Even more drizzle today - no return trip to the Hoh Rain
Forest for better pictures. Heading South on 101 I stopped at the lodge
for a nice brunch and pictures. Along the way I stopped at some of the
overlooks for the beaches but again the overcast continued - some
pictures but I didn't get click happy. Ruby beach, Beaches #4 and #3
and a quick stop at the "Big Cedar" tree. The tree looked like it
started as one tree but has since had 'add-ons' such that it now looks
like five trees in one. The ride down 101 then East to Elma was straight forward with two side excursinos - Queets River Road and the Quinault River Valley. Queets held promise to be a forest road "up and about" coming back to 101 - or hopefully the Quinault River Valley road. Such was not the case and I came to a bridge over a creek that was blocked off. This would be a nice 5 to 7 mile dead ender. Most of this ride was through thick forest so it was enjoyable enough. The Quinault River Valley would turn out to be a loop. On either side of Lake Quinault the road is paved two lane as there is more population near the nice lake. Farther in the road is a gravel one to 1.5 lane. Since I did a clockwise loop the lake or river was always to my right. Not always visible but not too far away. Again, more rain forest type of scenery. One odd thing on this route was a side road - barely visible on the GPS tracks due to the thick foliage. After turning onto it the road narrowed and became a lesser used item. Then came a driveway - and another - and a possible third! What a drive to get back to a house. They seemed to be primary residence houses too. At the end of this spur was an entrace to a creek - time to stop for some pictures. Back out on 101 and nearing the stop in Elma I saw a sign for the Elma airport diner - have to check that out! Elma's airport is a single grass strip with a nuke plant close by. The diner was hopping and I enjoyed the atmosphere and meal. Over at the hostel I met Jay. He and his wife also ride cycles. I spent the evening looking through cycle accessory catalogs and watching one of his motorcycle DVD's - Iceland. A nice treat. |