Rialto Beach

Rialto Beach is in a "satellite" section of Olympic National Park on the west coast, directly on the Pacific Ocean.  It has a misty, rugged beauty like we expected to see in Haida Gwaii but didn't (probably because we couldn't afford to get to Haida Gwaii's west coast).

Excellent driftwood on this beach - not just cut cylindrical logs set adrift  (I'm looking at you, Haida Gwaii)

Mere minutes inland it was sunny and about 10 C warmer, but the Pacific kept things misty and cool

We walked a few kilometres up the beach to "Hole In The Wall", where the first stretch of beach ends.

Hole In The Wall - the cliff blocks your progress, except for perhaps a route through the Hole at low tide

Hole In The Wall

 You can hike from Rialto Beach many, many kilometres north and end up at another section of park, but that would take many wet days, timing the tides, and dropping a second vehicle at the remote far end.  Perhaps some other time.

Sarah passed within a couple of feet of this unfortunate former sea lion (seal? It was about 8 feet long) without noticing it.  Probably for the best.

We stayed a couple of kilometres up the road at the Mora campsite.  It was fairly empty, and would normally be closed at this time of year, but was being kept open because of the good weather.

I went on a major firewood scrounge around the campsite, and came back with enough wood for a truly glorious, blazing, multi-hour fire that night.  Purchasing firewood?  Maybe as a last resort...

After the chilly beach (and damp, chilly campsite), a hearty pasta dinner was in order

Blazing scrounge fire.  Ahh.

Forks and Twilight

As mentioned previously, Sarah and I don't know much about the Twilight teen vampire books and movies.  And while normally I would learn about a subject for myself before passing judgement on it or making fun of it, I'm going to make an exception for Twilight.  :-)

Twilight is set in the tiny logging town of Forks, in the NW Olympic Peninsula.  Forks is a half-dead industry village, and Twilight pilgrimages and tours appear to be BY FAR their biggest industry now.  Those books and movies are clearly saving the place - Twilight nerds from everywhere were in abundance.  There was even a banner over the highway announcing the yearly civic celebration dedicated to the Twilight author.  Hotels advertised that certain Twlight characters had stayed there.  Firewood bundles were named after Twilight characters.  The bandwagon was full.

Apparently this school figures prominently in Twilight.  Yay.

I thought adopting my best vampire impression would get me into a more Twilight kind of mood.  It didn't.

OK, Twilight nerds, are you ready?  Sarah and I drove past - wait for it - BELLA'S HOUSE!  (Excited screams ensue.)  Sigh.

Bella's house from the movies.  I guess.  At least, that's what the pamphlets and maps say.

There's a huge tour business in town, busing star-struck teenagers and middle-aged  vampire-lite wannabees to various movie landmarks.  Get it while you can, Forks!

Sarah and I didn't spend long in Forks, since the only things of interest there are Twilight-related.  We headed to nearby Rialto Beach on the coast.  To get there, you go through an Indian reservation, which was awesome and hilarious:

Vampires are required to stay in Forks - the locals are (tongue-in-cheek) are not into it.

On a cafe wall just inside the reservation.  Sweet.

And on your return trip, when leaving the reservation:

Twilight nerds, please apply your vampire makeup and re-insert your plastic vampire teeth.

 Hmm, maybe I should see one of these movies, or read one of the books, just to see what all the fuss is about...

...or, maybe not.  I don't think I'm cut out for the Twilight army.

Sol Duc and Lake Crescent

Next up, we were headed into Olympic National Park via a different valley, to the Sol Duc (pronounced "Soul Duck") hot springs area. On the way, we stopped a Lake Cresent for a bit.

Historic ranger station at Lake Cresent, with the coolest name ever.

Lake Cresent Lodge - they also had quaint cabins on the lake, though it's not cheap.  [Sarah's note: Fortunately, all facilities are open to the poor public (aka us) who can't afford to pay their rates, but want to wander around with the rich and famous (aka people who have jobs and can afford to stay there).]

Ahh, summer is not over yet

We thought hey, let's go for a paddle.  If we're going to to the Bowron Lakes canoe circuit one day, might as well put in some practice in idyllic conditions.

Our relatively trusty canoe. [Sarah's note: When I nervously asked the lodge person if it could tip over, she said "you'd have to be pretty special to do that."  Those of you who know how clumsy I can be will know that I was not particularly reassured by that response!]

Sarah in the prime viewing seat

The water in this lake is unbelievably clear and blue - almost as clear as the Blue Pool in the McKenzie River Valley in Oregon that we visited earlier in the summer.  Here are a couple of shots taken from the canoe with our waterproof camera.

