Cape Flattery, Neah Bay and Sol Duc

Yesterday we drove to Neah Bay to fulfill another bucket list item for Mike. He wanted to reach the most northwestern  point in the lower forty-eight states. This morning we took the hike to the end of Cape Flattery. It was a nice hike. A Seattle family was out there and took a photo of us. 

We found a campsite when we arrived last night - dry, as nothing much was available otherwise. Mike says I am a glamper - meaning a glamour camper who needs cable tv, electricity and nice showers. Hey, we did five days in Denali and a couple of days in other places without those amenities. Besides, we have 400 watts of solar on the top of the van so we have electricity. We just can't run the microwave or the air conditioning.  But we don't need them, and haven't needed air conditioning since we left Minnesota. 

On our way here yesterday we took a detour to Sol Duc Falls. The falls were beautiful and we met a nice couple who are full-time rvers. They have been full timing for twelve years. Needless to say, their rv is quite a bit bigger than our van. 

Today, after we took the hike to the point, we were walking back on the trail and it started misting. So we drove into Neah Bay and visited the Makah Cultural and Research Center. This museum houses the remains of the Ozette village. The village was buried by a mud slide around 1750. It was rediscovered in the 1970s. Because it was buried in mud that hardened around the items, they were preserved in a remarkable way. The museum has been organized around the items and set up as if the visitor is seeing the village as it would operate based on the seasons. It starts with the whale and seal hunts of spring, goes into the fishing, basket and clothes making plus building seasons of summer and fall and ends in a replicated winter long house. It was one of the better museums I have visited on the trip, as it kept my interest the whole way through with the story it told. I could not take any photos in the museum so took one of the Native Makah figures outside. 

We also drove out to the fish hatchery and Mike went inside. I was tired so I took a short nap. He came back with a salmon, as the manager of the fishery was celebrating his last day on the job. He had lots of fish and gave Mike one. I guess I know what is for dinner tonight. We also took another hike on part of the Shi Shi Trail. I definitely got my steps in today.