Last state before home. We checked into Cape Disappointment State Park on the Olympic Peninsula. Although it being a weekend they had a few sites available – no hook-ups, but that’s fine with us. We chose a site backing onto to ocean via a short trail right next to our site – Perfect. The campground has four camping areas widely dispersed. Area A offers full HU. Area B partial, Area C no hook-up, and Area D is more open and not by the ocean. Each area has a host and washroom facility. There are several trails nearby – two of which go to a lighthouse, as well as beaches, a jetty that appeared to be a popular fishing spot, and the remnants of a historical coastal fort. Being situated where the Pacific meets the Columbia River there is a lot of boat traffic to watch. The Columbia is a major shipping channel.
We thouroughly enjoyed having a quiet beach mostly to ourselves, and saw a gorgeous sunset one evening. We hiked to both lightstations one day. The North Head light station has been very well maintained. The outbuildings are now rental units, and the lighthouse still operational offers tours. It sits on a small spit of land high above the water, and walking to it we encountered strong cold winds – this explains why there were large metal pieces with chains along the path (they must have held a rope for guidance at some point – and pulleys to offload supplies from boats). I could only imagine how one could get lost and blown off the cliff in fierce winter weather or fog.
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was not positioned to give sailors an early enough warning, hence the North Head Light station was built. The Cape lighthouse is not as well kept, but still in use. A walking trail climbs steeply up from the beach to the Lewis and Clark interpretive Center where there is a great view of the Pacific/Columbia river basin, and inside the center is educational exhibits. You can also drive up to the center. From there, another trail takes you to the Coast Guard station and road up to the lighthouse (the road is gated so you have to walk up).
On our trip to and from Ontario we have covered quite a lot of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
The last leg of our trip was to the Port Angeles area to catch the Coho ferry back to BC. The ferry runs twice daily each way, so we planned to spend a night camping nearby and catch the morning ferry. We popped into Elwha Dam RV Park and they were able to give us a very quiet spot for a night. We pre-booked the ferry (which turned out to be prudent) and next morning arrived back in BC. The Coho ferry is a great choice for those travelling with pets as they are allowed on deck – beats leaving Cedar stuck in the van for 2 hours.
