The Jefferson County Historical Society’s free annual weekend of sharing historical tales and information on the West End of Jefferson and Clallam counties begins today and continues through Sunday, with most activities set for Saturday.
Kalaloch Lodge — at 157151 U.S. Highway 101 about 35 miles south of Forks — is the center of the West End Weekend activities planned, but the Forks Timber Museum at 1421 S. Forks Ave., will be open for visitors traveling through Forks en route to Kalaloch today and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
The museum, set on five wooded acres, tells the story of Northwest Olympic Peninsula logging.
On Saturday, a multimedia exhibition of historic photographs and stories compiled by Research Center manager Ellie DiPietro will be on display all day in the Becker Suite at Kalaloch Lodge.
Also on Saturday are these events:
• 10 a.m. — Peak 6 Store on Upper Hoh Road, 4.6 miles off U.S. Highway 101 on Upper Hoh Road, leading to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center.
Gary Peterson, owner and operator of the Peak 6 Store and descendant of early white settlers to the area, will present “Confluence of Cultures, the Adventures of Mary Strom and Pansy Snell.”
The lecture is about two Native American women, Mary of the Hoh and Queets tribes and Pansy of the Hoh tribe, in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
Peterson is the author of “Gods and Goblins: A Field Guide to Place Names of Olympic National Park” and the co-author of “High Divide: Minnie Peterson’s Olympic Mountain Adventures” and “Women to Reckon With: Untamed Women of the Olympic Wilderness.”
• Noon — Hoh River Rapids Overlook Hike with Bill Roney.
Roney, who has been fishing the Hoh and Elwha rivers for decades, will lead an all-ages, short interpretive hike to the Hoh River rapids.
• 4 p.m. — Kalaloch Lodge.
Steve Shively will discuss the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, one of 14 marine sanctuaries administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The sanctuary, established in 1994, encompasses 3,189 square miles of the Pacific Ocean from Cape Flattery in the north to the mouth of the Copalis River, a distance of about 162.5 miles.
Extending 25 to 40 miles from the shore, it includes most of the continental shelf, as well as parts of three submarine canyons, the Nintinat River, the Quinalt Canyon and the Juan de Fuca Canyon.
For 64 miles along the coast, the sanctuary shares stewardship with the Olympic National Park.
The sanctuary overlays the Flattery Rocks, Quileute Needles and Copalis Rocks National Wildlife Refuge.
• 6 p.m. — Kalaloch Lodge.
A no-host group dinner is set at the Creekside Restaurant. Those who plan to attend are asked to RSVP to Shelly@ jchsmuseum.com.
Visitors also can share stories of life and adventure on the West End with Ann Welch, oral historian and JCHS trustee, who has been gathering West End stories for many years.
The interviews can be scheduled in advance by calling 360-385-1003, or emailing shelly@ jchsmusuem.com.
Kalaloch Lodge has offered a special reduced cabin and room rate for two nights over the weekend, the historical society said.
Cabins or rooms can be booked on the website at tinyurl.com/PDN-kalalochlodge using the code WESTEND, or call the central reservation desk, 866-662-9969.
For more information, and a full schedule see tinyurl.com/PDN-westend weekend19.
