2014 Big Truck across the NW, Day 12

Day 12 started with a morning bike ride. I had seen a trail in our park called the Striped Peak trail. Since we have no cell or internet coverage, the extent of my trail research was this trailhead sign.

The first hundred yards or so were smooth, fairly wide, and I figured this would be a nice ride along the coast with some good views.

Then it started to go up. And didn't stop for 3 miles. By the top, I was sweating so bad I'm pretty sure I tasted spinal fluid. I checked the GPS to confirm my idiocy.

The payoff was this view across the Strait, which is beneath the fog.

On the way down, pretty sure my bike was smoking like Brand's in Goonies.

I rounded a corner and came into this setting.

Thanks to my wife's reading and movie watching habits, I started the internal debate on whether I would choose team Edward or team Jacob, as I was likely close to the Cullen's home (just wait, the Twilight references get worse).

When I got back to the campsite, we started the process of leaving (playground time), when I got the distinct vibe (through direct verbal communication) that the female Beute contingent needed some downtime. 11 days in and we had been quite active, so today we would dial it back a bit.

We headed into Olympic, stopping at the visitors center so Jordan could check out the animal exhibits.

We chose to drive up the Hurricane Ridge scenic drive, and we are glad we did. If you own a motorcycle, pre-pay your insurance premium, plan a trip here and ride this road.

Once at the top, we stopped in the visitors center which also had a viewing deck. I was immediately struck by this quote

from John Muir, and as I took my next step Kimberly was holding a sticker with the very same quote and shoving it into my chest saying 'this is you'. Fair enough.

Jordan picked out a book called Walk Around a Forest, and became immediately enthralled. We checked out the view, which these photos will not do the proper justice.

Jordan's book, meant to be an educational look at animal and plant life in a forest, instead transformed her into a 6.5 year old Dr. Moreau. One of her mutant creations...

A few miles further, we arrived at the Hurricane Hill trailhead.

We weren't going to do the whole thing, but the first half mile was fairly reasonable. It provided some crazy scenery.

Back near the trailhead, I caught up with this little guy, who then sized me up.

We were at about 6k feet elevation, only about 10 miles from shore. On the way down, we got this view of Port Angeles below.

Headed back to camp, Kimberly commented that one more hour of sports radio (particularly the Dan Lebatard show) and she may take matters into her own hands. Then, with the Olympic park map spread wide, she took a very different tone and asked, 'Will we be going through Forks tomorrow?'

I knew immediately something was up. There was much more than standard curiosity behind her request. Of course, it turned out that Forks is the alleged location of the teen vampire book franchise, Twilight. Awesome.

This is our final night in Salt Creek, and tomorrow officially marks the turn toward home as we head into Portland.