Road Trip, Day 5: Olympic National Park/Neah Bay & Cape Flattery

Day 3 in Olympic brought us to visit the Northwest corner of Olympic and everything on the way back to Port Angeles.

The Pacific Northwest is one of the big logging areas of the US - a fact that I had forgotten. Both Washington and Oregon have regulations that make sure that once trees get chopped down, replacements are planted. Signs are posted nearby saying "planted 1983, thinned, 1995, harvested, 2050" or something like that. Pretty fascinating to someone new to area. And there are all these trucks driving around:

But I digress. We started at Marymere Falls, a 90' waterfall that was merely a trickle in comparison to some other waterfalls seen on this trip. Nevertheless, it was still beautiful:

Along the way, we still marveled at the crystal clear waters of Lake Crescent:

And the beautiful, peaceful woods:

We saw blueberries (but did not sample):

Next, we headed to Sol Duc Falls - a recommendation from LF. On our way, we encountered a petulant child who complained that he was not impressed with the falls. After finding Marymere a trickle, I was preparing myself for a light waterfall. I don't know what was wrong with this kid, because when we got there - we found the Sol Duc Falls rip-roarin' away:

That kid must've had crazy expectations. We headed back and got on the road to Neah Bay/Cape Flattery. A LF recommendation, though it is outside the National Park, she highly recommended it. It is at the very Northwest tip of the state, on the Makah Indian reservation. Definitely well worth the drive and the hike:

Tatoosh Island:

We then headed back into Neah Bay itself, because we had seen a sign for Indian Fry Bread, and we simply couldn't resist. It was in this little shop on the bay, and Pat (proprietor of Pat's Place) was a character. He promised the best fry bread and he certainly delivered. It was incredibly yummy and worth it.

 

We stopped at one more waterfall, Madison Falls near Elwha - a decent waterfall backed by lush greenery:

Because of the lateness of the day, we headed back to Port Angeles for the night, to plan our remaining time in Olympic and plans for North Cascades National Park.

Pictures from Olympic here.

Pictures from the entire trip here.