7-9 July

Route: Portland-Kelso-Astoria-Southbend-Westpoint SP-Aberdeen-Quinault-Queets-Hoh Rainforest, Olympic NP-Forks-Cape Flattery-Port Angeles-Port Townsend

Following the mighty Columbia River, which forms the border between Oregon and Washington. We cross at Portland, where it makes a big curve, before emptying into the Pacific. The scenery along the road is very similar to Oregon, with plenty of sweet smelling purple & white wild sweet peas, yellow & white daisies and plenty of other varieties of spring blooms, growing along the pavements.

The coastline is very different though. Large tidal flats or estuaries, I am not quiet sure what they would be called, flood large areas along the coast. It is not until Southbend that we get to see the breakers and even here, due to a sandbank off the coast, they break a distance out at sea. We pass a number of wildlife refuges where Columbian White tail deer & Roosevelt Elk occur, but we see neither. Along the mudflats we see a number of large twig nests belonging to Osprey. We did see Caspian terns, but I am sure at the right time of day/year, these areas will team with birdlife. Oysters & Razor clams are farmed in the shallow water of these bays…….we know what Uli & Anka would have been eating for lunch, if they were here.

We took a long walk through magnificent mixed grasslands, down to the charcoal coloured beach and dipped our toes into the water. Actually it was warmer than expected or maybe we are becoming acclimatized.

Heading ever north, the road hugs the coastline and tidal sloughs (apparently what they are called). We wish it was the right season for the migratory birds, these areas must be perfect habitat. From Quinault we start seeing signs for the massive Olympic NP. There are no through or linking roads in the park, so all access is from the perimeter. We visit a Salmon hatchery, one of 54 that rear salmon for release back into the wild. You are free to wander through the facility and ask staff questions. We were fortunate that they were mass marking fish while we were there. This involves pumping the fish from the ponds to a mobile trailer/laboratory, where they are anaesthetized; the adiposal fin is cut off, before being returned to fresh water to recover. This acts as a marker to fisherman as they have to return wild unmarked fish. Earlier in the day they had been tagging fish. A minute metal tag ( 1.1mm x 0.25 mm wire, with 2 rows of unique numbers) is hypodermically inserted into the brow of the fish, the entire process is automated. (I have included an article I did for the conservancy, if anyone needs more details)

Chatting to the head Aquaculturalist, he recommended we walk a section of the Hoh rainforest trail, as it allows a look at one of the last patches of old growth rain forest along the coast. So its Hoh campsite, in the Olympic NP for the night.

Hoh receives more than 3.5m of rain each year, that’s beside the fog that rolls in most days. Massive Sitka Spruce & Douglas Fir grow in this lush forest, filled with all sorts of moss, lichens, epiphytes and fungi. At this time of the year it is beautiful but dry, it must have a very different look when everything is dripping wet.

Today, we take a detour, which ends up taking a lot longer than we anticipated, to Cape Flattery, the most western point of continental North America. The path leads you to a spit of land that juts into the ocean. The high cliffs have been undermined to form sea caves.

Nutrient rich water wells to the surface, making this a haven for sea life. We also got to see our first Bald Eagles on route here, an adult and sub adult soaring along the coast. We arrived late in Port Townsend, being so late and a Friday, which we hadn’t realized, we end up sleeping ‘up market in a hotel for the night!