The water is at least 20 feet deep here, and still crystal clear

Deeper water with waterlogged trees fading into the depths

Destination for our 2-hour paddle - this walking bridge

You can paddle underneath...

...into a tiny cove

Sarah at our lunch spot

Chad takes a break from doing most of the paddling grunt work [says Sarah - Chad was too gracious to point this out in his post, but I am not exactly a paddling machine].

Great sky

Wouldn't a bearded canoe guide seem more credible and confidence-inspiring to you?

Chad takes a refreshing swim after the paddle

That afternoon we headed into the mountains and stayed at Sol Duc campsite, near to the hot springs of the same name.  It was pretty popular, and full of non-campers staying on the cheap next to the springs.  (Olympic National Park campsites are very well maintained and super cheap at $12-$14 a night.  These were the lowest prices we paid all summer, and most of them were as nice as or nicer than the others we were paying $20+ for.)

At Sol Duc, despite signs about food handling posted all over the campsite (on every entrance, washroom and campsite picinic table), most people left all of their food out all day long, and we got to watch stellar jays and squirrels go to town and rip it all to shreds.  [Sarah's note: When the couple at the site across from us returned to find that a squirrel had eaten through the lid of their dish soap the lady mused, "maybe squirrels like to eat dish soap".  Right...]

Our Sol Duc campsite - now this is luxury.  The site is tiered!

We were going to go on a day hike the next day, but ended up feeling lazy so we just went to the hot springs and then a quick walk to the nearby falls.

Sol Duc hot springs - very minerally and slick without too much sulphur aroma [Sarah's note: Chad didn't think there was much of an aroma, but I thought the place stunk of rotten onions.  Despite the fact that these weren't my favourite hot springs ever, they were incredibly relaxing.  We wandered around in a happy hot springs induced haze for the rest of the day].

Port Angeles and Hurricane Ridge

From Port Townsend we headed counterclockwise around the Olympic Peninsula, which is home to Olympic National Park (and National Forest) in the middle and sometimes along the coast.  We first drove up to Hurricane Ridge - beautiful views of the heart of the national park, along with the usual American visitor centre at the top.

We decided to do a quick hike/walk to the top of the hill (below) for some more views.  [Sarah's note: Hurricane Hill, as it's called, is one of the most visited paths in the park, so we didn't exactly have the place to ourselves as it may appear from our photos.  These pictures really don't convey how stunning these mountains are - you will need to find the next sunny spell and go there yourself to see it!]

The path follows along the ridge to the left to the top of that hill in the middle.

Yes, the path was actually PAVED, which is why I can't really call it a hike.

View to the SE from the top

Sarah's "I'm King Of The World" pose at the top. [Sarah's note: More like "Sarah finally enjoying a breeze at the top".  It was HOT up there on the hill].

Happy campers

The weather was fantastic and the views excellent - you could see Mt. Olympus, highest on the peninsula.  We were planning on a camping road trip with lots of rain (the peninsula is normally almost continuously rainy), but were starting to regret not bringing the backpacking equipment since there appeared to be a lot of well-maintained backcountry trails all through the park, and the circumstances couldn't be better.

We headed over to Port Angeles next, and were greeted by a bunch of placard-bearing protestors beside the highway waving "Illegal Aliens Are Illegal" signs - what a great way to make tourists feel welcome.  Port Angeles itself was pretty ugly and uninteresting for the most part, though they're trying to beautify the "downtown" core to attract tourists, especially via ferry from Victoria, BC, with mixed results.  It's a port town first and foremost.

Port Angeles has a couple of wee brewpubs which we dropped in on.  They were not exactly highlights but good on them for giving it a shot (will probably cover this a bit more in a beer blog post later).  And neither Sarah nor I are fans, or know much of anything about, the Twilight books and movies, but Port Angeles is home to a restaurant that features in the movie (which is set on the Olympic Peninsula).

Bella Italia - "Bella" being the female lead in Twilight.  I think Twilight is responsible for 1/2 of the economy on the Olympic Peninsula. [Sarah: For those fans who want further details - apparently Bella came here with Edward, and if you want to be just like Bella you should come to this restaurant and order the mushroom ravioli and a Pepsi.  How do I know this?  Not because I've seen or read Twilight, but because I grabbed a Twilight sights brochure.  Yes, that actually exists.  Chad is not kidding that Twilight appears to be a major driver of the economy on the peninsula.]