Cape Disappointment State Park

Cape Disappointment in the southwest corner of Washington state is well documented by Nina and Paul of Wheelingit.  And they are correct in saying this is a marvalous location, but it is not a secret hideaway, expect to have company.


I’ll also repeat Nina’s comment there is NO cell service throughout most of the park including the campsites away from the entrance station.  Wi-Fi is available at Serious Pizza across the street from the entrance station, enjoy it there along with a good pizza.


We were there to join with Jm’s maternal side of the family,who came up from Nevada.  So I’ll blog only our time here and refer any curious reader to Wheelingit for research on the park doings, options, and history, and of course you can use Google.

For us Cape Disappointment was a destination, far out of our travel plans, but with family scheduled, space and time available it was a no-brainer to join in the fun. 



We arrived late to a sunny afternoon for a walk on Benson Beach, with the North Head Lighthouse.



The clear night was followed by a sunshine in the morning, we all decided to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpritive Center and the Cape D Lighthouse.
  


and the Cape D Lighthouse, note the lighthouse trail is not stroller friendly. 



The afternoon was spent on Waikiki Beach.


RAIN! Rain for the next few days, more rain than we had in the Rain Forests but with the warmth of family it was only a minor inconvenience.   Although it did allow for a lazy start to the day.


Beard’s Hollow was the destination, the iconic foot bridge is right at the parking lot.


The parking lot is also the mid-point of the popular Discovery Trail, which we followed north toward Long Beach, the southern of several motorized beaches.


The Discovery Trail also leads to the North Head Lighthouse a 250’ elevation gain … we drove .   The North Head Lighthouse and Bell’s View are great destinations.  Each is about .5 mi from the same parking lot making for a 2 mi walk on a paved pathway.


and a bit of local wildlife along both trails


Both South Bend and Raymond would have been interesting stops had time and weather permitted.  South Bend is known for seafood,


while Raymond has a long bike path along the Willapa River and interesting art work along the way.


Michael suggested we use the Port Townsend ferry rather than the drive over to I-5 to reach our launch point for the Alaskan adventure.  What a great idea!  A few hours on 2-lane blacktop along the Hood Canal vs a bit more traffic along I-5 through Olympia/Tacoma/Renton/Seattle/etc…

The drive was an excellent choice!  Very scenic, lots of time to enjoy the views, and not much traffic on a Friday.


Ferry was boarding as we arrived and it had to wait a moment for me turn off the electric and propane.   As the last on we were parked at an angle to help balance the load … Sweet!  Perfect – last on = last off!


Outside of the Fort Casey ferry landing on Whidbey Island is the appropriately named Driftwood Island County Park.  An easy stop to turn the electric and propane back on.


Deception Pass and Canada next