Day of Touring

Yesterday at 9AM we picked up an Oldsmobile Cutlass that we had rented for the day and set off for Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park.

On the way we took the scenic route to Sequim and had a look at Dungeness Spit, a wild life reserve that ends at a light house at the outer end of the spit 5 miles away. We figured that the a visit to the spit warranted at least a half a day on its own so we pushed on to Port Angeles then stopped off at the Olympic National Park visitor center before taking the excellent road to Hurricane Ridge, elevation 5240 ft. From there are panoramic views of the heart of the Olympic mountains and clear views across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria and Haro Strait. I could clearly see Discovery Island which we rounded on the way to Victoria against a very strong current. We could see very clearly the glaciers on Mt Olympus and other mountains. We went on a one-hour guided tour by a park ranger and learned much about the history, geology, ecology, etc. of the area. I was amazed to learn that the Olympic mountains are made up of basalt that was scooped up from the floor of the Pacific ocean by the collision of two tectonic plates, one passing underneath the other.

We have booked the car for Thursday and Friday and plan to do a circumnavigation of the Olympic peninsula, stopping somewhere for the night.

This morning we got confirmation from DHL that my parts have been shipped out of Bergen, Norway. We expect them to arrive in a day or two but I don't expect the engine to be put back together until early next week.

The top photo is of a member of a family of deer that visited our picnic table. The second photo shows Josh the tour guide ranger at work. The third photo shows a hill burned out by a fire started by lightning. All of the bare-looking meadow lands are natural - usually on the north faces where winter conditions are too brutal for tree survival.

I took two photos of the John Wayne marina, near Sequim. John Wayne had a large boat and I've been told that he donated that land for the marina.