Weekend in Port Angeles and the Olympic mountains
I've managed to squeeze quite a few vacation days into this weird summer, and just over a week ago my wife and I went camping at the foothills of the Olympic mountains in Western Washington.
Yet another camping report from a KOA campground. It’s a bit late, again, but it’s been a bit wild at work, my mom’s in town, and I still have a fairly limited mental capacity for creative stuff, an example of which would be a camping report ;)
This time we went to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. Normally, we’d stay there whenever we take a ferry to Victoria, BC, but this time around we just went there to camp.
As a side note, I really want to point out that I don’t like KOA campgrounds. Like, I hate them, really. They don’t get tent camping at all, they are the opposite of camping in general, and in fact, they are just parking lots with RV hookups and a few spaces to pitch a few tents wall-to-wall on the margins. We go there for one reason and one reason only: they are available when we make our camping plans. I will rant a bit more someday, but for now, let’s leave it at that.
The weekend started early with a ferry to Kingston, WA, and a 2-hour drive from there to Port Angeles.
Since it wasn’t too dark when we arrived, we pitched our tent and went out to explore the Dungeness Nature Preserve. That’s where we watched the sunset.
Overall, it was a lovely Thursday evening, with good food, awesome views, and an obligatory fire back at the camp.
The next day we planned on going to the coast and also hitting the Northwestmost point of the lower 48.
The weather was surprisingly nice, and we spent a few hours at the beach. I’ve got all sunburnt but at least got some Vitamin D into my system!
We had a nice lunch in Forks (famous for all the wrong reasons) and headed over to the Makah tribal land where Cape Flattery is located.
A short 30-minute hike takes you to the viewpoint. From here you can see an island with a lighthouse, and an endless ocean beyond it.
It’s really nice out there.
Finally, on our last day in the area, we went to the Olympic National Park. There’s a lake we like, and there’s also a viewpoint we adore.
And that’s about it. Drove back to the ferry, and arrived home refreshed and happy :)
