Whale Watch Cruise

We take a day trip up to Port Townsend for a whale watching cruise with Puget Sound Express.  Our ship leaves the harbor and starts searching for whales (all the whale watching cruises in the Sound communicate with each other to spot whales and help everybody have a productive trip).

We leave the harbor and head south into Puget Sound, passing through a fog bank and emerging into a sunny day on the Sound.

Leaving the harbor, through the fog

We first spot a humpback whale, but this creature is not very welcoming, just coming to the surface every ten minutes or so and then immediately diving again.  Humpbacks are known for breaching and great surface behavior, none of which we see today.  They migrate as much as 10,000 miles (16,000 km) to tropical waters to breed and give birth, so maybe our whale is tired after coming back from a tropical vacation.

Humpback whale

Further down the Sound, we spot three pods of orcas.  Orcas (also known as killer whales) generally travel in small groups of two to six animals and eat salmon and mammals, incuding harbor seals, minke whales, and gray whale calves.  We follow the Orcas for a while as they cruise along the coast.

Pods of orcas

On our way back to Port Townsend, we hear reports of a gray whale and head in that direction.  Even after travelling from Baja, Mexico up to Seattle our gray whale today is energetic and gives us a good show with big blows at the surface and several dives showing off its tale.

Gray whale

What a great day on the water!  And, three kinds of whales!

Lower Lena Lake

The hike from the trailhead to Lower Lena Lake, in the Olympic National Forest, is 7.2 miles (11.6 km) roundtrip, with an elevation gain of about 1,300 feet (396 meters).  The path is wide and switchbacks gently at first, then a little more steeply, uphill through old- and second-growth forest to a large lake (Lower Lena Lake) surrounded by huge old-growth fir trees.

Path starts up

After the first few switchbacks, we gain enough elevation to see nearby peaks, some covered in snow.

Nearby peaks

The trail continues

We cross several small streams with narrow bridges stretching over them.  Smaller streams run across the trail and we hop from rock to rock to keep our shoes dry and avoid the mud.

Bridges

Small streams

After a few hours, we start to get glimpses of Lower Lena Lake and reach a fork in the trail, with the right fork descending to Lower Lena Lake and the left fork coninuing on for another few miles to Upper Lena Lake (much higher on the mountain). 

Glimpses of the lake

The trail comes out on a rocky bluff overlooking the lake and we stop to admire the view before descending to the water.

Overlooking the lake

Old-growth trees

At the shore of the lake, we stop for lunch and then wander a ways around the lake.  Several other hikers are swimming or relaxing in the water, many of them are spending the night camping on the shore.

On the beach

We're not staying, so we start back down the trail, meeting many individuals, families, and groups hiking up in the afternoon to spend the night.  We're truly impressed by some of the large trees that have fallen across the trail and been cut through to allow our passage.

Starting back down

Fallen trunks

The trail continues down

Another big trunk

On our way back home from the hike, we stop at the Hamma Hamma Oyster Company, on the Hood Canal at the edge of the national forest, to purchase fresh oysters for dinner.

Oyster shells

Dining at Hamma Hamma

Grilling our own at home

Lower Lena Lake is a great hike for people of all levels and a good introduction to hiking in the Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park near our home (Upper Lena Lake is more strenous and challenging - another time).  Now to plan some more hikes!

Griffiths- Priday State Park and Ocean City State Park

Our last two stops on our way home from the Olympic National Park in Washington are state parks on the Pacific Ocean:  Griffiths-Priday and Ocean City.  Griffiths-Priday State Park is a day-use park with both river and ocean recreation.  The Copalis National Wildlife Refuge and Copalis Split Natural Area in the park are great spots for viewing migratory birds.  The river and ocean offer both fresh water and saltwater fishing and clamming.  We follow the river to the ocean and stroll on the sandy beach.

Along the river

To the Pacific Ocean

And sandy beaches

Since we're not fishing or clamming today and have about another 3 hours of driving ahead of us, we wander back to our car and continue to Ocean City State Park, where another walk along a creek leads us to more fabulous beaches and the associated fishing and clamming.

Path to the beach

Getting close

Viewing spot

We reach a small lagoon, with the beach on the other side, but have another 15-20 minute hike around the lagoon before reaching the sand.

Continuing around a small lagoon

Finally the beach

Fog forms over the ocean and quickly  drifts onto the beach as we stand near the water and are surrounded.

Fog rolls in

As we cross the beach back to the path, we find many crab and clam shells, signs that the birds have been eating well.

Shells on the beach

Drifting sand

We return from the beach and continue our drive home.

Return path

On the road just past the park, we pass an outdoor store of carved wooden figures.  What an odd surprise, although we do remember that this area certainly has a lot of wood and this is a great creative use of it.

Carved wood store

These are two great small parks and we're glad we stopped as we went by (eating our lunch at a picnic table in Ocean City).