It was Tom’s luck that the day we set out to go to Lake Quinault, his high school friend Liz organized a get-together at her home. Her house is in a beautiful setting with tall evergreens bordering the backyard. She and her husband had transformed the front and back yards into gardens that I imagined would be featured in garden magazines. There were nine of us, sitting in Liz’ backyard, chatting about summer vacations, RVs, old times, this and that – while munching on delicious breads and muffins and fresh fruit and coffee and tea. I regret not taking any pictures of Liz, Mary, Becky, and Tom, the four old high school friends.
We had to say goodbye to Liz and the rest early because we had several hours to drive to that day’s destination. Mary had packed food for lunch and snacks for the next few days. We stopped at Vance Creek Park in Elma for lunch. It turned out to be a nice park on the water, which we did not know before stopping. A boy came up to our picnic table and asked what we were doing. Tom replied that we were having lunch. He walked away. I was perplexed. I’d be more suspicious and scared if he wasn’t all alone. Tom and I both thought of our niece who is autistic, and wondered if the boy suffered from some similar condition.
We got to Lake Quinault around 3pm. This is “a wilderness gateway to alpine meadows, jeweled lakes and ice-carved peaks.” We checked in, snacked some, settled in, then took a walk along the Quinault Lake Shore Trail. I marveled at being transported in a short time frame from the hot city of Austin to the cool rain forest, big ferns, tree branches hanging with moss, and moist dark soil. It was magic. At one point the trail got treacherous for Dave because a section of it was washed out. What was left didn’t make for smooth and even footing. One misstep and one would fall down the steep slope toward the lake. We were all willing to turn around, except for Dave. Mary wasn’t too happy that he wanted to continue on by sitting down and scooting himself over this section. Tom anchored himself over the lake-side part. If Dave fell, either Tom would be strong enough to catch Dave or the two of them would fall down the slope. Mary threatened to leave the group because that was “stupid.” But Dave successfully made it through the section and Mary relented. She stayed with us. We wanted to make it to the Rain Forest Trailhead past the camping area and we did. At the camping area, Mary and Tom went back to the lodge to get the car while Dave rested and I stayed with him. The idea was for us to continue after the rest and meet Mary and Tom at the trailhead. Dave shook his head as Tom and Mary skipped away while singing some song from a musical. Dave told me he didn’t like musicals.
We had to say goodbye to Liz and the rest early because we had several hours to drive to that day’s destination. Mary had packed food for lunch and snacks for the next few days. We stopped at Vance Creek Park in Elma for lunch. It turned out to be a nice park on the water, which we did not know before stopping. A boy came up to our picnic table and asked what we were doing. Tom replied that we were having lunch. He walked away. I was perplexed. I’d be more suspicious and scared if he wasn’t all alone. Tom and I both thought of our niece who is autistic, and wondered if the boy suffered from some similar condition.
We got to Lake Quinault around 3pm. This is “a wilderness gateway to alpine meadows, jeweled lakes and ice-carved peaks.” We checked in, snacked some, settled in, then took a walk along the Quinault Lake Shore Trail. I marveled at being transported in a short time frame from the hot city of Austin to the cool rain forest, big ferns, tree branches hanging with moss, and moist dark soil. It was magic. At one point the trail got treacherous for Dave because a section of it was washed out. What was left didn’t make for smooth and even footing. One misstep and one would fall down the steep slope toward the lake. We were all willing to turn around, except for Dave. Mary wasn’t too happy that he wanted to continue on by sitting down and scooting himself over this section. Tom anchored himself over the lake-side part. If Dave fell, either Tom would be strong enough to catch Dave or the two of them would fall down the slope. Mary threatened to leave the group because that was “stupid.” But Dave successfully made it through the section and Mary relented. She stayed with us. We wanted to make it to the Rain Forest Trailhead past the camping area and we did. At the camping area, Mary and Tom went back to the lodge to get the car while Dave rested and I stayed with him. The idea was for us to continue after the rest and meet Mary and Tom at the trailhead. Dave shook his head as Tom and Mary skipped away while singing some song from a musical. Dave told me he didn’t like musicals.
