Washington State Day 3: Goodbye Seattle, Hello Olympic National Park

Although I was ready to get the heck out of the city, we couldn’t pick up our rental car until noon, so we set out to find breakfast.  We ended up at a great restaurant called Bacco.  We had a short wait but the food was delicious!  

Sarah Ellen had seen a little clay flower she had wanted to buy at the market and James wanted some salmon, so we set out for Pike's Place Market again.  The market was fantastic in the morning.  All products must be handmade (or grown) and each vendor must personally be present to sell their products.    

We really enjoyed strolling around and meeting some of the vendors.  Lily had just mentioned that she wanted to start journaling.  We came across a man selling the most beautiful handmade journals.  The covers are super soft leather and the pages are made from recycled cotton.  We loved them so much that we each got one as our souvenir from this trip.  I have yet to decide what I will use mine for: hiking journal, trip journal (I would be pulling double duty with the blog though), a gratitude journal or a place to write scripture.  We made a few other small purchases along the way.  We made it to The Pike's Place Fish Market, and James got some smoked salmon that he and Lily said was the best thing they have ever eaten.  I asked the guy helping us when they throw the fish and he said when someone buys them.  Thankfully, while we were there someone bought three huge fish and we finally got to see the fish being thrown.

Having ended Seattle on a good note, we Ubered to the airport to pick up our rental car.  We got a Toyota Corolla that is cozy but fit our needs just fine.  Off to Olympic National Park we go! 

I had read about the beautiful lavender farms they have in this area and we just happened to be here during lavender season.  We stopped at Purple Haze Lavendar Farm to break up the drive.  The fields of lavender were truly beautiful.  

 We were planning to find lunch in a little town called Sequim (pronounced "Skwim").  SE had to go potty before we could get there so we stopped at a roadside burger joint to grab drinks and use the restroom.  It was covered in dollars.  I was wishing I had a Clemson $2 bill to add!

We next stopped in Sequim and ate at the Hi Way 101 Diner.  It was a cute little retro diner with great comfort food. I had pot roast and mashed potatoes - my kind of cooking!

Nest stop: Hurricane Hill.  We managed to get to the visitor center 5 minutes before closing to grab a sticker and pick up ranger booklets for the girls.

Before the trip, I downloaded the app All Trails.  I had played around with it some in the past, but used it this time to research some of the hikes we might want do while on this trip.  It gives great detail about each hike along with reviews and photos from users.  You can even download the trails and use them to navigate if you lose cell service (which is always in the parks).  This is officially my new favorite app.  I love numbers and stats.  So many times we have been on a hike and wondered if we were close to our destination or if we were still on the right trail.  No more wondering.  It keeps track of all the hikes you do.  I’m only bummed I just now have started using and don’t get credit (I mean have a record for posterity) of all our past hikes.

 

To get to the trail head, we had to drive about 20 miles up a winding and sometimes “cliffy” road.  Not my favorite thing, but James was an awesome pilot and pretended not to notice me clawing the seats.

 

We set out to Hurricane Hill via Hurricane Ridge trail.  This was a 3.2 mile hike with a 797 foot elevation gain.  It was pretty steep at times and our legs were already screaming at us from the hike the day before.  It was 100% worth it, though once we got to the top.  WE COULD SEE CANADA!

It took us a minute to even realize what we were seeing. There was a layer of cloud over the strait.  The town below us before the clouds was Port Angelas.  Looking past the clouds on the other side of the strait, we realized we saw another city.  It was Victoria, British Columbia.  Over to the left was Vancouver, Canada.

This was a great description of what we were seeing.

Our phones even thought we were in Canada!

There was not much wildlife on this trail.  I thought for sure we would see a bear in the lush meadows full of wildflowers and berries.  We saw a few blacktail deer, a bunny that darted across our path and plenty of chipmunks that popped out of the rocks to say hello as we walked by.

We made our way back down the trail and then the mountain to Port Angeles.  We stopped at a Safeway to get a few groceries for the next few days as our cabin has a small kitchenette.  We were tired, hungry and ready to get to our cabin, so we just grabbed some things to eat in the car on the way.

 

We had a beautiful drive to the West.  Driving past Lake Crescent at dusk was wonderful.  Highway 101 hugged the pristine mountain lake.  We made it to our home for the next three days and the first thing we heard getting out of the car was a rushing river!  Pure delight!

 

Total steps: 16, 958  Distance: 7.9 miles  Flights climbed: 46