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Upcoming in astronomy:
- December 4th @ 3:14pm PST, Super Cold Full Moon: the final Full Moon of the year is another supermoon, meaning it is near its perigee (closer to Earth in its orbit). This will occur exactly at 3:14pm, so about 1 hour before this newsletter is sent out.
- December 12th – 16th, Geminid Meteor Shower: my favorite meteor shower of the year! This one has never disappointed me. Geminid meteors are dim, but there’s A LOT of them.
- Peak viewing hours: 11pm – 2am
- Expect 100-150 per hour
- December 19th, Comet 3i/ATLAS makes “closest” approach to Earth: it will be a whopping 170 million miles away, nearly the distance to Mars, and no, it’s not aliens.
Watch my drone video over parts of the Olympic Peninsula:
In Part 1 of this 2-part story, I covered my trip from Sedona to Oregon, then up the western half of the Olympic Peninsula. Those dates were from November 13th – November 21st.
Part 2 below covers my travels from Neah Bay, WA to Seaside, OR, from November 22nd – 26th.
Saturday, November 22nd
I woke up with the high-tide waves of the Salish Sea washing up the beach a few yards behind my van. The clouds hadn’t yet fully dropped in, so I could see Vancouver Island across the water.
After putting myself together, I began the drive east toward Port Angeles, a city on the water that was very similar to where I used to live in Florida, minus the heat, endless flat terrain and alligators of all kinds.
The road to Port Angeles twists through the northern coast, the foothills of the Olympic Mountains. Closer to town, I of course stopped at–you guessed it–a drive-thru coffee shop.
I then found the family friendly Chestnut Cottage Restaurant, where I ate breakfast and prepared for the rest of the day. I ordered Biscuits & Gravy, and let me tell you, this may have been the best B&G I have ever had. It was remarkably delicious, and I only wish I could have had more!
After eating, I parked down at the marina next to the Feiro Marine Life Center. Parking in this lot was free, but filled up quickly. I was kind of lucky to get a spot here, actually. From here I walked about a mile down the waterfront trail. Looking out, you’ll see ferries coming into port, kelp floating on the water, and lots of birds and marine life. My particular favorite was a harbor seal that kept surfacing about 100 feet offshore. I also spotted an eagle up the hill atop a tree up the hill from the trail right before I turned around.
From here, I did make a short trip up into Olympic National Park, getting as far as the gate. A combination of government shutdown and winter closures prevented going any further than the main gate, but trails down the mountains were open. I didn’t do any hiking except for a brief stroll 500 feet into the trees, where the soil is blanketed by pine needles and sound becomes muffled and absorbed by nature itself. It’s one of those utterly magical experiences that pulls you out of the noise of society.
I drove back down the mountain and continued eastward, stopping for a quick shopping run before heading to a forest road that quite literally dove into the mountains. We’re talking a 10-15% grade down this road.
Alas, the camping spot next to the river I wanted was taken when I arrived, so I continued on a now-level stretch of road before it rose up the other side of the ravine. I found a flat area, parked, and then explored the area in both directions using what little light I still had in the day. I’m not sure how far away they were, but the entire evening, and again the morning, I heard bald eagles screeching somewhere in the trees, and the rush of the river far, far below my (large) cliff-side parking spot.
Darkness came early in the mountains – around 4pm – so I made dinner, watched one of my all-time favorite movies (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and went to bed…
Sunday, November 23rd
In the morning, my van valiantly chugged its way back up that steep road and out of the mountain ravine.
I drove back to Highway 101 and began heading south in the direction of Olympia, WA. I had a list of spots that included waterfalls, lakes, and a bridge spanning a gorge that I wanted to see, so every now and then would divert from 101 and drive a few miles into the mountains.
The first stop was Rocky Brook Falls, one of the more impressive waterfalls I saw since leaving Sedona. The parking lot was small – maybe enough room for only 10 cars total. It’s not in a park, quite literally off the side of the road with a two-minute hike to the base. It’s situated in a rural residential area, so I’m not sure that you’ll ever see a ton of people clamoring to see these falls all at once.
There are some No Trespassing signs in the area; these are for the building right off the road. There is a clear path that continues to the falls, along with signs near the parking lot detailing the area, including when to see fish coming upstream.
My next stop led me back deep into the mountains. Murhut Falls requires you to drive about 8 miles up a forest road littered with potholes. Again, this isn’t a place where tons of people will be, with parking enough for maybe six cars, and then pullouts further uphill to park if the main “lot” is full.
The hike to the falls takes you deeper into the forest, and is uphill nearly the entire time, so wear boots and be ready for a workout. It took me about 25 minutes to reach the falls, with the best view being down by the water. Be careful though: to reach the water, you have to descend vertically over roots and slippery rocks. I don’t recommend making kids do this.
