Saturday Afternoon: Aberdeen and Kalaloch Beach
On the way I stopped in Aberdeen, the hometown of Nirvana singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain. I can't say I am a big fan of Nirvana, I only know a couple of their songs, but I respect them for the way they changed music in the 90s with the onset of grunge, so it was any music lover's pilgrimage to visit the Kurt Cobain memorial set up on the banks of the river in the town. Kurt used to hang out underneath a particular bridge on the Wishkah River and he wrote several songs about it or referring to it. I was able to go and sit under that very bridge, which was a neat feeling, and I looked at the memorials: a replica of his guitar on a plinth, and a metal guitar stand with a plaque saying "Kurt's air guitar" haha I appreciated that humour!There was one other girl in the park, sitting away from the memorial and chatting away to herself. I asked her to take a picture of me, which she did. As I left the park I could see her talking to herself again, this time, gesturing to where I had been standing. Ahh, the people One meets!
under Kurt's bridge
Later on I played Kurt's air guitar at the beach.
My next stop after Aberdeen was Kalaloch beach. I was racing to get there by sunset! I arrived at 7pm, just in time to change into warm clothes and make myself a dinner of canned tuna and mayo sandwiches to take down to the beach. While I was preparing the dinner I was standing beside my car in the beach parking lot draining the can of tuna, and a dog approached me, obviously attracted by the smell. The owner came by to call him away and I jokingly said to the dog "its not for you!". The dog owner said to me "is it for your cat?" and I replied "no it's for me!" the poor guy seemed a bit embarrassed! And I couldn't help puzzling over why he would think that I would be in a beach parking lot with a cat in my car?!! Funnily enough, the next day, I did see a car with a cat in it. Go figure! Anyway, I took my food down to the beach, set myself up on a piece of driftwood and sat there watching the most beautiful sunset.
this is where I slept that night.... just kidding!
When night fell I set my bed up in the back of my car. I asked the cashier at the little dairy at the beach if it was ok to sleep in the carpark overnight, she said that the park rangers had not been around so it should be safe. So, I parked up and bunked down for the night. I had the perfect view of the full moon from my back window! I slept warmly and soundly, with no rangers rousting me out! Praise God!
You can still see the afterglow of the sunset from the carpark where I slept
Full moon out the back window of my stallion
Sunday: Beaches and Rainforests
I woke up early on Sunday morning and watched the beautiful dawn sunrise from my cosy bed in my stallion car.
Sunrise from the stallion
I got up, made breakfast (granola and banana) and headed on my way, back down the line a little to the Quinault Rainforest, near the Quinault Lake. On my way I stopped in at a few beaches along the way. On the way to the beaches I passed through some amazing woods where I found the most unique trees! They are deformed and have developed large bulb-like growths on their trunks!
So unusual!
Lovely beach
The Quinault rainforest was spectacular, you walk beneath trees dripping with mosses, so green and fresh it's like beholding some sort of other world! As I did the rainforest trek, I stopped every few footsteps so I could hear the distant bugling of elk, hidden in the shrub. It was fantastic! The air was so crisp on that early morning walk, I felt like dinosaurs were going to step out behind a tree and onto the path right in front of me!
Dinosaurs like this walking in the rainforest maybe?
The moss hangs like pearls on a jewellery case
After I finished the rainforest trek I chatted for a while with the park ranger. She told me some good spots to visit within the wider Olympic park, places to maybe see sea otters, and where to see some of the largest trees in the world. The park ranger and I became penpals! I then carried on my merry way. I stopped in at the massive Cedar tree that the ranger told me about...
..and here it is!! the biggest tree in the USA outside of California. It even rivals Tane Mahuta in NZ! (although I have to say this photo does it no justice)
I also dropped in on July Creek, a magical spot on the edge of Lake Quinault.
I then drove to the Hoh Rainforest. On the way I stopped at all several different beaches, including Ruby beach, which had beautiful 'sea stacks' along the pebbled shore - large rocks which have long since broken off the shoreline cliffs.
I kept a lookout for sea otters in the place where the park ranger told me, but unfortunately I could not see any. I did also stop in at another mammoth tree - smaller than the other tree I visited, but it felt like it was bigger because the trunk was massive!
Huuuuugeee tree!
When I got to the Hoh rainforest I went to the visitor centre and had a look around. Unexpectedly, I fell head over heels in love with a small soft toy baby otter. It was one of those rare occasions where I simply could not leave it sitting there on the shelf, I simply HAD to have it! I bought it and named it Hemi and it has become my travelling companion, riding on the dashboard of my car.
This was my face when I bought my otter:
"Hemi the otter, I love you!"
This was my face when I realised I had a coupon for the store and I forgot to use it when I bought my otter:
"Why, Hemi? Why!!!!"
Luckily, the rainforest was so beautiful, I had soon forgotten about the 85 cents I could have saved. I did a 1 hour hike into what they called the "hall of mosses". Large maple trees just covered in moss, like some sort of mystical, ethereal wonderland.
like it just walked off the Lord of the Rings set!
is this really real??
Can I just live here in the rainforest forever?
After I left the rainforest I drove up to Forks. I have been there before, it is the town where the Twilight books and movies are set. I drove in to town and was thrilled because I saw a sign for a truck stop! My eyes lit up because it meant a safe place to sleep for the night where I could sleep in my car without fear of being woken up and kicked out by rangers. Even though it was only afternoon, I drove into it just to see what it was like. It was just an average rest stop, although it was weird because there were about 3 or 4 vans and cars outside with licence plates registered to the United States Government! It was all a little spooky, it was like they were on surveillance or something! I carried on my way and just hoped they would be gone by the night time!
