Living Life on the Edge… Literally!
The scariest drive we’ve ever done!
This read is not for the faint of heart… like my mother! This was the most terrifying drives of our lives. So much so that my brother and I for one split second actually loved each other. Deer Park Road is a long twisty road in Port Angeles, Washington. It takes you to the top of Blue Mountain in Olympic National Park where you can see incredible views like this:
The view from Deer Park Road.
Despite these incredible views, the drive to get up there is 18 miles and starts with paved roads with no guard rails. That’s alright… at least it’s paved! Well, the last nine miles is dirt road and steep drops again with NO guard rails! It’s also very narrow meaning when you’re passing someone you have to be extremely careful.
So how did we get in this situation? We drove from Seattle to the beach that day and had planned to go to Hurricane Ridge, another amazing viewpoint in Olympic National Park… which we never got to, because only a certain amount of people get in everyday. So while in Forks, Washington (If you know, you know!), we spoke to a local guide who recommended Deer Park Road in replace of Hurricane Ridge. She said that as long as you have a good car and good driver, you should be alright to get up there. It sounded good and we decided to do it. But then when we stopped at the Olympic tourist center, the park ranger advised us not to do it. And maybe we should have listened to the park ranger… because we went up anyways!
The first nine miles weren’t terrible because the roads were paved. Sure, there was no guard rail but there were trees that were blocking the view and in worse case scenario, our fall. Well… then came the next 9 miles. The trees started to become sparse and the roads became dirt and began to drop off. We were also elevated over 4000 feet above sea level and kept going higher and higher and higher. We were literally driving on the edge and also living on it. At one point, a car was coming down and since the roads were so narrow, we had to maneuver around them to keep on going. Thankfully, we had an amazing car. We rented a Toyota 4Runner which has 4-wheel drive. We saw some people driving Volkswagen Beetles and couldn’t believe they made the drive up!
When we finally got to the top, it was foggy, so foggy that you could barely see 100 ft in front of you. It was also freezing up at the top. There are campsites which you can drive around and we discovered that you can go even higher and walk some trails. Now, that drive was a breeze! There are rocky cliffs that you can walk on and after walking for a bit, we decided to explore some other areas.
Fog Fog Fog
No wonder why the Cullen’s lived here!
Along the mountain there are beautiful plants and animals that thrive in this elevation. We walked a little bit more to see some of the wildlife and as we were doing that, the fog cleared! So guess what we did… We decided to go back up to where we were! I’m so glad we did because the views were even better! You could see the entirety of Port Angeles and you could even see across into Canada. We ended up finding a little pathway that lead to the very tippy top of the mountain… because apparently we weren’t at the top?! We decided to climb the trail to be exactly 6,004 feet above sea level. We were so high up that my phone sent me a “Welcome to Canada” text! You could see the entire valley and could see the mountain slopes. My brother and I decided to throw rocks and see how far down they would go…. They went so far that we lost sight of them.
The flowers at the top
These flowers thrive on the cold foggy climate of the mountain.
View from the tippy top!
If you look closely, you can see Port Angeles and if you look even closer, you can see Canada!
The way back down was much easier. We all felt relief once we got back down. It was definitely quite an experience and we probably should have listened to the park ranger. I don’t know if I would recommend Deer Park Road to people like the local guide did. If you’re brave and have a sense of adventure, then this place is for you. If not, do not go! Like the local guide said, “You need a good vehicle and good driver.” Well, we had a great vehicle and a great driver! My dad really excelled and we were so happy that we survived. So if you ever go to Washington, maybe check out Deer Park Road, but definitely check out Olympic National Park!
The Man, the Myth, the Legend
Thanks to my dad for driving us up that scary road!
Our car after going up and down Deer Park Road. It was filthy!