JACT Harley Ride to Olympic Ntl Park

We are working our way up to a big motorcycle road trip someday, but in the meantime, we will practice on long weekends! Last year we rode for our first overnight Harley adventure to Twisp, WA, traveling thru the North Cascades Ntl Park. This year we chose Olympic Ntl Park traveling South to Port Angeles. We took Friday, June 12th off & hoped for good weather. Well, western WA is nick-named the “wet side” for a reason!

1 hr 15 min ride to Edmonds Ferry Terminal

The sun & Lady Luck did shine down on us for our first day of the trip, & having checked the weather app, we made the most of it. I refused to ride on I-5, so we took backroads to the Edmonds Ferry, where we’ve learned to bypass all the waiting cars to ride our bikes to the front of the line! I always feel apprehensive, like someone is going to scream at us out their window for cutting. I forget that we are supposedly the “scary bikers” that others shouldn’t mess with! LOL

Knowing we had only one day of blue skies, we decided to make the most of it by visiting Hurricane Ridge. We rode off the ferry & beelined to Olympic National Park, which was designated in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt. It was a fun road on the bikes with twists, turns & spectacular views as we climbed 5,242 feet! The visitor center on top has lots of parking, so you can spend the day hiking or snow shooing, depending on the time of year.

Cara’s 2017 Iron 883 Sportster overlooking the Olympic Mountains

We arrived around 4pm & the weather was beginning to change quickly. I’ve never ridden in the rain or wind, so I felt nervous about getting caught out. We promptly walked thru the visitor center, took a few pictures of the Olympic Mountains & the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then explored a 10-minute path by the parking lot. A dozen little black-tailed deer were grazing in the meadow, very unconcerned about the humans gawking at them. Click the YouTube video link to see how up close & personal you can get, but please always remember NOT to ever feed any wildlife!

Our focus for this adventure was more about the ride than the Park - this time :-) The Park has a lot to offer, to be sure, & we planned to ride to Rialto Beach the next day, but the weather didn’t allow us. Crazy to think that NorthEast of the Park, the land needs to be irrigated because the mountain creates a rainshadow where less than 20” of rain falls annually. However, just on the other side is a rain forest receiving 140”-180” of precipitation each year!

James 2020 Harley Street Glide overlooking the rainshadow

We rode another hour down & out of the park to check in at the Olympic Peninsula Port Angeles KOA. We unpacked our sleeping bags, pillows, camp chairs, sweats, & coffee kits - all of which fit easily into our saddlebags. My bags are a lot smaller than James’s, so I added a back rack this year & strapped on a dry sack to carry my sleeping bag & clothes.

Of course, we didn’t have room for groceries, so we went shopping at the KOA store. We are both super easy to please & were content to buy hot dogs, buns, pretzels & beer for our first night at camp! We checked the weather & made our plans for the next day’s adventure. I wanted to visit the Hole-in-the-Wall sea arch when the tide was out, but that was too early Saturday morning, so we opted to ride out to Neah Bay.

We slept in then lazily drank our coffee at camp. We decided to slip rain pants on over our jeans for the ride, although it wasn’t raining yet - there was a 70% chance later! We rode to Port Angeles for breakfast, then headed west toward Neah Bay. We had the road to ourselves, only seeing one other car, which worked great for me as the mist-filled air wet the pavement. I decided to snail along about 10 under the highway speed until I was sure of my traction. Turns out, there was a reason for no traffic!

Road closed! We headed back to a cafe we’d passed earlier, to regroup over steaming cups of hot coffee. We then decided to see Kalaloch Lodge, but it started to really rain about 30 minutes into our ride. Another 30 minutes & I finally asked James what he thought about turning around. We pulled over to check our map & weather app… nothing but rain for the rest of the day. We changed direction for the 90-minute ride back. That’s when my gas light came on! OMG,

I couldn’t remember where we had even seen the last town! I was soaking wet, stressed from cars speeding past me & tired of the road spray. I was overjoyed when I coasted into a 2-gas-pump community store. Next stop, Elwha River Casino, to drown our woes & dry our gloves. Our afternoon then turned around with a windfall we exchanged for surf n turf at the Crabhouse. What a life - Hot dogs one night, then Steak Oscar the next!

After dinner, we rode back to the cabin. Our shirts were soaked thru despite our coats, as were our socks despite our boots. We stripped down & into our sweats, then paid for 30 minutes of dryer action. Our footwear was still wet the following day, but we weren’t going to stay dry anyway. It wasn’t as bad as the day before, but I was relieved to make it back to the Kinston Ferry,& then onward to home, a hot shower, & hot cocoa with a shot of peppermint schnapps.

The weather was indeed a bummer, but the adventure itself was great. We were out of the house, off the couch & experiencing life instead of watching it on TV. I used to be afraid of riding on wet roads, but now I know I can handle it. I also know I need rain gear. LOL Thanks for hanging out with us thru the sunshine, wind & rain! Be sure to schedule time off for fun & adventures of your own - write it down on your calendar then GO DO IT! #JACTventures