Cape Flattery – Northwestern Point Lower US

We hadn’t originally planned on visiting Neah Bay and Cape Flattery.  It’s funny how we end up doing a lot of things we really don’t plan on.    We were a close 56 miles from the tip and the most northwestern point in the lower continental US and we hadn’t planned on visiting.  Now that wasn’t smart thinking so when we did decide to drive up there it ended up being one of those spur of the moment trips.

The road from Forks winds up past Clallam Bay and Sekiu.   We could also see ourselves staying in this location.  There were many, many RV parks and they all had beautiful views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  Some of the parks were right on the beach and others were overlooking it.  Some had full hookups and others had places you could boondock. We were totally amazed with the view and with the location.  However, our destination was the Cape.  We weren’t looking for a place to stay.

We followed the road to  the trail parking lot. The entrance to the cape trail started off with a sign warning of moderate exertion.  The trail itself began as packed dirt and it was downhill.  It was down, down, down.

There were a few planked walkways and then one of roots.  Occasionally there were muddy spots to walk through but overall the trail was very good.

It was the going up, up, up that wasn’t going to be as much fun as going down.  Once down there were four viewing points.  Some of the views were of the caves and sea stacks.  Others pointed you in the direction of the lighthouse. 

Beautiful Day

Caves

Cape Flattery is on Tatoosh Island which is about 1/2 mile off shore.   The island is the very northwestern most spot in the continental United States and part of the Makah Indian Reservation.  If you were thinking you could visit this island, you would first have to get permission from the Makah tribe.  .Actually, there is a small group of islands in the Tatoosh chain.  The Cape Flattery lighthouse is on the largest of them.    It is owned and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and  marks the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a wide and deep passage that opens from the Pacific Ocean to the Puget Sound.

A little zoom and there’s the Cape Flattery lighthouse resting on Tatoosh Island.

There were amazing views of the Pacific Ocean, ocean sea caves and eroding rocky cliffs.  There is no way you could take a bad picture.  The views of this “wild” Washington coast were definitely awesome.  It seems we’ve had a lot of awesome views recently.  This one ranked close to the top.  I just kept clicking my camera.  It was a beautiful day and I wanted to capture it all.  I could see sitting at one of those view spots  for hours and taking more of it in.  However, Duchess was back in Forks and I was sure she wouldn’t understand.

View to the north

Like I said this was a spur of the moment trip and I didn’t do my normal research.  Only after we returned did I discover that we were required   to purchase a recreation permit.  Oops.  They $10 passes were for sale in the town of Neah Bay but we didn’t make a stop until on our way back.  Obviously, we weren’t good at reading signs either.  

One of the views to the south.

This seagull was perched on the side of a cliff with her newly hatched babies.  She didn’t budge the whole time I stood watch.   I’m wondering if she had another egg she was keeping warm.

We thought the Forks Elks was in a great location for side trips.  There was something to see in all directions and we did just that – north, east, south and west.    The people in the lodge were super nice and the RV area was huge.  

When we pulled out of our site on the morning of our trip to Neah Bay we were in the very end spot with only one other RV on the lot.  A huge field was on all three sides of us.   Things weren’t quite the same when we returned.  A huge concession  truck and class C had parked right in front of us  --- not even in a site.  They could have parked in any place instead of right out our front window.  They plugged into the same electric box we were using and ran the cord to their two units.  Needless to say, at this point we weren’t “happy campers” and moved to another site.   There were plenty to choose from.

‘Tis life on the road.

The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn.