Olympic Peninsula

Manuel and I went to the Olympic Peninsula for a grand total of two days.
But in those days, we crammed in quite a bit of experiences.
We got up as the ass-crack of dawn to hop on a 7 o'clock ferry from Edmonds to Kingston.
After that we had a few hours trip along the northern edge of the peninsula until we came to Neah Bay. The weather started to get bad, but it quickly dissipated.
After long, windy roads, we came to long, windy, dirt roads that eventually brought us to a trailhead that would poop us out to the furthest northwest extent of the contiguous 48 United States.

For the most part, we followed the boardwalk beautifully laid out before us, but when it came time to see the actual tip, we had to do some bushwhacking. It wasn't that bad, the scratches were minimal, and I even found a nalgene bottle along with waterproof matches, that some other bushwhacker had lost.
Between the two of us, pictures were a-plenty of us being at this extremity of the US and other places below and beyond our reach, like Tatoosh Island.

Once we found the edge and could go no further, we headed back to explore the inlets.
It was a tiring task of wrestling bushes and hopping over fallen logs, but I found a way down and informed Manuel of where to follow. That's where I spooked a bald eagle, but wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch a shot. It circled around the trees and never came back.

At the bottom we found caves. Most were small indents, but others went back far enough to were a flashlight would be necessary. The one linked to above had a small opening that was just wide enough for me to squeeze through. With more patience and bravery I could have snuck even further back into its recesses, but I had already seen enough.

With the tide going out we were able to cover more ground, and searching deeper into the inlet, we found a waterfall. We had to grapple with slippery and slimy logs, but we eventually made our way to its base. Beyond the falls itself, there was another cave, but that would require getting wet at least up to one's waist to explore.
Maybe if I had more time and a bathing suit, towel, and flashlight, I would have tried it out, but without all those "necessities", I was perfectly content with my death-grip on the slimy logs.

Again with lower tide, we were able to go from the north side of the inlet to the south side and wind around to where there were some tidepools and an actual arch that had been carved out by ocean waves.
Underneath was some sea life, mainly mussels and sea anenomes. That has to be one of the better pictures I've ever taken of any animal.

The tide got really low for the journey back which made it quick and easy.
So after our trip to Cape Flattery, we set our marks on Shi Shi (shy-shy) beach and ultimately the Point of Arches.

We stuck around through sunset, but thought that might be the best time to start heading home. But before doing so, we made sure to get enough good shots as proof of our being there.

The hike back was a bit odd. At first we couldn't find the trail on the beach leading back to the top of the bluffs above us.
Once up there, we realized that any light that remained was blocked out by the forest canopy.
Luckily for us, when we were exploring the caves at Cape Flattery, it prompted me to bring my headlamp in case we found more caves at the Point of Arches.
While there were some small caves there, the headlamp came in much more handy on the hike back through the mud river that some call a "trail". Otherwise we would have either had to spend the night on the beach in a cave, or take all night sludging through the ankle-deep mud, feeling with every step through the pitch-black forest.

I do need to take some time out here and congratulate Manuel on a fine job in this adventure. His only source of light was coming from my forehead so he was probably tripping way more than I was. To go along with that, he's not quite the experienced hiker that I am, but he put everything into our trek back to the van, even if he was utterly exhausted.
That's why I don't mind taking him places. I've come to realize that I can (or choose to)exert myself a bit more than your average person, and Manuel has that same characteristic.
Along with this hike, not nearly as much snorking would have gone down without his drive.

Moving on. Once back at Neah Bay we grabbed a bite from the only place that was open. Or rather it was closed, but the woman forgot to turn off her neon "OPEN" light, and we caught her right as she was leaving, so she took pity on us and fried up some burgers for our weary bodies.

From there we drove to Forks and spent the night in a Thriftway gravel parking lot. We woke up to a pasture full of horses and a guy parachuting with a fan strapped to his back.

We got some supplies, washed up a bit in the Thriftway restrooms and headed down south to the Hoh Rainforest. We jumped on a trail and headed inland toward the mountains following the Hoh River, but a couple miles in, we came to a small stream...
To the left of the trail was a bridge made from a fallen log with its top shaved to create a flat surface. A hand rail was also attached to keep from slipping. The only problem was that the log had split and was now making a V-shape over the small creek.
Even though I've slipped on similar constuctions before, I still had to try it.
So I hopped up on it and carefully lowered myself to the base of the V. Apparently it wasn't gently enough. My right foot slipped, I landed on my ass. I still had a grip on the hand rail, but not well enough to keep me from toppling into the creek.
Luckily it was only about knee-deep and almost at a stand still.
I heard a crunch, but I think it was only a plastic water bottle from the Thriftway.
My camera was dry and my underwater case wasn't broken.
The only bad thing was that my feet were retaining puddles of water.
I took off my boots and wrung out my wool socks. Brown water flowed forth. Yum.
Since they were all I had, I put them back on and asked Manuel if it was ok if we headed back.
He agreed.

This time I go to cross the creek where Manuel had on the right side of the trial simply to find that the water wasn't even deep enough there to reach beyond the rubber sole of my boot.
Oh well. My pants were quick-drying and we got to have lunch when we got back anyway.

Once back in the parking lot, we blew by the ranger station, leaving them $15 poorer and we made our way by Crescent Lake, and back to Port Angeles where we were hoping to head up to Hurricane Ridge. Unfortunately, the road to the ridge is closed Monday through Wednesday. We were there Wednesday.

Undaunted, and actually somewhat relieved, we both decided that it would be best to just head home so we could relax. Hiking was mostly off the agenda by this time as we were both gimping from any point A to point B, no matter how short of a distance.

Overall it was an exciting trip and I accomplished everything I wanted to do.
Hopefully Manuel feels the same way.
With the coming summer, hopefully trips like these will be more plentiful.