We are currently staying in an RV park on the edge of the Olympic Peninsula in the town of Chimacum, WA.  It’s a beautiful area, lots of trees and ferns and mild weather.

We were here a few years ago and while here we drove to the Olympic National Park Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center again.  This visitor center is high up in the interior of the peninsula with stunning views of the glaciers within the peninsula.

We got some great pictures and they do show the difference in the size of the glaciers between this visit and our visit in October of 2017.  The glaciers are much smaller.  We talked with a ranger who said yes they are receding, but it’s possible there had been an early Oct snowstorm in 2017 that might make the glaciers look bigger.  He said it would be unusual for an early October snowstorm but possible.

It was certainly warmer on this trip.  Before it was 37 at the visitor center, this trip it was in the mid-60s.

Rather than drive the whole way around the peninsula as we did before, we shortened the trip by several hours because as we continued west along the north side of the peninsula the fog got really thick and we couldn’t see more than a few yards.  The road cuts inland at the westernmost part of the peninsula but then travels along the shore again on the south side.  We didn’t want to risk any problems as it’s very isolated and we couldn’t see the views anyway, so instead we backtracked and visited the city of Port Angeles, right on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  It’s a cute little town with lots of old but well cared for homes and businesses.  It is a port and it’s also right near the Canadian border that cuts through the Strait.  We both got messages on our cell phones that we were now using Canadian towers!

The port was very pretty, we got some pictures of it as well as a few of a sea lion who came quite close to where we were on the pier and seemed to pose for pictures.

Here are pictures we took of the glaciers, the port and the sea lion: