On the road

Hells Canyon to Olympic NP September 20, 2018

Since our last post, we roamed the Palouse hills of southeastern Washington, then returned to Idaho via Lewiston. We had two days to explore the Clearwater River area before our scheduled jetboat trip up the Snake River into Hells Canyon. We finished geocaching the Idaho counties and visited Nez Perce National Historic Park.

Wheat fields of the Palouse

Palouse Falls, SE Washington

Downstream from Palouse Falls

The jetboat trip was wonderful. We traveled upriver 60 miles into the Hells Canyon Nat. Recreation Area (National Forest Service). The trip took 6 hours and we saw lots of wildlife: bighorn sheep, golden and bald eagles fishing, chukkars, turkeys. Taking photos was challenging with the motion of boat and animals so forgive us if our pictures are disappointing. We didn't encounter any Class 4 or 5 rapids – that trip takes longer and is a budget-buster for us.

a pair of jet boats

bighorn sheep

Snake River in Hells Canyon - Idaho on left, Oregon on right

a stop at the ranger station

columnar basalt along the Snake River

We left Idaho behind and drove to northeastern Washington on the scenic drive to Kettle Falls, across Sherman Pass, through Republic and down to Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area upstream from Grand Coulee Dam.

crossing Lake Roosevelt on the ferry

early morning view across Lake Roosevelt

We made a stop at Dry Falls State Park in the area known as the Scablands created by ice-age flooding when glacial Lake Missoula's ice dam gave way thousands of years ago. At one time the waterfall here was the largest in the world with a flow that would dwarf present-day Niagara Falls.

At one time, the falls were 3.5 miles wide

the coulee below Dry Falls

We crossed the Cascade Mountains at Snoqualmie Pass into Seattle and spent a very nice weekend with long-time friends Bob and Mac Cornwell. They drove us over to Bainbridge Island via the car ferry and the rain stopped while we explored a lovely labyrinth. We watched a documentary about the recent removal of two dams on the Elwha River of the Olympic Peninsula (our next destination).

with Bob Cornwell, Mercer Island

Bainbridge Ferry, Seattle skyline

Hall's Hill Labyrinth

prayer wheel at the Labyrinth

Olympic National Park

Our first (and last) visit here was 38 years ago and it is a national park that we never visited with our kids. We were disappointed to learn that the road into the Hoh Rain Forest is closed for repairs. The park is enormous so there are plenty of exciting places to explore. We drove up to Hurricane Ridge early on the first morning to find an almost empty parking lot and a clear view of the Olympic Mountains and fog in the Elwha Valley below. Mount Olympus had a fresh snowfall the night before and the glaciers were brilliant in the sunshine. The vegetation was sparkling with frost that quickly melted as the morning warmed up. We hiked a crowded trail up to Sunrise Point and by noon the parking lot was almost full so we drove back down the mountain to Port Angeles to buy gas, groceries, and firewood and drive up the Sol Duc River Valley.

fog in the Elwha Valley from Hurricane Ridge

panorama from Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

a great place to have breakfast

Mount Olympus on the left, Mount Carrie on the right

from Sunrise Point - Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver, Canada in the distance

from Sunrise Point

We stopped at Salmon Cascades to watch coho salmon attempt to leap up a 11 foot waterfall – amazing! It was hard to tear ourselves away from the action. We cooked dinner over a campfire (an infrequent occasion for us) amid moss covered trees. Early the next morning, we hiked to Sol Duc Falls before the trail got crowded then enjoyed a soak in the hot springs outdoor pool at the nearby resort. 103 degrees water and sunshine bliss! (Note: On our 1980 visit we splurged on a rustic cabin at Sol Duc because we had gone a week without showers – an interval we have never repeated since.) We returned to the salmon cascade the next day and ventured a bit downstream to where a few dozen salmon were waiting a quiet water before attempting the upstream journey.

salmon in Sol Duc River

hike to Sol Duc Falls (Kris in blue)

Sol Duc Falls

tree along the trail

late afternoon in the campground

Marymere Falls, Olympic NP

Huge trees and fungi along the trail

We drove back to Port Angeles for a scheduled oil change on the truck and stopped on the way for a hike to Marymere Falls where we encountered two groups of students on field trips and wondered to ourselves if they realize how fortunate they are to be living close enough for a day trip to such an amazing place.

We are not finished with Olympic NP yet . . . after our oil change we will head over to the Pacific coast sections of the park and the Quinault Rain Forest before heading to Oregon.

Seen while geocaching: