Olympic National Park

Spent the day touring the Port Angeles, Sequim (pronounced skwim) area. Most of ONP is a temperate rain forest. Temperate is a relative term, as I have been freezing to death the whole time we've been here. The fog burns off and the sun comes out about noon and it warms up to almost 70. By 3:00 the fog is rolling in again. Last night is was a balmy 48 degrees in our campsite when we went to bed. I slept in pj's, socks, a long-sleeved T, and a hooded sweatshirt. Cozy!

Olympic Mountain Range

The snow lasts until August

The white thing is a glacier.

The Olympic peninsula has the clearest, bluest skies you've ever seen. Although there is a web of fog covering everything most of the day, when the sun dries the mist the air is crisp, cool, and clean. From the top of Hurricane Ridge you can see across Juan de Fuca all the way to Victoria. The mountains look like the pictures of Switzerland. Parts of the peninsula, like Sequim, get only 14 inches of rain a year. Other parts just a few miles away get 14 feet a year!

After the morning at ONP, we traveled back through Squim to see the museum of the Jamestown Band of S'Clallam Indians. They have a beautiful building on one side of 101 that houses the museum, and a casino on the other side of 101. Skipping the casino (we've still got our $375 from Seven Feathers), we headed for the museum, which was a huge disappointment. There were a few artifacts, but most of it was a gigantic gift shop selling the same imported crapola you see everywhere. We did catch the tail end of a tour and learned that the S'Clallam are "strong people".  According to one legend, twS'Clallam men were strong enough to lift a huge log from the ocean. You would have to be strong to live here without central heating, believe me.  

Tomorrow we're going to move on to the western part of the peninsula - Clallam or Neah Bay - and I'm not sure how long we're staying. It's pretty remote, and internet may be a challenge. What we do may depend on the weather. Although we've loved it here and will be sad to leave, I'm ready for some warmth.