Lake Mysteries Below the 101

Highway 101 wanders up the west side of the Olympic Peninsula as if curious to see this rugged coastline being torn apart by each violent Pacific wave. It gets pushed away from the shore, however, by the longest stretch of wilderness beach in the country, the 73-mile-long Olympic National Park section.
In Forks, the 101 slows down for a few traffic lights. There's an odd energy to Forks - it has a great location a few miles inland from the wild coast and a few miles out of the old-growth-laden National Park interior, but it's economy depended on logging for decades. That industry has diminished, leaving a recession vacuum. And the weather can be downright miserable - about 30 miles inland, Mt. Olympus gets 220 inches of rain a year, most in the continental US.
After Forks, the 101 gives up trying to reach Neah Bay and Cape Flattery, the northwestern-most point in the lower 48. Instead, 101 veers east, crossing the Sol Duc River and its hot springs resort, then hugging the edge of Lake Crescent.
I used to live on Lake Crescent, commuting on the 101 or by boat from one side (my house) to the other, four miles away (my job). I am certain it is one of the most magical places in the world. Over 700 feet deep with a crystal-blue clarity of over 60 feet - I've measured it as a science experiment. One should put the following on their life list: Jump into Lake Crescent on sunny day, open eyes under water and look up.


Crazy mysteries abound below the surface, like the Soap Lady, a missing woman who reappeared years after here disappearance by floating to the surface near some fisherman. Due to a specific chemistry of the water and depth, her flesh had turn to soap. It is an actual scientific process called saponification. The soap lady story... And then there's the recently solved mystery about the young couple (pictured above) who disappeared on their way back to a mountain cabin. Just disappeared and never heard from again, until 73 years later when their car and remains were found hundreds of feet below the 101 on a submerged cliff edge. See that story here