Tuesday, July 26, 2011

July 26 – Salt Creek and Elwha Dam

The forecast was for clouds with a shower and a high of 17C so we did something close to home. Our luck with the weather is getting weirder and weirder. It was bright sunshine at the campground. As we drove to the next place it was very gloomy and dark. When we arrived, we are under a hole of bright sunshine. Driving home it was gloomy and dark again. I probably just jinxed us.

The Salt Creek Recreation Area is just next to the campground. It has big tides pools, an old gun emplacement and a campground.

We walked along the creek and then around the shoreline over the rocks to the pools. The tide was quickly coming in. At one small bay, the waves were washing right up to the cliff. We had to time our crossing between waves and then jump up the other side. We almost made it but each got wet shoes and pants. We’re not as agile as we used to be.

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We saw these on the sand beside the creek mouth. Anybody know what they are?

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On to the next point.

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We watched the tide get higher and higher until we had to leave or get trapped.

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We walked up to look at the old fort.

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Lunch in the campground overlooking the strait and Vancouver Island.

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On the drive to the next place we saw a short hike to Madison Falls. We just can’t resist a look.

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On the Elwha river near us there are two hydroelectric dams. What is interesting is that starting in September they are going to remove them, to try and restore the habitat and salmon run destroyed by the reservoirs. These are not small dams. This one, Glines Canyon Dam,  is 900 feet wide and 210 feet tall. It looks like they are currently draining the reservoirs.

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We drove farther up the road to an overlook. You can see the line of dead trees marking how far the water has gone down.

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The end of the road was the trailhead to a hike to some hot springs. We found that it was 5 miles round trip. Not going to happen as it was already about 3:30. We’ll see if we feel like it later.

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