Day 3 - Sunday 9/13/2015 - West of Port Angeles to Quinalt River - Amanda Park

As we sit on the deck of the Quinault River Inn enjoying drinks and appetizers, the stories of today's route are being shared and compared.

Our day began with breakfast a few miles west of Port Angeles, then on the road.  Tracy was quick to clip in and off he went.

Followed closely by Jerry and Tom.






Our route was US Hwy 101 West - no turns!  It is apparent that the community relies on logging.

Notes from Tom
Today was our longest day--88.5 miles and 16.4 mph average.  We had pretty good roads most of the way, but a good 20 miles of the last 30 .miles was newly chip-sealed, and it beats up your butt and your hands on the handlebars, and it seems like it's harder to pedal on a rough surface.  We did have a nice tailwind so that helped us out.



We started the day at an elevation of 900 feet, and ended about 200 feet, so we had a net elevation loss of 700 feet, with 2700 feet of climbing and 3400 feet of descending.  We had our first glimpse of the Pacific off the west coast of the peninsula.

Nice sand beaches, but the sand in not white--more of a tan color.  We had a great cooler lunch at a beach side resort called Kalaloch, which got us over the climbs for the last 30 miles, and we enjoyed drinks and pupus on the hotel porch.

Jerry at Ruby Beach

Tom and Ruby Beach

             Yes - here he is - Tracy on 101 West




                      Greetings from the support team

                                   



Patty and Kathi doing a little sightseeing.  Not surprising that we would run into each other at the same sign - on the same highway -:)












All for now.  Jerry, Tracy and Kathi are off to dinner.  Tom and I will be celebrating our 40th anniversary this evening at the Lake Quinault Lodge - built in 1926.  Looking forward to a wonderful evening - wow - 40 years!

Notes for the tourist:

Lake Quinalt is in the SW corner of Olympic National Park.  The Quinalt River rises in the peninsula's interior and flows into 3-mile-long Lake Quinalt at an elevation of less than 200 feet above sea level surrounded by 4,000 peaks in the valley.  Annual rainfall in this region can top 140 inches per year.