Dungeness Lighthouse in Sequim, Washington.
JUNE 17, 2014. We’ve arrived in the town of Sequim, (pronounced “Sqwim”) about 70 miles up the coast from our stay in Hoodsville and right at the top of the Olympic Peninsula. The drive this morning up Scenic Route US 101 along the Hood Canal was beautiful, but a bit scary as the road is narrow, the bridges are even narrower and the 18 wheeler logging trucks zoom around like there’s no tomorrow! We’ll be in this area about five days, before we drive west to Forks and then continue counter-clockwise down Highway 101. Then we’re going to venture back into Oregon to Eugene and Redmond before we begin our trek across the country to the East Coast in time to see the Fall colors.
Sequim is pronounced as one syllable: “skwim.” Don’t pronounce it like the sequin…the bead on a fancy woman’s dress, or you’ll be immediately labeled as an out-of-towner. The town is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The city has been increasing in population dramatically in recent years due to the influx of retirees from the Puget Sound region and from California. As beautiful as it is here, this California boy won’t be settling here permanently…it’s just too remote to make it attractive to me as a place to live.
Sequim lies within the rain shadow of the mountains and receives on average less than 16 inches of rain per year…about the same as Los Angeles. Strange, because the city is close to some of the wettest rainforests in the country…places where the annual rainfall is well over a hundred inches. Also interesting is that despite its proximity to lush rainforests, the town itself is open, oak-studded prairie land. The area is known for the commercial cultivation of lavender…Sequim is the “Lavender Capital of North America,” rivaled only in France. The area is also known for its Dungeness crab, the population of which will decline a bit during our visit, I guarantee it. I’m hoping I can get a local fish monger to cook a bunch of them for me…one thing I don’t have aboard is a stock pot large enough to hold a half dozen Dungeness crabs.
Male Roosevelt Elk in Sequim, Washington.
The area is also home to a large herd of Roosevelt Elk. I’m hoping to get some “up close and personal” photos…these animals are absolutely magnificent: they appear serious, stately and noble to me. If I get a “Kodak moment” when I can get some pictures, however, I’m not going to venture too close…I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near an Elk who didn’t want me in his personal space! I’ll also get some photos of the lavender farms, the incredible coastline, the rainforest areas and the spots in Forks which were the catalyst for the Twilight books and movies.
There are some absolutely incredible waterfront homes along the coastline between Port Angeles and Sequim. This is perhaps the most dramatic.
One of many lavender farms in the Sequim area. Lavender production here rivals that of farms in France.
A fishing boat docked at Port Angeles.
View across the water at Diamond Point, near Sequim, Washington.