The last time we came to Forks we went to the little town of La Push, where there are a few lovely beaches. We went to one of them, the others you had to hike to get to and we did not have the time. There was also another beach on the other side of a river which we never went to. I decided that I wanted to visit them all, and boy was I glad I did! The beach on the other side of La Push - called Rialto beach, proved to be one of the nicest beaches I have been to! It was just so lovely.
I was so excited to do the hike onto the other beach, known simply as "second beach" because people had said it was better than all the other beaches around. I got there around 6pm, so I made myself a dinner of canned tuna, mayo, canned potatoes (yes you read right, canned potatoes) and canned green beans. I mixed the tuna, potatoes and mayo together and had the green beans on the side. I had a nectarine for dessert. I was dubious about how the tuna potato mix would be, although I was resigned to eating it as it was all I had in the car. I hiked down to the beach, took about 20 minutes. I arrived on the beach and couldn't believe my eyes. It was by far the most beautiful beach I have ever been on. I loved it from the minute I stepped on it. I climbed on a comfy piece of driftwood and ate my dinner, which turned out to be delicious. So delicious that I am storing that 'recipe' in my mind and will become my staple roadtrip fare! :)
looks gross, but was so YUMMMY!!!
As I waited for the sunset, I whipped out my new Nexus tablet and read some of my ebook (currently reading the biography of Che Guavara) and just lay on a piece of driftwood and relaxed. It was so blissful! I strolled along the beach and found a rockpool with starfish and other little shellfish in it.
Slowly the sunset began to appear, and beautiful purples and oranges engulfed the sky.
I stayed watching the sunset as long as I could before beginning the hike back to the carpark. All the people on the beach who were not camping had already left to head back. I was the only one left because I had pushed time to the limit watching the sunset. I really had to run before it got too dark that I would not be able to see the path (I do not have a torch, you see). It seemed the light was escaping with every footfall. I literally ran up steep steps and pathways. Luckily I was able to catch up with some Chinese tourists and follow them out of the forest. They were like guiding angels to me, one in particular always made sure that I was keeping up and told me when to watch out for uneven path or an upcoming step.
I got safely back to the car, drove to Forks to the rest stop. I was pleased to see that there were no US government cars parked in the carpark, so I parked up and slept until the early morning awoke me.
Monday: The Corners and the Heights
I woke up nice and early in my wonderful car, went and freshened up in the bathroom then set off to Cape Flattery - the most North West point in the continental USA! It took a couple of hours to drive there, driving through heavy early morning coastal mist, through tiny fishing towns and into the Makah Indian Reservation. I bought my visitor's permit and drove out to the carpark at the point. It was a short hike out to the point. I was a little unsure of what I would see at the point because the mist was so heavy. I was so pleasantly surprised as I approached the edge because although it was still misty, there was the most magical scene: strikingly beautiful mossy rocks and cliff faces. The water heaved and swirled around the base of the rocks and cliffs. There were large caves hidden in the rock faces. It was again, like stepping into another world. I was enraptured. It was a very special place.
fascinating mossy cliffs and rocks
mystical
incredible!
swirling water
Standing on the most NW point of USA!
cobweb like a silver tiara
large caves
I was so happy that I had visited Cape Flattery, because it was not on my original itinerary, in fact it was my penpal park ranger who gave me the idea. I trekked back down the long, windy road through the small fishing towns (still doused in mist). About an hour down the road was the junction to go to Lake Ozette, which had been recommended to me, so I took the turn and headed down there, it was another hour or so of driving, and when I arrived I knew it had been worth it.
*sigh!*
Lake Ozette peeping through the trees
Surprise!
Lake Ozette was different to other lakes I had been to, there seemed to be hundreds of cars and no people there! It must be a very popular hiking trail, because I then saw lots of people entering and emerging from the forest surrounding the lake, laden with full backpacks and sleeping bags. I sat down by the lake and was struck with how quiet and calm it was there. I could just hear the gentle lapping of water at the shoreline. I sat there for a while, enjoying the peace.
Lake Ozette: So peaceful and calm!
After leaving Lake Ozette I had a lot of driving in front of me. I had planned to stop in at the Sol Duc falls on the way back to Seattle, however I realised too late that the road I was following along the coast (not the main highway) had no direct access to the road, and I did not want to have to turn around and head back to the main highway just to find the road and add several more hours onto my travel time. Instead, I continued following the coastal road, so windy it reminded me of New Zealand. I reached Port Angeles in the early afternoon and decided to head to Hurricane Ridge, another section of the Olympic National Park which was closer to where I was. I headed there, climbing the large mountains with Hemi my otter friend riding by my side.
When I reached the top I was so happy that I had come there as opposed to Sol Duc falls. Hurricane Ridge was amazing. I was able to look out over the entire Olympic mountain range - the same mountains I look out over every single morning from our kitchen window. To be up close and personal with them was great! The best moment though, was when I was looking out at the mountains, and beside me was an old man and his adult grandson and they were talking about the place where the grandfather had grown up, and there was a classic moment where he said to his grandson, perfectly serious, and said "In my day, this would have been like flat land to us" HAHAH it was a real-life example of those "In-my-day-we-had-to-walk-15-miles-barefoot-in-the-snow-to-get-to-school"
Hurricane Ridge
"In my day, this would've been like flat ground to us"
I headed home on the car ferry at Kingston, had a delicious dinner of savoury crepes and banana milkshake and went home to bed! What a weekend!
