OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WASHINGTON

Page 1 OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK - WASHINGTON STATE
Designated a World Heritage Park by the United Nations, glaciated mountains, temperate rain forests, some of the cleanest waters around & some of the biggest trees. More than 600 miles of trails wind through the park’s 1,400 square miles making it one of the premier hiking and backpacking in the country. If you are thinking of trying this check in with the National Park Service. Do not just head out on your own.
I know my readers operate computers or you wouldn’t be reading this. Hopefully I can at least get you enthused enough to type in the name of the park and get all that wonderful knowledge available to see & do. When we worked at Yellowstone National Park a tourist from Washington State recommended Lake Crescent Lodge at Olympic as a good place to work. I was hired to work in the gift shop and Melvin the reservation desk. This beautiful historic Lodge w/cabins was where Theodore Roosevelt would stay when he came to hunt the small deer in that area that are now called Roosevelt deer. Arriving the 1st of June everyday was rainy, drizzly or cloudy. The clouds would lay above us so low you felt you could reach up & touch them. Commenting on the weather to one of the kids we worked with from Port Angeles (20 miles). She replied , “you must be one of those ‘sunny’ people, wait till July 1st and you will enjoy the most beautiful summer you’ve ever spent“. Right she was! Our campground beside the rugged mountains of the park was a short walking distance from the Lodge. Walking out our door the little deer were there eating grass not one bit afraid. Our walk to work was through the old growth forests with thick moss hanging from the trees, wild ferns waist high (I’m not short) with the ground covered with Clover & Trilium. Crossing a bridge over a stream that came from beautiful 90 ft. high, Marymere Falls a mile away. You wanted to just stay there and look at the view around you and never leave. The lodge has a Restaurant & Sunroom with large windows & comfortable chairs to just sit and look at the beautiful lake. No motor boats are allowed but you can paddle across so it’s a wonderful quiet relaxing place. It was like a walk back in time. The park is on a peninsula, like your thumb on your right hand with water on three sides. West side is the Pacific Oceon, Strait of Juan de Fuca is on the north (the line between Canada & US runs through the middle), Puget Sound (with world famous oysters) is on the east. There are lots of things to see & nice places to stay as you drive the perimeters of the park. There are drives back to Quinault & Hoh Rain Forests. You can swim in Sol Duc Hot Springs, make a reservation to stay all night. The ocean in the winters tear away the land and leave huge rock “Sea Stacks” out in the oceon. Most of the beach is covered with huge trees torn away (roots & all) laying in piles that in some places are a real challenge to climb over to get to the beach & Pacific oceon. We found as we traveled when you miss pronounced one of their towns, etc. they would ignore it if you were a tourist but if you came to live there awhile you were corrected and you better remember from then on. One of my hardest, and I don’t know if it’s Kansas or my German ancestry but I have always pronounced Washington like I wash my clothes which actually does sound like war ish (with an r in it) if they heard me I really caught it from the kids and reminded it is Wa ish if you catch my meaning. Port ‘Angeles’ (long e) was another. It is Not pronounced like Los Angeles (spelled the same) but we pronounce angelus. Driving there near Port Townsend we crossed Puget Sound on the Hood Canal Bridge. Then the town of Sequim. I called it like the shiny little round things we sew on clothes only with a M instead of N. No! No! I won’t even try to help you understand how to pronounce that one. It is located on the Olympic Mountain’s rain shadow. The sunny side of North Olympic Peninsula that claims 306 days of sun a year & 16” of rainfall compared to 100”- about 80 miles west in the rain forest. They have discovered Lavender grows there as well as France that supplies most of the world’s supply. The old dairy farms now have 10,000 Lavender plants growing on them. Standing knee deep in a billowing haze of aromatic purple flowers is a fantasy. You can buy it there and it’s a “cure all”. An animal farm in the area for Circus & Hollywood old trained animals to live out their life is a must see. Dungeness Bay is at Sequim with the most delicious large white meat crab you have ever eaten. The influence of the English across the water was Chutney (want that recipe?) served on Fried Dungeness Bay Crab Cakes. Fresh ocean salmon was available everywhere. One of the boys I worked with told me his folks rubbed brown sugar against the grain & brushed it with butter & grilled or fried it. That’s the only way I fix it now. Without realizing living in the different areas of our great land we picked up some of the dialect and when we would come back to Kansas for a couple months in the Spring & Fall our friends would think we talked funny. The Ferry you catch at Port Angeles takes you across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria, B.C. which was a great trip and wonderful town to visit. Just walking around seeing all the sights. Or a carriage ride. High Tea in the afternoon was a must do with a delicious little morsel always included.
Hurricane Ridge, part of the park has a wonderful visitor‘s center.. It takes 30 minutes to drive up to it from Port Angeles. The view there is spectacular looking out across the vast mountainous area. Marmots & deer is everywhere and delightful to watch. I have a story to tell you about the back country . I hope you enjoy my ramblings. I do enjoy remembering.
Geologist’s, etc. would hire horse packer’s to take their equipment back in the rugged areas they wanted to study. One of the ladies that had a string of horses and would do that had gotten older like we all do. She came to work part time in our gift shop and I looked forward to the days we worked together to hear her stories when we weren’t busy in the afternoon. Her name is Smokey and she has lived at a little town nearby for over 30 years and loves her horses. She had been a horse packer. One day a gentleman walked into the gift shop and visited with me awhile asking where I was from & how I come to be there working in the shop. After talking awhile he told me he was a reporter from the Sunday Oregonian and was the reporter for the Travel & NW Escapes section and wanted to interview me about my impression of the area as a Kansan. He was doing an article about the adventurous trek, walk on the wild side at Olympic National Park called “Backpacks & Sea Stacks”. I told him he really needed to talk to Smokey and hear her adventures. Her article beside mine was a shaggy bear story. One morning she was camped with her horses near the middle of the wilderness. While she was making her coffee she noticed the horses all looking at one place in a grassy meadow. All she could see was a rotten old log so she decided to walk out there and check it out. She climbed up on the log to look at the other side. Right then a big bear stood up and they were face to face not more than a foot apart. His teeth looked a foot long. Well that bears eyes got as big as saucers when he saw her and he started to run. She scared the living daylights out of him. He kept looking back as he was running away, tripping head over heels and running into things. The rest of the day she was hot stuff with her horses. They didn’t give her any problems that day. She gave up that life she loved because one trip on her horse, a cougar jumped on her as they were starting down a steep bank. They fell clear to the bottom with the horse landing on its back with legs straight up in the air & it left her in bad shape that took along time to get better so she hung it up. She still rides her horses on the many trails in the beautiful area near Olympic National Park. Jeanette