A cruise and a ride through the forest

The Coho Ferry that sails between Victoria and Port Angeles.

Port Angeles and snowcapped mountains of Washington State

This spuce tree along the Hoh Rain Forest Road is over 270 feet tall.

But one spectacular viewing location along the Hoh.

Another glorious day yesterday; weather mostly in the mid 30s.

The Black Ball Ferry Coho left Victoria at around 10:30 but we had to be there 90 minutes before to go through US border security; and it really took them that long to process all the passengers with their vehicles. Well it did give us motorcyclists waiting to board time to chat. The drill here, has it had been at Horseshoe Bay, is to have all motorcycle together in one spot at the front of the pack so that they can embark and also leave the ship first. I chatted for some time with two retired Ontario Harley drivers, one towing a teardrop carrier behind his bike, and his brother (turns out he'd been a real bad boy when he was young and had been convicted and done some time) who was given a bit of a hard time by the border folks before being given his permission to board the ferry. They had ridden from Ontario through the USA to visit their 90+ father in Victoria and after the one with the trailer had deposited his wife and "at least 200 lbs of luggage" -shoes said I- at the airport they were going to be riding back using a different route. I also spoke with the Director of Pacific Fleet for the Canadian Coast Guard, a BMW R1150RT owner, who was going to Seattle with his wife to see a Mariners baseball game. He had noticed the CCG t-shirt I was wearing so we talked about the coast guard.

The distance between Port Angeles and Aberdeen, where I had decided I might spend the night, is some 175 miles but, as I would find out, because the road is very twisty in parts - a good thing for bikers - it takes a fair bit more that the 3 hours or so one might think. But the scenery is unbelievable. I can see why the Michelin Road Atlas lists this route as one of its Scenic Drives in North America. While there are many clearcut areas along the route which extend right to the side of the highway, the forest in the Olympic National Park is untouched and magnificent. Trees are easily over 100' tall and the lakes and rivers that were shimmering under the sun are emerald and turquoise.

It seemed appropriate and therefore I stopped for lunch, a good seafood salad, along the highway in Forks. 15 miles later I veered left and drove into the national park along the Hoh Rain Forest Road. The road follows the winding Hoh River up to a visitor center some 12 miles upstream. the views of the river, the trees and other forest growth are beautiful. I spent a few minutes walking around on a trail at the visitor centre and chatting with one of the forest rangers who worked there.

Reversing my route I returned to Highway 1 and continued heading south. Even before I reached the part of the road that hugs the shore of the Pacific Ocean I could feel the air getting cooler. Indeed the temperature dropped by half from over 32 to 16 degrees and there was even some fog coming in off the water. I stopped and added a shirt to warm up a bit. The temperature would again climb back up to over 30 degrees when the road again moved inland after the village of Queens.

I arrived in Aberdeen around 7:00 and easily found a room at an America's Best Value Inn. It had been another great day of riding on my faithful Beemer, and of seeing wonderful things.

Today I drive down the coast; south, still further south!