The Murhut Falls are double-tiered, and about 200 feet past the main falls is another section decorated by a beautiful veil of moss and ferns. Angles and trees make getting a photo of that part difficult, but it was soothing to look at.
When I left these falls and drove out of the mountains again, I made a quick stop after the bridge crossing the creek. On my way in, I knew I wanted to come back here to fly the drone (it’s a few miles outside the restricted zone). Scenes from this spot are in the video I linked above.
My third and final stop of the day was at High Steel Bridge, the cover image for this blog post and the video I linked. I’ve always wanted to visit these bridges of Washington, and this one did not disappoint, and I of course flew the drone to get those sweeping shots of the bridge.
What’s funny is that once other people saw I had a drone, I became Mr. Popular. Several people came to watch my screen as the drone flew around the region, and a few groups requested some short videos of them driving over or standing on the bridge. It was great, honestly, because if you know me, you know I love meeting people and providing access to experiences and memories like this. Heck, most everyone reading this met me on the sidewalk to use my telescope for free!
Here’s one of the videos I created for the guys driving their cars across the bridge:
Monday, November 24th
I ended up driving two miles down the road to sleep for the night, and returned to the bridge in the morning so that I would be the only person there and could get a few more drone shots with the morning mist and light. Then I left the bridge behind and returned to Highway 101 for the final stretch.
I diverted from 101 and headed back west, zig-zagging my way across the southern portion of the peninsula all the way over to Cape Disappointment in the southwest corner of Washington, south of Long Beach. I arrived about three hours before sunset and spent the rest of daylight there. You need to pay a $10/day entrance fee and hang the permit from your dash.
The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Museum wasn’t open (closed Mondays/Tuesdays), but there was a decent amount of hiking to be done. I started at the interpretive center where a doe and two fawns were grazing on the cliffsides. From there, I followed the trail past Dead Man’s Cove and up to the lighthouse. There wasn’t too much haze in the air, and several miles to the southeast, I could see Astoria, Oregon, with its famed bridge spanning the mouth of the Columbia River into the Pacific Ocean.
I returned to my van and drove around to the North Jetty parking area, and hiked out to Benson Beach, which had a view of the North Head Lighthouse and lots of washed up ocean debris (including a dead sea lion about halfway down the beach).
Finally, I returned to the jetty and parked at the southern side of Waikiki Beach, where many of the famous photographs of the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse are taken from, with giant waves curling upward as they crash into the seastacks jutting out into the water. With no storm strengthening the waves, I didn’t capture the huge surges you so often see, but did manage to capture some decent recreations of those scenes.
I stayed until my fingers went numb, hoping with every crash that THE wave would happen, but a mix of pattern recognition and the fact that there wasn’t a storm fueling the power behind them told me it just wasn’t going to happen that evening…
With the Sun now setting, I packed up my gear and warmed up the van. The loop around the peninsula was at an end, and I had lots of footage and pictures to go through. And with Thanksgiving two days away, knowing I was spending it with my friend and their family, I caved (for the better) and got a hotel room in Seaside, Oregon. Fortunately, all my travels in 2024 racked me up enough credit on Expedia to get the Platinum discount, and on top of that, Expedia had dropped in $100 of free credit.
So I figured, what the heck, and booked a room at the Ebb Tide Resort for two nights (where I sent last week’s newsletter prepping everyone for a double-newsletter-header this week!) It was a welcome reprieve from frigid weather with no showers. When you aren’t interacting with people, that’s perfectly okay! When I do sidewalk astronomy, on the other hand, I do try to shower every other day so as not to subject everyone to my “week in the woods” experience…
Living out of a van to travel and do astronomy doesn’t mean you have to subject yourself to the bare bones. I’ve stayed with friends here and there, but this was the first time since June that I stayed in a hotel. And as of December 1st, I officially got a Planet Fitness membership. I’m going to be in cities the next few months, so dispersed camping where I can shower with my portable shower in the open isn’t going to be an option. And you know what? The $15 startup, $25/month, and $49/year is a lot better than the $20/shower at a travel station, plus has way more benefits.
So now I’m here in San Diego until December 17th, hosting sidewalk astronomy every day until I head east for the holidays. I’m almost at the 7-month mark living on the road, and still wouldn’t trade it back for rent. For now, this is my lifestyle. I’ve loved nearly every minute, it’s so much cheaper than many people make it out to be, and you get to see so much and in my case, meet so many people. One day I’ll settle down again, but for now…this is life.
This world is beautiful.
Alex
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