Rain and more rain

When I asked people about the Pacific Northwest, overcast and rainy were the answers most of the time, and sure enough, the area has lived up to its reputation.
We are having a great time.
We took it easy this Saturday morning after we decided to deviate from our original plan.
Since the entrance to the Olympic National Forest and Hurricane Ridge was so close to where we were staying, we decided to see what we could see. On a clear day, as the locals tell it, you would have beautiful views of mountain peaks and huge expanses of forest. Today, however, it is totally
socked in and, yes, raining.

Arriving at the visitor center on top of the mountain, or at least as far as you could drive, we watched a great movie about the environment here and a bit about how it came about.
Then one of the rangers gave a great presentation on the demolition of two dams, which were both 100 years old and had exceeded their lifespan by 50 years; they are the Elwha Dam and the Glines Canyon Dam.  After only a year of the Elwha Dam being demolished, the Chinook have begun to find their way back up a river previously cutoff to their migrations for 100 years!  The ecosystem of bears and eagles near the river and sea life at the mouth where a century of dammed silt now spills into the Strait of Juan de Fuca is now reviving.  This is the only example in the US of deconstructing a dam; it is having miraculous results and the scant 26 MW of electrical power 'lost' is more than replaced by the Bonneville Power line.

Driving down the mountain, we went back to Port Angeles and visited the harbour all the while it was raining and the Farmers' market, which was under cover. I guess everyone here is used to it. Our special find at the market was the chanterelle mushrooms at $10/lb!  They were delicious sauteed in butter (first Patricia has had in years).

My stomach told me it was getting close to 2pm, so at Diana's suggestion, we went to Lake Crescent Lodge; what a great place, great lunch, and we got there just in time before a big rush. One more stop for tea and strawberry rhubarb pie at a 'home cooking' roadside cafe and then back to our cozy little house on the bluff.

A conversation with Diana over sauteed mushrooms, salad and cauliflower soup revealed that she is the author of a wonderful book (in addition to being a free lance science writer) written during a year's sabbatical in Australia. Inside Out Down Under (Diana Somerville), Stories from a Spiritual Sabbatical.  Early night tonight.