Cape Flattery

On Wednesday, we drove  over to Cape Flattery at the tip of the peninsular.  It is the northwestern most point in the contiguous United States.  It is located on the Olympic Peninsula where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. This land is owned by the Makah Indian Tribe and you have to purchase a $10 pass to park on the land.

We stopped at the Makah Indian Museum to purchase our visitor pass.

These statues were at the entrance to the museum.

The weather was perfect for a hike!  Clear, sunny and warm.  From the parking lot, you walk 3/4 miles on a combination of cedar boardwalk and groomed earthen trail.  At least that's what the brochure said. There was a lot of up and down terrain, as well as roots and rocks to step over.

The end of the trail provides a view of waves crashing against rocky shores and Tatoosh Island, a former Makah fishing and whaling camp and more recently a Coast Guard Station.

 

This was the cedar boardwalk.  

I was hoping it went the whole length of the 3/4 mile trail.  Nope.

There were some areas that were a little muddy even though it had not rained.  I'm thankful there wasn't much of that.

  It was really pretty along the path.  Like being in a lush jungle.

There were parts of the trail that you didn't want to take you eye off the path because of the rocks and roots.

We made it out to the observation point and it was amazing!

This was our first ever look at the Pacific Ocean.

 

Lighthouse on Tatoosh Island.

We made it.......

to the northwestern most point in the contiguous United States.

It was really great to hear and see the ocean waves crashing on the islands and rocks.  Well worth the effort it took to get to this viewing point.

On our drive back, we passed through a small Indian fishing village where we saw a sign advertising  fresh smoked salmon.  We decided to stop and check it out.  We were glad we did.  That was the best salmon ever!  The owner gave us a hot sample and it was delicious.  We bought some to make salmon spread, but we also plan to eat much more smoked salmon on our journey on down the coast.

The guy was ready and willing for a picture.

These were some of the fishing boats at the marina where the fish and dungeness crab are brought in.