Test Run

It’s Spring and we found ourselves with a couple of unscheduled days off together after having worked an extra long week so we decided to test Piper out for the season.

We haven’t had Piper out of her house since returning from our trip in September and I have been doing annual spring maintenance in spurts on her and Beastie Boy.  So we looked at each other and decided to get the flock out of town and take a test run.  The question, of course, is where to go.  WDFW had announced a clam opening on Long Beach and a bag limit of 25 clams (up from the usual 15) to reward diggers for having been patient through the spring.  Erin hit the web and found that there is no camping to be had along the entire coast of Washington as this particular clam season includes all the beaches.  We couldn’t get a spot anywhere in a regular RV park or in any state or county campground.  So, we expand the search and decide that a trip to Port Angeles Area and the Strait of Juan De Fuca is a good destination.  The only drawback is there really are no razor clam beaches there.  We have never been up to the north entrance to the Olympic National Forest and it has been years since we have ventured into the general area.

I called around and found a cool looking RV park outside of Port Angeles called the Elwha Dam RV Park located at 47 Dam Road (elwhadamrvpark.com).  I spoke with them and it seemed like a nice casual place with a decent price so I booked us for two nights over the phone.  We got up Thursday morning bright and early and decided that we should be on the road 3 hours later.  Mind you, I had taken the hitch out of Beastie Boy and had been hauling yard waste, so this was truly an exercise in starting from scratch.

I put the hitch in, and got all of the outdoor stuff done, including moving Piper to the front of the main house so we wouldn’t have to walk far to load her up.  All the “man chores” were covered when I checked the propane tanks and went and got them filled.  Erin hammered out loading the household stuff (she had gone grocery shopping on Wednesday.  We loaded clothes and were out of the house and on the road at exactly 1030 am.

We pointed the rig north on Highway 101 and settled in for the 3 hour run to Port Angeles.  The sun decided to favor us for a bit and we travelled along Hood Canal looking with envy at the multitude of people raking clams on the tide flats (I forgot about the butter clams being open and didn’t bring any gear for them).  We were just south of Brinnon and decided we wanted to try some place new (we eat fairly often at the Geoduck in Brinnon and have recently had oysters at the Hamma Hamma Oyster farm) so Erin started hunting on the internet.  We settled on a french Crepe place in Port Angeles called La Belle Creperie.  We each ordered a different savory crepe and then shared with each other.  We can vouch for the tasty goodness that was both the Gyro Crepe and the Shrimp Crepe.  Unfortunately we were both too full for a dessert crepe.

Lunch finished, we headed west on State Route 112 and turn left on Lower Dam Road.  The entrance to the RV park is immediately on the left and as you enter, you see a sign that says “drama free zone”.  We both love this place already.  We are greeted in the office by a very nice young man of about 9 years old and his dog Sam.  He chats us up a few moments and our clerk kind of fellow (David, the owner) comes to the office and we talk about the sites and which area available.  We put it to the young man and he decides we should go to site 8.  We take a turn around the park and pull into site 8.  We get Piper set up and blocked with all her lines run and set back to admire our handi-work.  The site is pretty level front to back but needed about 2 inches of block on the downhill side.

We got going on setting up inside:  bed making, fridge set up, and general house keeping.  Everything went together pretty quick and Piper was back in order for our needs.  It was interesting to see what needed to be done and what carried over from last season.  There will be a separate blog entry for the specifics for you folks interested in the process and our findings and opinions.

One of the things we found from last year was that in certain parts of the country we were unable to use our tried and true charcoal grill (Aussie style) for cooking due to high winds or extreme dry conditions.  Each time we were told no charcoal, it came with a caveat that propane grills were fine.  We both prefer to have our meat cooked outside Piper on the grill (better flavor and easier clean up).  We have been looking for a decent tabletop propane grill to take with us without having to break the bank (have you seen the price of Weber Grills?).  So, a week ago, we bought a gas grill and put it together.  I set it up and for the first time in 15 plus years, cooked outdoors on a gas grill!  I know this will come as a surprise to everyone who knows me, because everyone knows what a wood lump charcoal cooking snob I am. I normally won’t let red meat near a fire that isn’t natural but this expedient is pretty good, even if I may have to turn in my “knuckle dragging, neolithic, man with fire” card.   The burgers turned out great and Erin put together Mac n Cheese and a southwest salad.  Combined with our favorite beverage of choice (my only Leinenkugel’s in the fridge), and a cooling evening under clearing skies in a quiet setting, I truly don’t know a better way to spend a nice evening with my sweetie.

Prior to eating, we headed down the trail to the old Elwha Dam site.  The old dam was removed as part of the river Salmon restoration project.  The trail is ADA compliant to the first lookout over the river.  Here it ends and the rest of the trail to the end is easily traversed but not necessarily by someone with debilitating issues.

Decent size cedar across the trail

Where the old dam used to block the river

Off to bed and a night’s sleep with plans for the morning running through our heads and what to see along State Route 112 and the north side of the Olympic National Park.

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Friday Morning breaks nice and sunny.  We both slept well and get up around 7 am.  Coffee perking and a breakfast bowl of bacon, eggs and cheese.  We plan the day:  A trip into Port Angeles where we get some t.p. (the things you forget to count in the packing list), tissues, and custom brewed coffee in the parking lot of Swain’s (a great general store with everything from garden plants to high end hiking apparel, guns and fishing gear).  While in P.A. we decide to head out to Ediz Hook.  Ediz Hook is basically the breakwater for the city port and provides a calm, protected harbor.  

