In order to get to Washington from Astoria Oregon, we had to cross an incredibly high bridge. The area has super high tides that uncover hugh mud flats at mean low. It's one of the best places to find razor clams.
We worked our way to Olympic National Forest and stopped at Ruby Beach to get a view. Desolation Island sits off the coast. The area is incredibly beautiful yet harsh. The name Desolation Island fits the area perfectly. It is a place to get away from it all.
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| Desolation Island |
We continued on to the Hoh Rainforest and hiked through a trail leading to the Mossy Maple Grove. It's amazing to see the rich life cycle that exists in the shady, wet environment. We wish we had more time to explore Olympic National Forest.
Hoh Rain Forest
We tried to drive out to Cape Flattery, the western most point in the continental United States. The roads were marginal, even washed out in spots. We made it to the entrance of the Makah Indian Reservation at Neah Bay and were stopped. Signs indicated no further travel was allowed due to Covid. Disappointed, we made the long, slow trek back and arrived in Port Angeles around 7:00.
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| Cape Flattery Map by Wave Run 500 |
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| Neah Bay map by Alltrails |
Our hotel was on a hill above downtown. We took an early morning walk to explore. There's a waterfront park, shops and restaurants as well as gorgeous views of Mount Olympic. The tide runs high here at 13-14 feet. It was very quiet in Port Angeles. It seemed like they were still a bit shut down from covid. We met a local gal who told us the ferry to Victoria, BC has been closed for a year. Tourist traffic is way down.
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| Steps to downtown Port Angeles |
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| Mural Art |
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| Mount Olympic |
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| Port Angeles Wharf |
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| Waterfront Park Art |
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| Octopus in the park |
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| Super low tide |
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| Barge traffic between the US and Canada |
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| Mount Olympic |
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| Low tide showing off high tide line |
Our friend Squeeky Thompson lives in Bremerton. We'd hoped to see him but he was on vacation in Florida. The most direct route from Bremerton to Eugene Oregon is over the Hood floating bridge. It sits on concrete pontoons divided into sections and is the longest floating bridge in the world. The floating section is 1.2 miles long. In 1993, sustained winds of 80 mph, gusting to 120 mph with 15 foot seas sunk the bridge. It is in constant need of repair. We had to wait about a half hour to cross due to road work but it dramatically shortened our drive.
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| Hood floating bridge traffic |
We left Washington behind and headed for Columbia Gorge and Multnomah Falls. Our internet search indicated we would not be able to park at the falls but that proved to be untrue. You can see the falls right from the highway. To get close up, you have to walk under the highway, then take a path up to a viewing station where the mist of the falls reaches you. We climbed up 866 feet to the top on a 1.25 mile trail that was only about 3 feet wide. The inside of the trail was mountain, the outside a drop off. I had to keep my eyes on my feet and the trail before me. At the top, we walked down to a viewing platform that was at the very top of the falls. The sound and sight of rushing water was confusing and unsettling but it also gave us a rush of excitement. It took us a good hour to go up and only 20 min to come down. Our legs were rubber at the bottom!
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| View from the parking lot |
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| Water cascading down |
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| View on the way up |
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| View on the way up |
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| Dave making his way UP |
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| Just above the top of the falls |
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| View at the very top |
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| Which way? Lot's of trails to choose from |
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| Following single file down |
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| Our red Expedition is in the middle |
We had to get back to Reno by Friday the 15th to get our second Covid vaccine. We chose the gorgeous Willimette River Scenic byway to get there. We stumbled upon the beautiful Lowell Covered Bridge just above the dam. We met a man from Minnestoa who retired in Lowell. He said it is a wonderful place to live! We have to agree, it was very peaceful!
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| Poppies growing wild along the dam |
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| Willemette Dam |
The river is rugged and a lot of water rushes down off the mountains. We passed O'Dell Lake where there are a ton of fishing boats. It's near Willamette Pass, one of several lakes in the Cascade Range in Central Oregon. It's full of bull trout, mountain whitefish, rainbow trout, lake trout and sockeye salmon.
Diamond Peak volcano has beautiful views along the highway. We are surprised to see a lot of garbage alongside the roads coming off the pass. The Collier River section had a huge wildfire area just before Chiloquin and Klamath Lake. We drove through a town named "Madeline", my legal first name. The population is 60! We wanted to stop at Crater lake but we ran out of time! What we learned on our trip was that you need a lot of time to thoroughly experience this area of America. We hope to get back one day.
Tomorrow we'll get up early and get that vaccine out of the way then head home to Minnesota. We are excited to get back to our lives there! We plan to spend a couple weeks at home, packing up our boat gear. We will head back to our America's Great Loop adventure in June!
