After a night in Seattle (1), we headed northwest to Olympic National Park. The drive up to Deer Park Ranger Station was along a winding dirt road, along which we encountered only one other car. Deer Park is in the rain shadow of the coastal Olympic Range (2), seeing less than half the annual rainfall of nearby Mount Olympic.
As we ascended, fog was being blown about. Plan A was to climb from Deer Park to Maiden Peak. The constantly moving thick fog dissuaded us from the unfamiliar trail. The trail map at the ranger station pointed us to a much shorter hike up to Blue Mountain, complete with a nature trail describing the Alpine meadows. Lingering at the summit, blacked-capped warblers were flitting about, while we enjoyed the occasional breaks in the fog.
Towards dusk, we drove to Dungeness (3), on the Strait of Juan de Fuca (4) to enjoy the sunset. The sand spit here is reputed to be the world's longest natural sand spit at 5.5 miles. A cruise ship steamed by, bound from Seattle to Juneau.
(1) A long walk in Downtown Seattle stretched our legs after the flight from Boston. The Space Needle and adjacent monorail looked like what people thought the future would look like in 1962. Accidentally encountering the revolting gum wall near the main Pike Street market on which thousands of people had deposited their chewed gum, I longed for a gas mask.
(2) As clouds move in from the coast, the ascent up the mountains squeezes out much the moisture, making the east-facing slopes much dryer than the west-facing slopes.
(3) The small town gives its name to Dunbeness crabs.
(4) A Greek captain (Ionnas Phokas), explored the area on behalf of the Spanish King, hence the use of the Spanishized name Juan de Fuca for the Strait.
Views west from Deer Park Ranger Station
The short hike to Blue Mountain
Nothing but fog beyond the grass
Blue Mountain Summit
Views east. Puget Sound is far below
Same view 5 minutes later
Hardy grass
Beginning descent
Snarled Spruce
Extracting moisture from the air
Back at the car. There's a reason the area is called Deer Park
Descending
3 crab viewpoint
Sunset at the Dungeness sand spit
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