Day #31—KOA Cabin, Sequim/Port Angeles, WA-- June 22, 2001

Awoke this morning to pewter skies and chill. The clouds were low and one would never suspect that the snow-covered Olympic mountains were just south of CG. 

First thing on our agenda was a stop at Toyota, which is only about 2 miles from our campsite. The low tire light was on. The service dept fixed us up saying that all the tires were a bit low, and the one on the driver’s side front lower than the others, but they found no nail or hole in it. They aired up the tires and we were soon on our way. 

Then we stopped at Safeway and refueled for $3.79/gal. This the lowest rate in the area. 

It is difficult in the sand and wind to make lunch on the fly, so we then went to a Subway and got 6-inch subs for lunch at the beach. The guy who waited on us was the only employee in the store at this early hour of the morning. He was an odd mixture of laconic and literal. When we said, “Hi how’s it going this morning?” he replied with a long litany of complaints and the exact morning woes he’d faced: no creamer, no help, couldn’t leave his post as he was the only employee, etc. When we asked the ingredients in a menu item, he just pointed over his shoulder at the menu board above the work area. 

Finally we were on our way to the Hoh Rain Forest, which in October, 1981, was named a World Heritage Site. On the way in, we stopped at an enormous Sitka Spruce and Sarah posed with arms outstretched at its base. After we got to the large parking area, we and several others wandered around the fringes of the parking lot searching for the trailhead. Signs were a bit sparse and the map unreadable. People even had trouble finding the Visitor’s Center, asking us and others “Do you know where the trailhead is?” “Do you know where the Visitor’s Center is?” Whilst wandering the lot, we bumped into two women we’d talked to yesterday on the trail to Marymere Falls. They thanked us for our trail advice and said they were going to Ruby Beach next, which was also our destination after Hoh. We expected to see them there, but didn’t. 

Sarah posing with the huge Sitka Fir on our way into Hoh Rain Forest

Susan posing with one of the enormous big mossy trees in the Hoh forest

Once we’d found the trailhead, we walked the trail along the Hoh River toward Mount Tom Creek in this mossy, ferny, temperate rainforest dominated by Sitka Spruce that were HUGE and moss covered, some with all of their unleafed bottom branches covered in moss. Some of the fallen trees were “nurse” trees with young spruce sprouting along their length. We found a strange small three-leafed plant, which the ranger told us was vanilla plant, but the locals called a Bullwinkle plant . . . and for good reason. Two of the leaves look just like Bullwinkle’s antlers and the third his nose and face (see insert left).. 

On the way back, we met a ranger who told us that a mule train was coming down the trail behind him, loaded with supplies to help him repair one of the backcountry areas. I took a photo of the train when it passed. Reminded me a bit of our mule train in Ecuador that helped us get high into the mist forest, but only a bit because these mules were in tip top shape and wearing up-to-the-minute harnesses and gear. The Ecuador mules had hand-carved wooden saddles over burlap bags and anything that could be cobbled together for harnesses. 

All along the narrow road on the way to the rainforest, we encountered robins which Sarah said seemed to be playing “chicken” with the car. They’d stand in the road until the last moment before flying out of the way. 

When we got to Ruby Beach, a beautiful beach Jess and I stopped at on our coast trip, we sat in the car and ate our submarine sandwiches. Then we walked the trail down to the beach and explored the tidepools, picked up wonderfully polished stones, and silvery driftwood. I am learning to use the camera better so managed some close-ups of the anemones, and a good one of the primary sea stack near the outlet of Cedar Creek. The anemones that have to wait out the tide on “dry” rock and sand are closed tight and resemble nothing more than pockmarks. One has to be careful not to step on them. 

These are sand covered anemones waiting for high tide to wash the sand away and restore them

On the way home from the beach we had to again pass the Hungry Bear Café. We joked about going in and getting a cup of coffee. Shortly after, our joking ceased when the low tire light came on again. We were in the middle of endless forests and mountains 30 miles from Port Angeles. I stopped and checked the tires. (Thank you Jeff for the Christmas stocking gadget that digitally reads the car tire pressure!) All but one tire had about 3 pounds over cold-tire rating. The one had only 19.5 pounds of air in it! We stopped about 10 miles later at the only gas station in the area, which was off Hwy 101 at Shadow Mountain RV Park and Grocery. The air pump had a big ball on the hose end to prevent the hose from going back into the machine. This also prevented us from getting it onto the tire valve. After some fuss and a near call to Triple-A, Sarah found that both of us working together could move the ball back on the hose far enough to allow us to fit the hose to the valve stem and air up the tire. 

Sarah decided to treat us to seafood dinner in Port Angeles, so we stopped and had a great meal at Smuggler’s Landing: Sarah had a broiled 3-fish dinner of salmon, cod and ? and a green salad, and I had seafood pasta with shrimp, scallops, and fish with garlic bread. We each shared half of our dishes so got to taste it all. For dessert Sarah had apple crisp and I had blueberry cobbler . . . ala mode, of course. These desserts we halved also. 

Susan posing with the cormorants at Smuggler's Landing, Port Angeles

Sarah posing with an octopus friend near Smuggler's Landing, Port Angeles

We were going to get into the hot tub again this evening but it had turned grey and cold and our suits were still wet, so we decided not. Bed about 10 PM.