The Savage Traveler: Washington State 3

Saturday, August 26—We got up and had a hardy breakfast before our “Hosts with the Most” drove us all the way to Port Townsend to meet John Rogers, who was house sitting in two different places for a few months. He and Barbara lived here for a few years after retirement and it remains one of his favorite places in the world. The five of us walked around the historic downtown, and in and out of quaint shops where John was sometimes recognized by name, before having lunch at the Belmont, which has been in the same spot since 1885, and again John was greeted like an old friend. We ate lunch in the hot sun on the deck overlooking the water before Oiens headed back to Tacoma. John drove us around to show more of the town and, after agreeing that we’d do the cooking while we visited, we got groceries and headed to the large home in a heavily wooded neighborhood that John was inhabiting. Amazingly and sadly, it looks like we neglected to get any pictures of the house, but it was lovely and secluded, with the main living space upstairs, and a bedroom (where we slept) and large great room downstairs, at ground level.

The architecture of this port town has been strongly influenced by the
ships which have been coming here for hundreds of years. This is
the restored Hastings Building.

The rowing club and workshop had many beautiful skiffs,
many of which were wooden and handmade.

The History of The Belmont, where we ate lunch.

The view as we drove around the upper part of Port Townsend

Sunday, August 27—Today was devoted to driving to Olympic National Park and its environs. Because John is so familiar with the area we took a circuitous, scenic route ending up at Hurricane Ridge, with its dissipating glaciers and magnificent vistas.

During a stop at the East Gate Visitors Center, we realized that this was the last day for
people to buy a $10 Lifetime Senior Pass before it went up to $80. Although Marv has two
of them, I couldn't resist the chance to support the parks at a bargain price, so I bought one too.

The Visitors Center is near the bottom of the steep drive up to Hurricane Ridge,
but it still has a really nice view across the water to Victoria on Vancouver Island, Canada.

John drives the roller coaster road up to the Ridge with Peggy beside him.

Bailey Range beyond the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center

Bailey Range and Mount Olympus
Sadly, the glaciers are shrinking here, just like everywhere else in North America.
We heard the same fears from Park Rangers that we had heard in Glacier National Park,
of the very real possibility that there will soon be no glaciers to visit and study.

John and Marv

After a long visit and a quick lunch at the Visitors Center, Marv and I took the
short hike towards the ski hill area of the park while John took a nap in the car.
You can clearly see the still barren hillside from a forest fire a few years ago.

Mountain Meadow flowers in bloom with the forest beyond.

Part of the walk was through forest area

Mountainside Selfie

We drove back to Port Angeles and to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge on the Dungeness Spit (yes, like the famous crabs). We all walked the trail out to the lookout above the spit, then Marv and I went down, down, down the steep hill to the water’s edge before going back up to return with John to the car and then back to Port Townsend.