Olympic Peninsula

2025-05-11T00:00:00-07:00

In early March of 2025, my friend and I took an all public transit trip around the Olympic Peninsula. We departed Seattle on the Sound Transit 594 to Lakewood at 6 AM. At Lakewood, we had about a twenty minute layover until we took the 620 to Olympia.

From Olympia we took the Grays Harbor Transit 40 to Aberdeen. This stretch is where we start seeing some nice scenary, though nothing compared with what was to come. After a thirty minute layover in a chily Aberdeen, punctuated by exploring the warmth of a nearby store, we got on the bus once again. This time, it was the Grays Harbor route 50 that we took north, heading into the peninsula proper. All along the way, the scenary grew in grandeur and beauty, culminating at the end of the route with a short deviation along the south side of Lake Quinault. This was rainforest territory, with much in the way of mosses and ferns, with the spectacular Olympics all around.

Our next transfer was at Amanda Park, again with a layover. Besides being able to look at the mountains all around, the air smelled incredibly fresh.

Jefferson Transit's Olympic Connection took us first northwest to the ocean, then north along the ocean for some distance, before finally turning northeast to head to Fife.

Ocean Shores

2024-12-08T11:00:00-08:00

About a month ago, my good friend and I rode public transit buses from Seattle to Ocean Shores and back. A really nice way to spend a day is using rural transit to reach some far flung destination, although for us the trip itself is usually the point.

Our day started by traveling separately by light rail to Stadium Station and meeting up at the bus stop at the sodo busway and Royal Brougham St. There, we caught the Sound Transit 594 south. We had some extra time at our next transfer point, the SR 512 Park and Ride in Lakewood, so we visited a nearby Mexican grocery and picked up some snacks and drinks.

The next bus of the day was Intercity Transit 620 to Olympia. This is a decent ride that makes one stop at the Lakewood transit center and then runs on the freeway to Oly. However, once it gets into the area around Oly there are a couple deviations.

In Olympia we had some time before we caught the Grays Harbor Transit 40 to Aberdeen, so we hung out in the transit center and ate our snacks and talked to a local who seemed to know all the transit employees. At Aberdeen we had a brief layover during which I tried to raise anyone on the 70cm band with the radio I had brought, but I was unable to do so. Soon our last bus of the outbound portion of the trip showed up, the 60 to Ocean Shores. If you ever get to ride this route, I strongly recommend it; it passes through some gorgeous scenery.

We had a couple hours at the beach at Ocean Shores. I note that this is the first time I've seen the Pacific since riding around on the Amtrak railpass I had in 2015.

At the beach we observed such wonders as this dog.

And a shoe.

The grass reminded me of where I grew up.

The trip back was roughly the inverse past Aberdeen, but the 60 goes in a large loop from ocean shores up to Pacific Beach and then over to Aberdeen. Once again, this is an absolute gem of a bus ride, with some of it skirting the Pacific coast and affording wonderful views.

The only portions of the trip we had to pay for that day were those provided by Sound Transit; the rest of the bus lines had no fare. I am very grateful that Washington has rural transit, and I'm sure the daily riders would find their lives far harder to live without it.

Mairi's Bus Space - Trip Report

Olympic Peninsula

Ocean Shores