Round Trip Through the Olympics to Victoria

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For people living in the North West there is a quick and easy vacation which I would recommend. It is a car trip through Washington along the Olympic Peninsula to Port Angelis and a ferry ride to Victoria.

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We started our trip from Euene/Springfield Oregon. It is about a six to seven hour trip out of Eugene. But as steelhead fisher the miles fly by for me. I love keeping track of the steelhead Rivers we cross as we head up I-5. Every time I cross the Kalama I swear I am going to get up their to fish it.

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After cutting over near Olympia to the peninsula you get a constant view of Puget Sound. There is a good chance of major wildlife viewing during our drive, we came across a large herd of Elk near the mouth of the Hamma Hamma River. Their were even a couple of large bull elk standing majestic among the herd.

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Make sure you go to Port Angelis to get the Black Ball Ferry to Victoria. We made the mistake of going to Port Townsend and learned that we could only get to the local Washington Islands. These are also nice locations to visit however. There are places to fly fish for pinks, chinook coho and steelhead from the beaches at Whidbey Island. Fort Casey is a good place to try.

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We stayed over night in Port Angelis at the Quality Inn, which had free Wi-fi which came in handy with my I-touch. We had a nice park at the end of the street which allowed us to look out over the Sound.

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We took the Ferry over the next morning. We left the car behind and did every thing in Victoria by foot. They also have good public transportation for trips to places like Butchrt

Gardens

http://www.princeofwhales.com/victoria_tours_4.html?_vsrefdom=bgard&source=google&group=butchart&gclid=CL6ytOrR8ZwCFRgbawod0nkyjQ.

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We walked to Craigdarroch Castle http://www.craigdarrochcastle.com/with some guidance from local shop owners and the Visitor Center. It was a nice museum and I would recommend a visit. I found the history of the Dunsimuir family very interesting. Robert Dunsimuir came over as an indentured coal worker and made a great fortune to become one of the prominent citizens of Victoria.

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The Castle is a n impressive mansion, but I would say it is more an imitation castle and a little misleading to call it a castle. But I understand them wanting to fit it into the cities royal roots.

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After having done high tea at Butchart Gardens we wanted to do a tea again. We chose the Empress Hotel. We dropped in with out reservations, which they do not usually allow. They were very accommodating and when one of the tables had not been filled we were allowed to use it. We never bothered to look at the prices in our rush. After a nice lite meal with tea, we received a major sticker shock. It was one hundred and five dollars Canadian. As nice as it was we probably would not have done tea for that price. We wrote it off as we were leasing a table at the Empress Hotel for one hour.

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After we came back to the states we headedback down the peninsula and stayed at Sol Duc Hotsprings. http://www.visitsolduc.com/dailyrates.cfm They have pools with regulated temperature. Some pools mix in cooler water in with the hot spring water for kids and adults who do not like so much heat. There are hiking trails including one which leads to Sol Duc Falls.

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A National Parks pass is required to get up to the Hot Springs so be prepared, but it is not a lot of money. The pass is good for week and lets you go any where in the park system. A fishing licence is not required to fish in the national park, but if you go after steelhead a salmon/steelhead stamp is required.

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I did manage to wet a line on the Sol Duc, but the fishing was slow at the time of our visit and I did not have the time to really explore all of the Sol Duc’s secrets.

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Another river of note is the Hoh. I fished it on a previous visit and it was a fantastic river to fish. I did not have any hook ups, but saw major potential.

We also stopped in the now famous Forks, home of Bella and Edward from Twilight.  It has now been set up as a nice little tourist spot for Twilight articles of clothing and paraphernalia.  It was every bit as dark and dreary as described in the Novel.

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If your are in to driving vacations with lots of scenery and photo opportunities consider a trip through the Olympics to Victoria, or the other Puget Sound islands. It will be a great time.