It’s a warm summers day in Seattle as we were heading to the Olympic Mountains, armed with our camping gear and the tent we left Kent and drove to the Ferry Pier to catch the ferry to Bainbridge Island.
Arriving at the pier we just missed the ferry and had to wait for the next ferry to arrive. Behind us pulled up a 1956 Studebaker. Jerry the proud owner is a retired accountant from Sequim and he restored the Studebaker. Studebaker closed down in 1963 (more info visit their wiki).
Marius and Jerry got into a detailed conversation about tires and engines, the Studebaker still had its original engine that works on a float carburettor.
The Washington State Ferries (WSF) is huge and extremely well organized with parking, restaurants and vending machines. Theunis is standing on the top deck, and as you can see the ferry we are on requires some maintenance and a new coat of paint. The top floor is a concrete slab and the pure weight of this massive beast makes it extremely stable even in the worst weather conditions.
As we head over to Bainbridge Island it becomes really chilly over the water.
From the ferry passengers gets an incredible view of Seattle and you can see the Ferris wheel and Space Needle. In the photo below you also get a great view of Mount Rainier.
On our way to Sequim, we stop at Safeway (Food market) to pick up salads for lunch and discovered that we have no spoons. Too lazy to go back into the Safeway we decided to find a camping store and get some Sporks (A fork and spoon in one), so after driving another 9 miles back south for that we end up at Sportsman Warehouse. They have an incredible selection of camping gear, guns, sweets and clothes. So an hour later armed with our sporks, a red neck cap for me and new tent pens for Marius we head out to Sequim.
We pitched our tent (Marius with a Starbucks Frappuccino, Cherries and a breakfast bar) the first night in the Dungeness County Park located right on the Salish Sea. The Dungeness Recreation Area is known as the portal to the Dungeness Spit, the Dungeness Spit is a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) long sand spit jutting out from the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula in northeastern Clallam County, Washington, USA, into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
We started heading out along the spit towards the lighthouse, a cold wind licked at our unprotected bodies, while seagulls lined the beach in front of us, too cold and lethargic to clear the way.
Wind in our ears and about 2 miles in on our 5-mile journey we decided to head back, the picture below on 300mm zoom shows the New Dungeness lighthouse still far away.
Just south of Port Angeles the road leads you into the Olympic State Park and Hurricane Ridge. The snow-capped mountains are spectacular against the contrasting green fields and blue sky.
Once you reach Hurricane Ridge the view of Mount Olympus is amazing and the air is cool, it was still a hot summer day and the sun beating down on our skin. The picturesque scene gives that feeling that Heidi and Peter should be running around or that the hills will suddenly break out in the Sound of Music.
From mountains to lakes, Washington state has the most diverse fauna and flora. From Port Angeles we head north and higher up into the peninsula, passing Lake Crescent approximately 17 miles west of Port Angeles you cannot help but notice the brilliant blue waters that Lake Crescent is known for and it’s exceptional clarity which is caused by a lack of nitrogen in the water which inhibits the growth of algae.
