Wonders of the west. (LA to PNW and back)

September 26th.

The sky's had cleared this morning and we was hoping it would stay that way for our visit to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National park. We first made our way back down to the harbour and had a little wander around, it was very peaceful. Once a logging and ship building town it survives today as a resort and marina in Ludlow bay.

The Inn and Fireside Restaurant.
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Totem pole.
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We then got back on the road to Discovery bay where we stopped at Fat Smitty's for Brunch. Fat Smitty's is an old school burger bar that looks like it belongs on Route 66. When we went inside we were surprised to see the walls and ceilings covered deep in dollar bills. I asked if he was saving his tips for a retirement fund and he informed me that everything gets donated to charity when they have a tear down and then they start over. We wrote on our bill and pinned it on the wall as others had done. The Hot dogs were fantastic by the way !!

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Back on Hwy101 we stopped to get some fuel, while I was filling up [it takes a while with an RV] this beauty 'burbled' it's way to the pumps.
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I complimented the driver on the car and he said thanks, but didn't really engage in conversation. Once I started to talk cc's and horsepower he couldn't resist showing me under the hood. He explained that this was the first time out the shop in a year after a complete overhaul, he hadn't yet fitted air filters and housings to the throttle bodies which were to be custom built. If I remember correctly it was a 7.9ltr producing 550 bhp. He gave it a little juice as he drove off. Sweet music !

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We arrived at the Hurricane ridge entrance to Olympic NP with some high cloud floating around above, please hold off while we make our way up the road.

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If he hasn't punched it out, that's a "454" (cubic inch) which is 7.4 liters.

I think it had been bored and stroked George with the use of forged pistons. Not sure if the block could be worked to make it 7.9 liters, but I am fairly sure that's the figure he mentioned. A full nut and bolt rebuild and dyno tuned, from what I could see, it was all done to a very high standard

Dave.

Oh sure - the 454 can be punched out to 508, which is 8.3 liters. That's a common build.

September 26th cont....

As we drove up Hurricane Ridge road the cloud was swirling around and all we could do was hope it would not set in. We arrived at the Hurricane Ridge visitor centre and were instantly blown away by the views of the mountains and Glaciers in the distance.

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We parked up and walked the Cirque rim trail to the high ridge trail, passing the rather aged ski lifts and finally up to the end of Sunrise Point trail. The cloud was starting to build to the north and east of us but the views kept opening up as the clouds were carried on a breeze, we even got to see the Canadian coast line across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

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Great views coming back down the Trail.
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After our walk we went in the visitor centre where I couldn't resist a touristy T shirt and then we sat down for a coffee. The centre is perched on the edge of the ridge and offers superb views across the meadows to the mountains from the large windows, it's not just the elevation that takes your breath away here ! By the time we had driven back towards Port Angeles and Hwy 101 it was well into the afternoon, so we decided to stop at Lake Crescent for a late lunch in the RV and then walked down to the shore.

Lake Crescent.
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It wasn't long after getting back on the road that we were heading down the Sol Duc- Hot springs road to our campground on the Sol Duc river. It was a lovely drive as we made our way along the river and the scenery started to resemble Rain forest. We stopped at the river a couple of times and at one small rocky creek we spotted some good size fish in the shallows. We eventually arrived at the Sol Duc resort at 5:30pm [early for us!!] and located our campsite which was actually nicer than I thought it would be. It was still a bit of a parking area but it was wooded all around and we had our own little path down to the river where we went to skim a few stones off the water. We walked down the river and across the bridge to the Hot springs resort where we were thinking of having a relaxing dip but in the end decided against it. Although the water is fed naturally into the pools the area was not so natural and just took on the image of a hotel pool and hot tubs and even at 7pm on a chilly September night, they were pretty busy with children running around. They were having fun and that's great, but we decided having an evening meal in the restaurant would be more relaxing, so that's what we did. The food was lovely and after a good feed and a couple of drinks we wandered back in the dark and turned in for the night.

Sol Duc river.
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Into the rain forest.
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Todays miles 130. Total 1970 miles.

130 total miles -- that sounds like a leisurely pace -- but hardly the stuff of a "petrol-head"

Great photos!

Mark

Quote:

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but hardly the stuff of a "petrol-head"

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I know, I am just too considerate to the rest of the crew, they like a little time out ! ;-)

Dave.

September 27th

Having enjoyed a relaxed pace yesterday, we were up early and raring to get started on the fun packed day that lay ahead. There was a touch of frost about on this bright and crispy morning and where the sun cast it's rays, it created a mist. After breakfast and a short walk by the river we drove further into the forest to the Sol Duc waterfall trail parking lot. It was about 8:30am and although there were a couple of cars in the parking lot, it was so peaceful you could hear a pin drop. The walk through the woods was wonderful, almost mystical as you looked through the misty sun rays into shadows of thick growth. It was quite an easy trail and it wasn't long before we heard the sound of the Falls in the distance, we passed an old hut and crossed a bridge to find the small falls nestled in the forest.

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We spent a little time admiring them and enjoying the solitude before returning to the RV to make our way back to Hwy101. Our next 'Port of call' was the Hoh rain forest where we wanted to walk through the 'Hall of Mosses'. We drove through the small town of Forks and over the Bogachiel river before turning off onto the Upper Hoh road, which partly followed the Hoh river into the rain forest and giving nice views along the way. We arrived at the Hoh rain forest centre a little before Noon.

River Hoh.
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Hall of Mosses.
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After walking the Trail, which was lovely, we sat in the RV and enjoyed a nice lunch before traveling back to 101 once more, it was about 18miles each way to the Hoh rain forest from Hwy101. The 101 then makes it's way to the coast and right there at the point it reaches the coast is Ruby Beach, with easy parking access and an easy trail down to the beach. This place makes a great place to stop and enjoy the coast, with lovely views and waves breaking onto the large rock stacks. Climbing over large driftwood and paddling in Cedar creek which drains into the Pacific here, all adds to the fun. You can opt to try and cross the creek on make shift bridges created by the driftwood if you fancy your chances ! [Yep, got wet socks !]

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Continuing down the coast we went through the town of Queets where 101 turns inland again to Lake Quinault where we took a small diversion into the little town and checked out the pretty lake.

Lake Quinault.
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We topped up with gas in Hoquiam where we had to take a small diversion over a narrow bridge due to road works and then crossed the Chehalis river at Aberdeen. We then drove through the town of Raymond, where the side walks were full of metal sculptures of all shapes and sizes from one end of town to the other, and through South bend. Lot's of little fishing boats moored up and coming back up the Willapa river after a day at sea. The sun was starting to set as we drove through the Willapa National Wildlife refuge to the Long beach peninsular where we headed into town on the 103.

Today was Simon and Louise's wedding anniversary and Louise had chosen 'The Pickled Fish' restaurant in Long beach to celebrate, it couldn't have been any nicer. We arrived at last light and parked on the beach and admired the sunset colours, there were families still on the beach with fires going which just added to the romance of it. The restaurant was located upstairs with big windows looking out over the beach to the ocean. They had a great range of cocktails, the food and service was amazing and to top it all of, they had a live 3 piece band performing, very nice indeed !

Long beach.
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After a wonderful evening we had a few miles left to cover to get to our destination for the night, our campground in Cape Disappointment State park. [Well I did say at the start we ended in Disappointment]

Todays miles 279. Total 2249 miles

Louise certainly does a super-duper job researching and finding those little memorable spots.

Really enjoying the commentary on this trip.

and I really liked the custom, decorated $2 bill donated to Fat Smitty's!

Mark

Did you stop in Humptulips? That name just cracks me up.