Picture 1 shows the Olympic mountains. Picture 2 shows the same mountains a little more to the west. Carrie Glacier is visible in this picture. Picture 3 is looking toward Victoria, British Columbia which is across Puget Sound beyond the trees. Pictue 4 is one of several ships that were docked in Port Angeles.
This morning the sky was overcast and the temperature was in the 50s when I headed out to ride to Port Angeles and the Olympic National Park. I was dressed for the cold because the temperature was supposed to be even cooler at Port Angeles. I had on my long johns, jeans, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, my leather jacket, and my leather chaps. After about 9 miles on the road it began to drizzle so I stopped and put on my rain suit over everything else. For the entire ride to Port Angeles the sky remained overcast and it drizzled on and off the entire time. Needless to say, even with all the clothes I had on, I was freezing; especially my hands, because I did not have insulated gloves. On the way into Port Angeles, I was looking around for a Wal-Mart so that I could by another set of gloves and possibly a sweatshirt. Instead, however, the clouds opened up and the sun peeked through bringing a little warmth to the air so I decided that I might not need the extra things after all. Instead I headed right to the Olympic National Park information center to find out how best to see the park with what little time I had left that day. They suggested that I ride up to Hurricane Ridge which was a 45 minute ride up into the mountains. From there I would be able to get a great view of the Olympic Mountains, Mount Olympus (the tallest peak in the mountains), several glaciers, and from across the road, I would also be able to view the city of Victoria, British Columbia.
The park ranger at the information desk commented that many visitors to Hurricane Ridge tell her how much this area looks like the Swiss Alps. When I arrived at the site, I could see why people would think that. Although I have never been to the Alps, the pictures I have seen of them look just like the mountains here. They were absolutely beautiful. I was also surprised by the fact that many of the kids that were walking around in the area were singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” I guess everyone was thinking about the Alps while they were there.
Although the trip up was cold, the scenery was great. I was on US101 which paralleled Hood Canal which is part of Puget Sound. US101 passed through numerous fishing villages along the way. It reminded me a lot of the Upper Peninsula around Munising and Grand Island and also along Keweenaw Bay. The woods along that area were very dense and many of the trees and large boulders were covered with a very thick bright green moss.
If you plan to come to the Olympic National Park, be sure to set aside at least two full days for exploring. I was trying to do it in one day, and part of that was spent just traveling to the park. I may have to stay another day to go back to Olympic because I was not able to even get to the rain forest portion of the park and that is one of the most unique features of this area because it is the only rain forest in the U.S.
The park ranger at the information desk commented that many visitors to Hurricane Ridge tell her how much this area looks like the Swiss Alps. When I arrived at the site, I could see why people would think that. Although I have never been to the Alps, the pictures I have seen of them look just like the mountains here. They were absolutely beautiful. I was also surprised by the fact that many of the kids that were walking around in the area were singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” I guess everyone was thinking about the Alps while they were there.
Although the trip up was cold, the scenery was great. I was on US101 which paralleled Hood Canal which is part of Puget Sound. US101 passed through numerous fishing villages along the way. It reminded me a lot of the Upper Peninsula around Munising and Grand Island and also along Keweenaw Bay. The woods along that area were very dense and many of the trees and large boulders were covered with a very thick bright green moss.
If you plan to come to the Olympic National Park, be sure to set aside at least two full days for exploring. I was trying to do it in one day, and part of that was spent just traveling to the park. I may have to stay another day to go back to Olympic because I was not able to even get to the rain forest portion of the park and that is one of the most unique features of this area because it is the only rain forest in the U.S.
