Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
dining. To top it all off, there's live music on the weekends. The menu runs the
gamut from a seafood pasta to ribs spiked with Jack Daniel's whiskey. However,
it's the steaks that the locals rave about. If you like good times and good food,
this is a “don't miss.” The perpetual party atmosphere makes this is a great place
for a celebration.
Lower Hadlock Rd., Port Hadlock.
&
360/385-3450.
www.ajaxcafe.com. Reservations recommended. Main
courses $11-$15. MC, V. Tues-Sun 5-9pm. Closed Jan.
PORT TOWNSEND AFTER DARK
On weekend nights, you can catch live music at
Lanza's,
1020 Lawrence St.
(
&
360/379-1900
), an Italian restaurant; and the
Public House,
1038 Water
St. (
&
360/385-9708;
www.thepublichouse.com), which books an eclectic range
of music and has the feel of a 19th-century tavern.
HIKING OLYMPIC PENINSULA EAST
South of Port Townsend, U.S. 101 follows the west shore of Hood Canal. Off
this highway are several dead-end roads that lead to trail heads in Olympic
National Forest. These trail heads are the starting points for many of the best
day hikes on the Olympic Peninsula and lead into several different wilderness
areas, as well as into Olympic National Park. Many of these hikes lead to the
summits of mountains with astounding views across the Olympic Mountains
and Puget Sound.
Two miles south of Quilcene, you'll find Penny Creek/Big Quilcene River
Road, which leads to the trail heads for both
Marmot Pass
and
Mount
Townsend
—two of the best day-hike destinations on the peninsula. Both of
these trails are between 10- and 11-mile round-trip hikes. Up the Dosewallips
River Road west of Brinnon, you'll find the trail head for the very popular
4-mile round-trip hike to
Lake Constance.
Up the Hamma Hamma River
Road, just north of Eldon, you'll find the trail head for the hike to the beautiful
Lena Lakes
area. West of Hoodsport are the popular
Lake Cushman
and the
trail heads for the 2-mile round-trip hike along the scenic
Staircase Trail,
the
4
1
⁄
2
-mile round-trip hike to the summit of
Mount Ellinor,
and the 16-mile
round-trip hike to the
Flapjack Lakes,
which are a very popular overnight des-
tination. For information contact
Quilcene Ranger Station,
295142 U.S. 101
S. (P.O. Box 280), Quilcene, WA 98376 (
&
360/765-2200;
www.fs.fed.us/r6/
olympic). Because floods frequently wash out trail bridges and sections of access
road and trails, you should always check to see if a trail is open before heading
out on a hike.
Get High on the Olympic Peninsula
You don't have to drive all the way to Hurricane Ridge if you want an ele-
vated perspective on the Olympic Peninsula. Just 5 miles south of the
town of Quilcene, off U.S. 101, you can drive to the summit of 2,804-foot
Mount Walker, which is the only peak on Puget Sound that has a road to
its summit. The only drawback is that the 4-mile-long gravel road is steep
and narrow, and is definitely not for the squeamish. At the summit, there
are two viewpoints, from which you can see Mount Rainier, the Olympic
Mountains, the Hood Canal Bridge, and sometimes Mount Baker and
even the Seattle Space Needle.
Moments
