Olympic National Park had not been part of the earlier versions of our itinerary, it was a last-minute add forced by the Jasper wildfires.
Serendipitous though since it’s unlikely that we ever would have visited the park otherwise – just so many other places to visit, so little time!
After the mixed bag of crowds and amazing scenery of Banff, Olympic NP was far more ‘tame’ – fewer people – yet with scenery which rivaled some of Banff’s best. Unfortunately, we were both still battling lingering COVID effects when we arrived, so our energy levels were a bit down – even so, we were able to pack in adventures.
After leaving Banff, we returned to Calgary for a short flight to Victoria, British Columbia. Arriving, we boarded a ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, Washington which was our home for a few days. Situated right on the water, and seemingly the only larger town, small city on “the peninsula”, Port Angeles is a mix of art galleries and coffee shops, interspersed with a slightly tired look of closed store fronts and dollar-stores. Perhaps a typical slice of America struggling to stay afloat.
For our first full-day “on the peninsula”, we chose to hike Maiden Peak (alltrails.com), via the Obstruction Point/Deer Park trail.
Standing at 6,430ft, Maiden Peak wasn’t particularly high, but it was enough of a challenge from its starting elevation of 4,800ft. It was a great choice, offering varied conditions, from a woods-walk to alpine meadow, and epic vistas at the summit.
Getting to the trailhead was a bit of a challenge – the road to get there was a bit sketchy – a twisty/turny thing, somewhat reminiscent of some slope-hugging roads in Yosemite. There were a few instances where the road wasn’t much wider than a single car – certainly tickling my vertigo (and not in such nice ways!)
But the views speak for themselves!
And the weather certainly made it a special day out.
At the summit, the views were spectacular – enabling us to see across to Canada!
Because our energy levels were low – needing a bit of recovery from our Maiden Peak hike – for our second day in Port Angeles, we decided on a road trip to the Hoh rainforest and a side visit to Rialto beach on the western coast of the peninsula.
While it was quite a bit of driving, we got a real feel for the overall remoteness of the peninsula and a glimpse at a very different ocean than what we’re accustomed to seeing on Cape Cod.
The rain forest was really only a short walk (1.5mi) – a walk in the woods? Leaving there, we headed over to Rialto beach – on the pacific coast. Very windy, it wasn’t the sort of beach we’re accustomed to (towels and swimming and all) – beautiful, but in a different sort of way.
Our final day in Port Angeles, we found a local bike shop which rented eBikes – the torque-assist variety. We enjoyed a 20-mile strip along a portion of the Olympic Discovery Trail – a long-distance bike path through the park. A really nice way to spend some outdoor time!
