Healy-Guttman Blog

Bo and I have been wanting to make a trip up the Olympic Peninsula all summer and we finally got our chance last weekend. Since our schedules have been so busy, we opted to leave on a Friday around noon and were back the next day by 5 PM. The amount of ground we covered and sights that we saw were impressive considering the short amount of time.

The Olympic Peninsula is an amazing collection of mountains, beaches, rainforest, lakes and wide open spaces - not to mention some of the best riding to be had in the Northwest (assuming you hit one of the rare days when it’s not raining). The weather here in mid-July was pretty decent and the forecast was promising so we played hookey on a Friday and headed up to the Port Townsend ferry. The ferry line was packed - probably an hour wait - but since we were on motorcycles we were able to skip to the front of the line and within 15 minutes, we were underway.

Winding through Port Townsend we hit Hwy 20 and then 101 North towards Sequim and Port Angeles. On a whim, we headed towards Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. We paid our $5 each at the park entrance (good for 7 days) and carved our way up some spectacular riding to the top. At the end of the road, there is a visitor’s center and some hiking possibilities. I had my riding gear on and wasn’t too excited about changing into hiking shorts (it was hot up there!) - plus we had a lot of ground to cover - but we did pause for some photos. This photo was taken by a visitor from Germany. She appreciated my BMW hat (…but I’m not sure she knew the bike was also a BMW…):

In the background is Mt. Olympus:

After a bathroom and snack break, we were winging our way down the hill towards Port Townsend and Hwy 101. It was getting on in the afternoon and we were keen on making it to Neah Bay and then Forks where we had a motel reserved. Unfortunately, summer season means road construction and after hitting Hightway 112, we had quite a delay waiting for a pilot car to guide us through a maze of road rennovation. After this delay, we were pretty lucky with a lack of traffic and entered into a long stretch of some of the best twisties since Lolo Pass last summer in Montana. We were both scraping pegs in several of the tight turns and our cheeks were sore from the constant grin plastered on our faces for over 30 miles of amazing riding. By the time we hit 113, we were both pretty tired and decided that we would go to Neah Bay the next day. …so we turned left, hit 101 again and just before Forks, we took one detour to LaPush - a little town on the coast popular with surfers. It was surreal in that we had been up to some fairly high altitudes in the Olympic National Forest and just a few hours later, we’re at the beach! The photo at the beginning of this story was taken on the beach and shows just how we felt after our first day. A few other photos from LaPush:

We headed into Forks, filled up on fuel and settled into the Forks Motel - a throwback to the ’70’s but not uncomfortable. Nearby, there was a diner that seemed popular with the locals. There was lots of logging memorabilia, a sign that said the management had every right to throw your butt out the door should they deem it necessary, a salad bar that had seen better days, a note on the menu that there was a 3 beer/wine maximum per patron (apparently a problem in this town…) and a waitress that knew everyone in the place except us.

The next morning was another great day - not a cloud in the sky! We decided that the first destination would be the Hoh Rain Forest - another Olympic National Park Wilderness destination that was about 20 miles Southwest of Forks. This was yet another great ride of “twisties” that ran along the Hoh River and through some “prehistoric” feeling rain forest. There were a lot of old growth trees that were HUGE. Here was a sitka spruce along the way:

At the visitors center we parked next to two other motorcycles - one of which was an exact duplicate of the vstrom that Bo was riding. The two women that owned the bikes were headed out and seemed to be on a similar journey. Since we still wanted to hit Neah Bay and Cape Flattery, we did an abbreviated hike around the visitors center. One more photo and we were off:

Since it was Saturday, we found the roads to be more congested but a quick twist of the throttle would send us catapulting ahead of most obstacles in a flash. Bo is a great partner on a ride like this since his pace matched mine. We were a good team. We wound back through Forks on 101 and hit 112 towards Clallum Bay. There was a parade going on in Clallum Bay so we cautiously road past hundreds of kids, bicycles and the largest collection of local cops I had ever seen. The ride from there to Sekiu and then on to Neah Bay was nothing short of fantatic. The road is another set of twisties following the sound full of stellar water views, coastal pines and that salt water smell. I was a bit confused as we got into Neah Bay as all I saw were big signs about “Makah Nation”. The Makah tribe seems to be proud of their heritage and their territory is a fairly large one on this NW tip of the peninsula. I’m guessing Neah Bay was not the traditional name of this area…

After we passed through town, there was a sign pointing towards Cape Flattery. We followed what turned into a dusty gravel road for about 6 miles and hit a small parking lot and trailhead. We parked the bikes and headed down a very nice - and somewhat crowded - trail towards the most northwestern point in the lower United States. At the end, we were met with the most breathtaking view of the Pacific Coast that I’ve ever seen. You can’t really see it in the foillowing pictures, but I highly recommend you visit this place!

You can see the lightihouse on Tatoosh Island in the background:

By now it was a little past lunchtime and Bo and I were famished. The closest restaurant was back in Neah Bay called Beebe’s Cafe. There was one truck in the parking lot with a view out to the bay and an impressive marina. The truck’s license plate was “Makah” and the only two patrons in the cafe (and presumably the owners of the truck) had “Makah Nation” hats and gave us an odd look when we walked in the door. However the waitress was quick to put us at ease and we warily ordered a vege burger and the special (Halibut and chips). …yep - vege burgers - they had them! I have to admit my expectations were low based on the ratty tables and chairs and the fact that there were only two other diners - but I have to say that the food was great! My vege burger was decent enough, but Bo’s halibut chips were some of the best I had ever tasted. What a pleasant surprise.

In order to catch the 4:15 ferry, we had to hussle all the way back. We had another great session with the Hwy 112 twisties and a slow grind through weekend traffic in Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend. There seemed to be a lot of car shows going on as every other car we passed was pre-60’s. Again, the motorcycles proved to be a great asset with the ferry system so we vaulted to the front of the line and were putting the bikes away in the garage at home around 5 PM. The odometer showed just under 500 miles - phew!