Living on the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington is not only a pleasure but it is an unique experience! We are located near a major rainforest, the Hoh Rain Forest. It is located about thirty miles or so south and east of Forks, Washington, where my wife and I have lived for many years. What this does is put us in a place that gets a lot of rain each year. Not everyone can survive the area as a place to live just for that reason. In 1997, an all time rainfall high, gave us about 163 inches, in 1998 we only got 135 inches. That was still about 10 inches more than average.
My wife moved to this area about 1962 coming from Oakland, Califorinia, what a contrast! I moved here in 1968 after coming back from a year on a crab boat in Kodiak, Alaska. I was raised in the foothills of Mount Rainier in the small logging and mill town of Mineral, so the weather change for me wasn't quite as drastic. We met shortly after I moved here and we got married in 1969. We both love the outdoors and the activities that go with it so this was an ideal place for us to stay. I worked in the shingle mills in the area and she was and still is working in accounting and/or office work. I should add here that in order to live here and enjoy what the peninsula has to offer you have to get past the idea of over 120 inches of rain each year! I suppose for those who were born here and lived here all their lives there probably isn't anything to get use to, it is just part of life.
We refer to Forks as being the hub of the outdoor activities on the peninsula, that is if you don't mind the hub not being quite in the middle. You see, from Forks it is only a 20 minute drive going west to get to LaPush an Indian village where we launch our boat for salmon and bottom fishing. At LaPush there is a river, the Quileyute, this is why we can launch our boat there. There are three popular beaches for camping and hiking there also. Across the river in Olympic National Park is another popular place named Rialto Beach. On the other hand it is an hour and a half driving north on highway 101 from Forks to Hurricane Ridge which is a short drive out of Port Angeles, Washington. This is where winter skiing is available, not to mention the beautiful scenery. Also on clear days you can see Victoria, B.C. and Mount Baker in the Cascade Mountains on the way up or down from the ridge. Back in Forks once again, you can drive south on highway 101 for twelve miles, turn east for another 19 miles and you are at the Hoh Rain Forest. There you will find hiking trails through the very impressive forest! Coming back to highway 101 you can continue south for another 25 miles or so and you will be back to the ocean at Kalaloch Beach. There is a large campground there as well as a lot of cabins with a big old lodge. We use to dig razor clams there. Finally driving north from Forks on highway 101 for 12 miles you turn to go to Clallam Bay and Sekiu. That's another 18 miles and both are located right on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This is also a good salmon fishing area.. From there you can drive 20 miles west and you will be in Neah Bay, located only 8 miles from where the Pacific Ocean and the Strait of Juan de Fuca meet. This drive although on a windy road is also very scenic because it follows the shoreline all the way. This is another choice salmon and bottom fishing area. Elk and deer hunting is also done here as well as steelhead, trout and salmon in the rivers. There are about six or eight rivers, most are accessible by either boat, and of course, all on foot. So you can see that any activity you are interested in is here and not too far away!
I do have to admit though that the only thing that hasn't changed over the years is the weather. But as far as the fishing goes and harvesting of shellfish, that is another story. The seasons are short and the quotas are small and sometimes are there is none at all . This makes it tough on people who enjoy or rely on these activities. The other major change is the logging industry. It has been reduced dramatically compared to the earlier years. Also the mills have pretty much gone to the wayside. There are a few but nothing like there were years ago. There still is some logging and mill work but a lot of the people now work in the prisons or government jobs and in recent years the businesses have been trying to bring in more tourists to the area. Then there have been the folks that chose to or had to leave to find new jobs. The people who really want to live here will find a way to get by!
In spite of the down side of the things I've mentioned the Olympic Peninsula is still a great place to live. Consider this, yes, we get rain but that helps provide the beauty and uniqueness of the area. Flooding is out because we have great drainage. Sure there are minor flooding situations but nothing like the floods we have seen on TV. We get high winds every winter but no hurricanes and tornadoes that we also view with regularity on TV. And we don't get enough snow to even begin to compete with the mid west and north east part of the U.S. That leaves earthquakes, yes we are in an earthquake area but we haven't had a damaging earthquake in Western Washington in over twenty years and they didn't affect this area!
One other thing makes this a great place for us to live. We have been able to take a lot of people salmon and bottom fishing on the ocean, view the scenery at Hurricane Ridge, walk on the beaches and scenic walks in the rain forest. I'll tell you that puts us high on the list of fun places to visit. It takes more than one visit to see it all and we have tried to take every guest, whether it be family or friends, to every one of them! In the past thirty years we have made many trips to the places I've mentioned here plus others that slip my memory right now. We never tire of the role of tour guides! Now we are looking forward to Helen's retirement and to continue to enjoy this paradise in our own back yard!