Dave and I were a bit confused about how to get to our meeting place with Mary and Tom. We came to the restroom and pay station for the camping area. While we were trying to figure out our route, Dave struck up a conversation with a camper. I went on ahead to check out where we were on the map. Dave was engrossed in the conversation and didn’t follow me. I returned and finally was able to get him to say goodbye to his newfound friend. However, the map was confusing. We couldn’t find the bridge on the map to connect us to the South Shore Drive, the road Mary and Tom would have to drive on. We finally took a trail, without knowing if it was the right trail, hoping it would lead us to where we wanted to go. It was the right trail after all, but it was longer and harder than we expected. We finally saw the bridge we were looking for. I took pictures of the beautiful water. We still had a way to go to get to the trailhead and the handicap accessible trail. We’d have to get to the road first. On the map, it looks like the trail would intersect the road. In reality, the road is something like 100 feet above the trail. We had to keep going and the going was rough. At one point, we had to turn and go uphill. There was a step that is twice as high as a regular staircase step. We either had to take that or walk on a narrow steep uphill with nothing to hold on to. Again Dave got down to scoot uphill. I was behind him and if he stumbled, we would both fall. Miraculously we made it. It was a moment of great joy when I saw Tom coming towards us. Mary and Tom had driven back to where they left us to look for us and Mary was worried sick. We got to where we were supposed to meet. The expected handicap accessible trail never materialized. We decided to get in the car to go back to the lodge after checking out the 500-year-old massive Douglas Fir featured on this trail. We did not walk the entire Rain Forest Trail as we had planned.
For dinner, we sat on the tiny patio of our room and munched on cheese, crackers, fruits, and vegetables that Mary had packed. We opened a bottle of Portuguese red wine. Tom was sad that the big spruce tree partially blocked our view of the lake. He had imagined otherwise. It was pleasant nevertheless. Mary and I walked back to the registration desk to sign up for a boat tour in the morning.
Our boat tour started at 9am the next morning. Our guide was Charlie. He has been a guide since the year 2009. Today he had the four of us and another couple from Washington DC as guests. The first thing he did after we boarded was to turn off the engine and let us sit and soak in the tranquility of the morning lake with the mists still lingering on the lake surface. Then he took us around the lake and told us the history of Quinault Lodge, the salmon hatchery system, interesting facts about forests, stories and houses of local celebrities,… He took us to his favorite cove where the salmon hatchery is located. The salmon hatchery system is run by the Quinault Indian Nation, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He told us about Fawn Sharp, former president of the Quinault Indian Nation for four consecutive terms. We learned about the differences between the National Park and National Forest, and differences of a mature forest and a forest where logging had taken place. I am not one who is good at trivia, but I was able to provide the name of John Muir when Charlie asked about the person who met with President Theodore Roosevelt and was instrumental in preserving lands in the form of national parks for future generations to enjoy. We learned about Robert Ingersoll, whose name is immortalized in Colonel Bob Wilderness. Charlie shared the booklet of the address at the funeral of Walt Whitman by Robert Ingersoll. He said he found the one out of 1,000 copies in print on Ebay. We learned about an elk kept as a pet by the people who lived here before. We later did find the picture of three girls on an elk at the lodge. Charlie said he acted as though it was his first time as a guide, and he did. He jumped up and took pictures with his phone many times. We enjoyed hearing him narrate. I earned the nickname Permagrin from him because I kept a smile on my face. That reminded me of my mother seeing bison at Yellowstone. She had a permanent smile on her face then.
Back to our lodge, we visited the Quinault museum across the lodge before heading to the Salmon House Restaurant to order salmon dinners to go. While waiting for the food, we took a walk to see the largest Sitka spruce tree.
