build these wooden boardwalk paths; it must have taken eons, but lowering the impact of humans tramping across the landscape was probably well worth it.

I checked in with the park ranger, Hazel about the camping at Sol Duc campgrounds and she was nice enough to ring the ranger at Sol Duc to check. It sounds like the campgrounds are full every night so he was good enough to suggest a stealth camping location along one of the park roads a few miles before the campground.

Day69

Olympic National Park (Sol Duc Campground)[MAP]

Got to Sol Duc by 9am to find that the campground was almost entirely full, with a cue of people in their huge idling SUVs just waiting to pounce on an empty site. I managed to eventually find a walk-in camp spot with a bear box and by lunch time I was snoozing, still exhausted from the long ride two days ago. After a Dove ice-cream to satisfy my out-of-control chocolate addiction I wandered down to the river for a bath in the chilly water. My bathing-in-colder-than-comfortable-water method goes something like this: I stand ankle deep in the water, massaging the soles of my feet on the riverbed stones until I can no longer feel my feet.

That’s followed by ducking completely under the water and washing all over, the whole time gasping with the shock of the cold. A great way to wake up but it takes at least thirty minutes of sitting in the sun to warm up again. Like all the other campgrounds I’ve been at I’ve noticed people don’t explore much beyond a five or ten minute walk from their tents or RVs. It’s great, I never have to wander very far before getting some peace and quiet.

Sol Duc Loop, Olympic National Park (Day 70)

Sol Duc Loop, Olympic National Park (Day 70)

Woke up at 4:30am this morning for a hike around the Sol Duc Loop, a 22 mile hike starting from the campground. The campground is at about 1900 feet and the path meanders upwards through moss covered forest, until it thins out to just low ground cover and colourful flowers at about 5200 feet. Got to see my first live marmot. After seeing probably a dozen or more dead marmots stuffed and on display in museums I was starting to wonder whether they really existed or whether it was some museum curators idea of a joke.

I eventually got to Bogachiel peak which has an amazing view of the entire snow-covered Olympic mountain range and several glaciers. The thirsty mosquitoes barely let me have time to take a photograph. The path wandered downwards past some small lakes, one heart-shaped where there were a bunch of warning signs about the aggressive mountain goats in the area. I passed a number of people camping in the area who called me “ambitious” for attempting the loop in one day. I now know why; I barely noticed my surroundings in the last few miles back to camp; I was so tired and numb. I finally got back to my tent eleven hours after leaving.

Sol Duc Loop Falls, Olympic National Park (Day 70)

Sol Duc Loop Falls, Olympic National Park (Day 70)

Sol Duc Loop, overlooking Mount Olympus, Olympic National Park (Day 70)

Sol Duc Loop, overlooking Mount Olympus, Olympic National Park (Day 70)

Sol Duc Loop, Olympic National Park (Day 70)

Sol Duc Loop, Olympic National Park (Day 70)

Day71

Olympic National Park (Altaire Campground)[MAP]

This morning I woke to find a group of deer walking right past my tent. Ran out of food so I rode down to Fairholm where I was hoping to find something for brekkie at a gas station. Had to make do with only a coffee but was treated to the sight of seeing the sun rise over Lake Crescent. The water, the hills and the sky were all various shades of blue and only a bunch of ducks broke the clear reflection of the lake.

Just before the store, on highway 101 that borders the lake, was another very large and prominent bicycle warning sign. I saw the last one when I was heading to the north coast on highway 112. They’re basically big yellow signs with a very descriptive warning of how dangerous the road ahead is for cyclists; narrow, winding, short line-of-sight and no shoulder. When I spotted the first one of these signs a few days ago I almost considered changing my route but after tentatively riding the road I found the warning to be a vast exaggeration.

Today’s warning was luckily the same, I found the ride around the lake to be one of the most pleasant rides I could have hoped for. Obviously Washington looks after its cyclists.

After I set up camp I hitched a ride up to the hot-springs trail-head with one of the National Park maintenance guys. People in Washington are amazing; even if they have no room in their vehicles, they still stop and apologise that they can’t give you a lift. The hot springs were hot and smelly and afterwards I had to bathe in the cold river to wash all the slime off. I managed to hitch another ride back with three young guys that had just finished an exhausting three day hike. Before long we realised that we’d passed each other while I was doing the Sol Duc loop. Instead of dropping me off at the campground entrance they insisted on driving me all the way to my tent.

As I was riding into Port Angeles this morning to stock up on grub a guy stopped beside me in an SUV and let me know that Lance had won the tour de France for the 6th time. At the camp ground I unloaded my bike completely and began the twelve mile ride up to Hurricane Ridge, a ride that Luke, a park ranger back in Lassen National Park more than a month ago, had recommended.

The ride down was a lot more fun than the way up. This goes in my “Top Ten Bike Rides List” just for the sheer “woohoo” factor.

Grouse at Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park (Day 72)

Grouse at Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park (Day 72)

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