We left the Port Townsend area and headed west to Salt Creek Recreation Area. We were last here in 2014. Somehow back then we missed the WW II bunkers at Camp Hayden (built 1942-5). You can actually drive your car through the bunker! Camp Hayden was used during World War II as a harbor defense military base. The two concrete bunkers housed 16-inch guns and several smaller bunkers.
The huge guns were 45 feet long and shot one-ton projectiles 28 miles.
The guns were only fired for practice. While in the area we found several geocaches.
From our campsite at Salt Creek Recreation Area we had a beautiful panoramic view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Crescent Bay and Vancouver Island, Canada (British Columbia). Our front window gave us views of cruise ships and barges passing by until the fog rolled in each day during the evenings.
The international boundary between the United States and Canada runs down the center of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
On Saturday we drove to nearby Port Angeles to meet a friend of Bill’s who now lives in Washington state. Her family went to the same church as Bill in the 1980’s. We had a lovely lunch and introduced her to geocaching.
We saw this wall mural of a old car ferry. Port Angeles has regular ferry service to Victoria, Canada.
While in the area Bill and I went to the Olympic National Park Visitors Center and drove up to Hurricane Ridge. Due to clouds and haze the view of the glaciers clad mountains was not as good as it was when we were here in 2014.
Hurricane Ridge, at 5,242 feet is the most easily accessed mountain area in Olympic National Park.
Hurricane Ridge got its name from the intense wind often experienced in the area. While we were there it was a nice 70 degrees with light winds. We saw a few deer lounging around.
On Tuesday we drove once again into Olympic National Park along the picturesque Crescent Lake.
Our main purpose was to hike to two waterfalls. The first waterfall was the Marymere Falls, a beautiful 90 foot waterfall we accessed along a one mile walk through the forest.
We then drove to the next waterfall and hiked another mile to the Sol Duc Falls which splits into four channels as it cascades 48 feet into a narrow, rocky canyon.
It was a wonderful day and we got in almost four and a half miles of hiking.
Next stop: Clallam Bay, Washington