We brought the salmon dinners back to the lodge and ate at a picnic table on the lawn. Dinners were delicious. Mary remarked that we hardly talked to each other while gulping down the food because we were so hungry. We opened our second bottle of wine, a Trader’s Joe red blend. After dinner, we checked out the sauna in the lodge and and various black and white photos hung on the hallways, as suggested by Charlie, where we found the picture of three girls on an elk and trucks with only one huge log on them.
On the second morning, I got up early and walked down the beach to be with Tom. I wanted to catch the sky when it was still orange. I caught it at the last minute. It didn’t stay that way for long.
We left Quinault Lodge around 8:20am and drove north along the west coast of the peninsula. We stopped at Kalaloch’s Beaches 1 and 4 where we could still see gentle rays from the morning sun. Tom wanted to stop at Ruby Beach but it was closed. We went on to Rialto Beach where we stayed for a while. It is where the Quileute Indian Reservation is. This beach has lots of driftwood which block the view and the entry points to the beach. It took us a while to find a clear path to the beach. Dave and I sat at a driftwood log while Tom and Mary took a walk on the beach.
We continued on Route 101 and stopped at Lake Crescent for old-time’s sake for both Mary and Tom. Tom went into the lake at the urging of Mary. He also went into the lodge and talked to the person at the desk, as he did the last time I was here with him. I had him pose at an old phone booth, pretending to talk to someone on the phone. We went to a room upstairs and looked out. He exclaimed that the trees had grown much bigger since the time he worked here, and the view to the lake was also partially blocked.
Mary and I were talking about food and we both had a hankering for Dungeness crab, after Dungeness Bay was mentioned. We wanted to go to Three Crabs in Port Angeles but it had been closed for several years. We walked along the water and saw Mt. Baker. The recommended Kokopelli Grill was closed when we arrived. We decided to go up Hurricane Ridge and come back later for dinner. Hurricane Ridge didn’t have the snow-covered mountain view and the sun was harsh, so it didn’t have the awe factor as the first time I saw it. But I had fun walking the Cirque Rim Trail with Tom. We each got a message from T-Mobile on our cell phones, welcoming us to Canada! Someone on AT&T network overheard our conversation and said she got the same message from AT&T. We did see the Strait of Juan de Fuca from up there, over a mile up in elevation. We were told that at night, one can see the lights of Victoria, 34 miles across the strait. We also saw a ski slope with chair lifts and no snow.
When we got back to Port Angeles, we checked in at the Red Inn Hotel and ate at Downriggers on the Water, another recommended place. Mary and I had our Dungeness crab in our crab Louie salads. I also ordered a bowl of clam chowder. It was a big salad. Tom helped me finish it.
The next morning, we spent four hours exploring Port Townsend, taking an auto and walking tour of the historic homes and buildings, following the route suggested on a map obtained from the Visitor Center. While on the tour, I saw a poster from the Rotary Club of Port Townsend, advertising free books for children ages birth to five from the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. I had read about this charity donation in Reader’s Digest before, and this was the first time I saw a poster about it. I am so impressed with Dolly Parton. She gives out books to any child every month for the first five years of their lives!
At the end of our tour, in searching for a restroom, we discovered a fabulous park called Chetzemoka, which made me fall in love with this town. We met someone who said she often officiates weddings here. She said this is a hidden gem of Port Townsend. There is a cottage garden next to a cottage and a poem garden with plaques of poems on the path. There is a large gazebo overlooking the water. There is a fun glider and several picnic tables. We saw a yoga class going on in a grassy area. We dreamed of having a family reunion in this beautiful park.
Onward. We took the ferry from Kingston back to Edmonds. The sky was clear enough to us to see both Mount Rainier and Mount Baker, which was not a common occurrence.
Thus ended our short trip to the Olympic Peninsula. I took the National Park brochure home with me. I show the map to my son-in-law and tell him that he will have to hike to Blue Glacier one day.
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