Protected anchorage

To get to the hook, you go west along the waterfront and wind through log yards and an old paper mill.  Passing through the mill, you wind up on a wide road that ends up at the Coast Guard station.   Along side the station is the Puget Sound Pilots station.  We park near the gate to the Coast Guard station and walk the hook.  

Interesting driftwood root ball

Painted random rock on a log

There are public bathrooms, a park like area and signs describing the vision for the care of the hook.  There is also a memorial for Bert Thomas who swam from here to Victoria, B.C., Canada in 1955.

Bert Thomas

 Since we are in Port Angeles (called P.A. by everyone), we head up to Hurricane Ridge for opening day of the 2017 season.  The signs are easy to follow to get up the mountain and when you hit the visitors center, you are not far from the gate.  We bypassed the visitors center, aiming for the top of the mountain.  We hit the gate, slapped them with our annual pass, picked up the park propaganda and headed to the top with warnings of work crews and rolling rocks (not the beer).  The road just opened this morning and we are among the first up the hill.  It’s a beautiful drive up, numerous deer playing in the fields along the lower slopes and a winding road with amazing views around each bend.  As we climbed above the snow line we came around a bend in the road and found three guys in the middle of the road carrying snowboards.  Well, we are in the Beast so an offer of a ride to the parking area at the top is in order.  The guys clambered into the bed with their boards and away we went, just helping out our fellow travellers with a ride to the top where they got out with a wave and a heartfelt thanks.   It’s beautiful from up here and the views across the snow fields and into the far ridges are truly spectacular.  What a glorious day to be alive and on top of the world.   We head into the visitor’s center where they haven’t gotten in their shipments of new souvenirs yet, so we are told we have to go to the visitors center by the gate.  As my followers know, we only get souvenirs from places we actually set our boots on.  Lol, well, we have photos to prove we went to to the top.  We shoot some great photographs of the views from up on top and head back down.  We stop for some more photo opportunities on the way and then slide into the visitor’s center where we get our pins.

Erin looks far

The Beast at the top

The hiking stick in the snow

Ediz Hook from the mountain

Off for the west along State Route 112 where we visit the Salt Creek Recreation Area County Park and check out the RV park there.  This a Clallam County Park where you get full hook ups for $30 a night.  This includes killer views of the Straight of Juan De Fuca and the wildlife (read whales) out there.  There is also a WW2 bunker on an old fort site there (which I am saving for our next trip here).  We headed out from there and stopped by the Crescent Beach & RV Park.  These folks have a half mile long sand beach with decent surf (for Washington) with full hookups for $46 a night.  They have some pretty good propaganda and as we were talking to the proprietor we saw a Grey Whale spouting less than 150 yards off the sandy beach.

Off on a backroom diversion to the Joyce General Store.  Old tyme general store with an old school post office inside.

Took a couple pictures of the old school post boxes, bought a glass bottle real sugar Coke and listened to the interaction between another customer and the clerk.  It seems he was in paying off his store credit.  He was obviously a little less blessed with the things we are used to…his clothes were unwashed, he had an unshowered odor/look and he had ridden up on a bicycle.  He asked the clerk what the store owner did with the IOU’s and she told him she didn’t know, she just stapled them together and passed them on to the owner.

We leave the area and head for Marymere Falls for a highly recommended hike.  We leave Joyce and take the back road (east shore) along Crescent Lake.  This is a very rough paved road that at times is not wide enough for two cars.  The pavement is heavily frost heaved and signs of slumping are on almost every corner.  The views along here are beautiful and Erin wonders aloud how they got the construction equipment and supplies in to build many of the houses that a barely sandwiched 100 feet below road level on the lake with just enough room between the hill and water for a house.

We meet U.S. 101 and head along the south shore of Crescent Lake where we took in the views, finally arriving at the Storm King Ranger Station (still closed for the 2016 season). We hit the (full, not vault) bathrooms, check the map and embark on a great hike to the viewing areas.  The trail leads you under U.S. 101 and then winds through the moss covered and cedar tree shrouded woods to the waters of a beautiful little river, which you cross and then begin to ascend a combination of steep trail and stairs to get to three different viewing areas where you get lightly wet from the spray given off by this 90 plus foot cascade.  What a sublime trek for us.  As we wander through the monster cedars I hearken back to the Redwoods trip and often wonder why people rave about the Redwoods in California but rarely mention our glorious Cedar groves here on the Olympic Peninsula.

First look through the trees

Erin at Marymere

Done with our hike, we head back to the parking area and see a ranger pulling into the closed station, we figure they must be getting ready to staff it for the new season.  We climb back into The Beast and check out the lodge here, they have a nice lakefront lodge with some good looking cabins.

East bound along 101 to 112 and back to Elwha Dam RV where Piper waits for us.  A good hot shower for both of us and then another meal of grilled hamburgers, mac n cheese, salad and a beer.  S’mores afterward, cleanup and watch the neighbor kids play for a bit.

As I said before, I will be doing some techno crap blogs for those who are interested in some of our technical stuff. I’ll do one specifically on Piper and our equipment.  I’ll do another one on why we travel the way we do.  I’ll be more than happy to write about anything you want me to as long as I can figure out how to do it.  We do still have jobs that we have to go to between taking road trips LOL.

We’ll see you out there.

BFD