On the afternoon of the second day of our Olympic Peninsula vacation, we left the Hoh Rainforest and traveled up to Neah Bay to Cape Flattery. This was the one thing I wanted to do on this whole Olympic Peninsula trip, my only condition for going. I told my wife that if we were going to spend three days on the Olympic Peninsula, I wanted to do this one thing.
It takes a few hours to get there, through two-lane highways and roads that wind around. You could travel fast, but you might wind up in an accident or worse. It’s beautiful country, and a heck of a drive. It’s interesting to see how the rainforest and the coastline slam together, and it is very beautiful, rivaling, even besting, Big Sur in California.
One might think that “mile zero” would be the end of the road, but it really is just the end of the freeway. From there you’re on Federal land – the Makah Reservation. It takes a few more miles to get through town and then to where the most northwest point on the contiguous 48 states is located.
Arriving at Cape Flattery, there’s a parking lot with an outhouse style restroom. I won’t go into detail describing them, instead I’ll recommend making sure you have taken care of business well before arriving.
Instead of driving to a lookout point, there is a half mile trail to the actual point. It’s well worn, with steps though it does require a little bit of exertion and effort. Laura wanted to make it all the way, but Ciárán and Déla only make it about halfway down the trail before beginning to melt down and lose control. I had Xavier strapped to me, and August wanted to see this corner of the country, so the three of us went on while Laura took Ciárán and Déla back to the van.
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Expecting some massive land marker with clear 90 degree geographical features would be a mistake. The area where the Pacific Ocean and the Strait of Juan de Fuca meet has a jagged coastline. And it was foggy. Still, a spectacular view.
Oh, and it was scary. There is a deck constructed that is meant to be a safe lookout point, but Cape Flattery is a cliff. One small mis-step and you are dead, having plunged into the rocks and water below. It was actually a good thing that Ciárán didn’t make it all the way, as his rambunctiousness might have gotten him killed. I was afraid of dropping my camera as it was, so imagine what it would be with a 3 year old who likes to run off and climb things.
A member of the Makah tribe was there, explaining things to tourists, like the fact that people never do walk out to the island. Interestingly, she pointed out that over in “that direction” the rock you see isn’t actually a rock, it’s a whale, just hanging out. That was exciting. Also as we were looking around at the rocks, August pointed out a couple of sea stars.
Hiking back, Xavier had fallen asleep, but not before spitting up a large amount directly in the center of my shirt. This wasn’t so much of an issue, really, as that’s what parenthood is all about (bodily fluids) but him being asleep was actually problematic as I would have to wake him up in order to put him back in his bucket to drive out.
Concluding the day would be driving back to Port Angeles and finding dinnerr.