I was picked up at 7:50am.
Took the 8:55 Bainbridge Ferry out of downtown. 2 ferry boats here, so slightly more frequent than Edmonds-Kingston Ferry.
Thick coulds in Seattle, but Olympic Peninsular is sunny, snowy mountains ahead.
Our first stop is a little over 1 mile north of the ferry dock, to visit Pia the Peace Maker.
She's #122 of Thomas Dambo's giant trolls.
Like his other trolls in the area, Pia is adorable.
Quite a lot of people come to see her.
Mount Townsend is one of my favorite hikes on this side of the sound.
Easy (~2200' EG), with fabulous views all around.
Last time I came here is also Thanksgiving weekend.
The TH parking was windy and cold.
Oddly, the summit was warmer, and calm, which allowed us to enjoy the view.
Staying in Port Angeles for the night. ~2 hours drive. Headed to the pier first (it's not yet 6pm). Tied a turkey wing to the crab net, and tossed it to the dark water. Got 3 crabs in the first throw, 2 in the 2nd. They are all red crabs. Kept the biggest in both rounds. Untied the turkey wing, and toss it with the small crabs back to the ocean.
Dinner is excellent. The turkey is well flavored, and not dry. I also like the stuffing. The store-bought gravy is not good. Microwaved the 2 crabs. They are very tender. Didn't need to use any tool to break the claws. Clean-up took some time. Threw the bones and shells outside. Cut out the bones for hopefully another crabbing on the way back. Put the meat in a ziplock bag to make sandwich later.
I read maybe 2 pages of my library book, and fell asleep.
11/24, Black Friday. got an SMS from O.K. about Alaska Airline's one-day only BOGO sale. Couldn't think of where to go in the short time while we drove out of cell coverage. Heading to Rialto Beach directly. ~1.5 hour drive.
Ate an early lunch aboce the parking lot, looking at the waves. Today, the high tide is around 9:40am (9.9') and low tide is around 4:20pm.
We started hiking shortly after noon, with a bear can (stupid requirement of the wilderness camping in Olympic National Park).
I took over logs to cross Ellen Creek, my partner hopped over on the beach.
On our way back, this "beach" no longer exists.
Apart from Ellen Creek, there's no big water source.
There are small trickles here and there.
Wildnerness camping is north of this creek only.
All along, very scenic, especially near Hole In the Wall - on my camping permit.
Interesting dead logs, beautiful sea stacks with trees and/or birds on them.
Crossing Hole In The Wall has 2 options.
There's an established trail over the hill to top of the shoulder of the rock (that's how we walked out).
Can also go through the hole in low tide.
It was about 12:30, and we walked through. Fun aside, I got my right food wet.
Found a good water source next to (south of) a big head rock. Pitched the tent on its north side, into the trees (higher ground). This area is very pretty, overlooking with sandy beach.
At ~2pm, we walked north to look for the Chilean Memorial.
It's very pretty all along, but instead of easy walking beach, it's more of a pebble beach, or corals, often covered with slippery seaweed.
So slow going.
The tide is low, and we need the low tide to go there and come back.
Took some time to look for the small memorial. It was 3:30pm.
In memory of the officers and crew of schooner W.J. Pirrie who lost their lives in the wreck of this vessel Nov. 26. 1920.
Headed back as the sun was dipping lower. Didn't want to handle slippery rocks in the dark. Sunset is around 4:30pm.
Got back to camp in the dark.
Went to our water source (the south side of the big rock) to cook dinner and wash up. There are logs to sit on. Left the bear can and cooking stove there, just returned with my Hellinox chair to the camp.
The 92% moon ruined the night sky. Finished reading my little library book in tent. The sound of the wave is alarmingly loud. Slept well. 0F bag is warm. I got out to pee around 4pm, it wasn't too cold. The moon finally set, the night sky was studded with stars.
11/25, Saturday.
I got up early, and headed to our "kitchen" by the beach.
The shoreline is not dangerously close to the big rock.
I decided to scramble up the slope to scout a rock over the rock.
Made a mistake of leaving the chair and a titanium cup at the edge of hill.
Took me awhile, couldn't find a good way to descend.
Back at the camp, my partner had already packed up everything (thank you).
We were worried about the rising tide, but didn't want to wait till the afternoon, decided to hike out.
At the big rock, my chair and cup were gone, claimed by the wave.
We ran around the rock.
The bear can and stove were still there, however, were definitely hit by the wave, toppled over, all sandy.
Without the logs, they would probably be gone too.
I took to the hills, very steep at times. The worst is that it's very overgrown. My progress is very slow.
I got so many scratches despite of wearing long sleeves and long pants.
I headed back down to the beach just north of Hole In The Wall, and took the establised overpass.
That was easy.
At the south end, among the logs, I found a wallet, with many plastic inside.
From then on, I stayed more or less close to the what's left of the beach.
It's an endless obstacle course with all the drift logs, slippery (wet).
Quite a few times, I waited for the big wave, and then ran around rocks.
It was adventurous.
The waves are fun to watch, but menacing for hikers.
Ellen Creek is a pond and jumbo of logs. All the sandy beach is in water now.
I met 1 yellow tent and a guy just south of Hole In The Wall.
A couple watching waves next to their tent, and then a couple watching waves away from their tent.
I asked them if anyone lost a wallet.
Less than 0.5 mile from the parking lot, I was hit by the wave, twice, at the same spot within a few minute from each other.
The 2nd time, the water came over my head.
It was just too narrow between the water and the steep hill, that I had no where to go.
Now, I got upset, took my phone out of my wet pant pocket, worried that I lost all my photos.
Got to the parking lot dripping...
I changed into my sleeping clothes, wrung water out of my shirt, pants, and socks. Thankfully, stuff in my pack was still dry, and my phone didn't die. I used my dry towel to wipe things. It turns out that my partner got swept into the ocean at one point, probably the same spot where I was drenched. The power of the nature!
We continued our plan, driving to Elwah Valley, hoping to visit the hot spring.
The road is gated at Madison Falls trailhead.
It's a pretty waterfall. Odd, I'd never visited this one.
We were discouraged by the 10 mile walk.
Decided to drive to Hurricane Ridge for the sunset, and hand over the wallet to the visitor center there at the gate.
People were very chatty at the visitor center. Even seeing that I was waiting, none of the 2 rangers were in a hurry. One of them took the wallet I found. It has a girl's driver's license. Hope they have means of contacting her.
Hurricane Ridge is one of the prettiest parking lot in WA.
The view of so many peaks to the south.
We walked up to the top of the ski lift (never saw it running) to see the north side, Mt Angles, and all the way to Canada.
Not too many people at this time, because the gate below locks at 5pm
We drove to Bainbridge Island ferry.
The highway sign said that it's an hour wait, while Kingston ferry is 1.5 hour wait.
We probably didn't wait 1 hour.
Coming to Seattle downtown at night from the water is a treat, with all the lights.
I was dropped off at home.
Thus concluded the adventurous trip, cut short by 1 day.
