Around the Olympic Peninsula area today

Port Angeles, WA

I’m staying overnight in Port Angeles again to explore the north side of the peninsula a little bit. I wasn’t exactly up at dawn, but when I did emerge after a cool night, the morning light was still lovely. The first first picture was my view on my way to shower.

My first stop was Olympic National Park and more specifically Hurricane Ridge. It was 20 km or so from my campsite and it was quite warm by the time I got up there. The last 10 km was practically straight up, and you can tell from the tall poles in the parking lots that they get a LOT of snow there. The views were fantastic. The National Park takes up a good portion of the peninsula, and I only saw a minute portion of it and the most accessible. Thanks to Char’s friend Maureen for the suggestion to head up there.

Next it was off to Port Townsend. I had seen pictures of it when golfing at Port Ludlow a million years ago, and was intrigued by the Victorian homes for which it’s famous. Port Townsend was visited by George Vancouver and he named it Port Townshend after a friend, and the name ultimately morphed into Townsend. Rapid building took place in the late 1800’s and they hoped that it would become the premier harbour/city on the west coast, however the train line going to Tacoma and Seattle meant that those communities grew faster.

Port Townsend has maintained itself with a variety of industries over the years, from mills, to naval yards, to today’s primary industry, tourism. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It’s full of art and tourist shops, restaurants, small museums and other tourist amenities. A ferry runs between Port Townsend and Whitby Island north of Seattle.

I wandered around town taking pictures, reading the numerous plaques telling its vibrant history, and crunching through the fall leaves on a warm afternoon.

Then I followed the coast down to Port Ludlow, a high end golfing and tourist community along with a marina for boaters in the San Juan Islands.

A great day spent following my nose (and my GPS when necessary) exploring down all sorts of roads. Just the reason for this trip. There are a bunch more pics below.