VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Hi,

I'm in the gorge and going to be driving to catch the Port Angeles ferry to Victoria in a month. It's a 2:00pm departure. Anyone have any rough guide on how long it takes to drive from Hood River (or PDX if that's a better frame of reference for those who only go down to the Oregon coast), the best route if it's not obvious, and how long in advance I need to arrive at the ferry terminal?

When in the US I drive 9 mph over the speed limit and no faster for a speed frame of reference.

Thanks, Peter

The route is the obvious one. 84 West to I5 North, then onto 101 West. If it is rush hour you could cut off at 205 North to I5 before Portland but it usually doesn't make a lick of a difference.

I drive about the same speed and it takes about 3.5-4 hours from Port Angeles to Portland and another 45 minutes to an hour to hood river. It all depends on traffic through Portland and how quickly you shuttle the windy-road section up the Olympic Peninsula, but other than that there are no traffic hangups to worry about since you miss Olympia and Seattle. Watch for Radar west of Olympia through to Seqium and Port Angeles, it's a gauntlet of patrols.

That's great. Thanks. We actually live in white salmon and it's uncannily 1 hour to PDX regardless of time of day. I'll tack on 4 hours from there and call it 5 hours to the ferry.

Cheers, Peter

Peter,

Five hours is reasonable. Specifically, take Exit 104 (just before you get into Olympia) when you're getting off the I-5.

They want you to arrive at the ferry terminal 60 minutes prior to sailing on the US side, 90 minutes on your way back (you have to go through US Customs before you board in Victoria).

Check out www.cohoferry.com for sailing schedules and reservations.