Exploring Port Angeles

Today was spent further exploring my new home, Port Angeles, WA, shown here:



My little journey is shown in the pictures below. Some background is in order, though, before you begin. PA is a little town of about 19,000 folks, making it the largest, that's right I said largest, city on the Olympic peninsula. It is the birthplace of John Elway, and recreational hub for RVers, backpackers, and Twilight characters alike. It is situated next to (and acts as the primary entrance of) the Olympic mountains and park, and lies a stones throw from Victoria, Canada.

A lot of people have asked me about the weather. Although it's drizzling as I type, the last week and a half has been invariably 70 and sunny. Typically PA gets 25 inches of rain a year to Seattle's 38, and, for comparison, Rockville, MD's 43. Don't believe me? Look it up. So that's better than expected.

Also, a bit of an update... I had coffee and met for the first time today my crew supervisor, and I WILL be able to walk to work everyday. Colin: 1 , Gas Stations: 0 . So with that, enjoy the pictures.


A Mom and Pop type of place that sufficiently replaces Wal-Mart for providing my basic necessities. It's also a 30 second walk from my apartment, which is very nice. And, they offer fresh popcorn every time you check out.


This is Webster Park, a nice little refuge from the buildings and lights. Right next to Swain's.


A patio for bands to play right in the downtown area. Sits on a waterfront promenade that trails the harbor shops and restaurants.


A look at the mountains in the distance.


A local Thai restaurant. Offers each entree in five different modes: Mild, Hot, Extra Hot, Very Hot, and Extremely Hot.


Haven't been here yet, but I really like the sign.


Along the harbor.


"The Landing". Offers a couple different places to eat, including "Downriggers" and a wine bar.











All pics of the downtown harbor area.


Being the cultural lodestar of the region, sculptures, statues, and murals can be seen all over the place, including this little gem.


The Red Lion Hotel sits alongside Hollywood Beach. Impressive names for impressive places.


A little kids workshop and learning center where they can learn about what lies in the murky depths of the Juan de Fuca Strait.





Before...


...and after complete annihilation.


The ferry that takes you across to Victoria.


Different angle of the Landing.


Little shops.


A freighter getting loaded up, probably with timber.


Some kind of federal building.














The courthouse. Hopefully I'll never get to see the inside.


Nice houses in the suburbs of the foothills.


Many of them have ships and RVs out front.


And some are very progressive. Still using an automobile though. Poser.


The local grocery store.





Remnants of an old Rayonier train. I think they sell forest products.


Tankers and freighters often sit in the harbor awaiting entry to the busy ports of the Puget Sound near Seattle. In the background on the right is a Coast Guard station. Apparently you can sometimes see them doing helicopter training in the water.


a shot of the harbor from a viewpoint alongside the main road in to town.

A Reminder

Just FYI, if you click on an individual picture, it gets bigger and MUCH clearer.

First Visit to Olympic

Olympic National Park: the land of glaciated mountain tops, stately evergreens, and crisply flowing streams. That's where I'll be working, and that's where I took a trip to for the first time yesterday.

I drove up to the visitor's center, about a mile and half from my apartment, and walked in to gather some information. I bought a topo/trail map, and strolled up to the ranger's desk. After being told that most of the trail heads and the most popular spot, Hurricane Ridge, were at least 17 miles further, I walked with resignation back to my truck... I was hoping to be able to walk to work every day.

Undeterred, I drove the rest of the way to the top of Hurricane Ridge, where a bigger visitor's center and parking lot sat. At first, the thought of such an easy drive to a very spectacular view seemed unfair. Why, when I would be willing to sweat out the hike, should just anybody be able to enjoy this without the work? Mulling this over, and staring at a pair of old coots sitting in a Jag, I decided that it was actually pretty cool that this was available for people who couldn't necessarily do the hike. There were plenty of other hikes I could have all to myself, anyway.

So, once again I entered a visitor's center, this time in hopes of finding out the best hike to get a feel for the park. I talked to a younger, fully bearded ranger, and he showed me on the map his favorite hike in the vicinity. "It's a tough one, though," he warned. I nodded in a concerned manner, secretly sporting a cocky grin in my head. I burst out the door with an extra pep in my step.

5 hours later I was ready to collapse. Totally worth it though. And I sure showed the ranger, eh?



Just entering the park.



I had to stop my truck while a family of deer took their sweet time to walk across the road. I was able to snap this photo of the last jaywalker.



Boots, backpack, map. That's it, folks.



So this was that ranger's favorite hike, the Switchback trail. He told me that it was a 1,500 foot elevation in a mile and a half, only for advanced hikers. Um, yea, I think I'll do that.



So the first leg of the hike, was from the foreground (you can see the trail in the shadows), to just below Mt. Angeles in the background.



Halfway up.







About 2/3 the way up the hike I looked up and saw what appeared to be a launched rocket. 'Course it was just a plane leaving a contrail, but the angle I had was pretty cool.



Made it to Klahhane Ridge! That's Mount Baker in the background, about 120 miles away or something like that.



That's PA down there. You can see where I live... kind of.





Lake Angeles.





So cool, it looks like a giant blanket of dark green draped over the mountains.





This is the road that I drove up to get to the visitor's center.