In the next segment of my trip to the pacific northwest, I visited the Olympic National park of NW Washington. Highlights here included Hurricane Ridge near Port Angeles and the Hoh rainforest. Very unique place with lots to see. Let’s look at the pictures from Hurricane Ridge first.
Let me start out by saying that it was a very overcast day as I travelled from Mt. Rainier to the Olympic peninsula. I didn’t have high hopes of being able to see anything! As I approached the 17-mile road to hurricane ridge, I considering skipping this park entirely. I was so glad I didn’t though! As I got near the top, the clouds cleared and the views were spectacular!
Upon reaching the visitors center, I took a hike up the mountain to get some further views and got some nice pictures of the snow-capped peaks.
I even saw some wildlife! (This is a bear but i didn’t want to get any closer).
The mountains really were awesome. This is the best place to view them from.
The wildlife was rather friendly! This deer couldn’t have been 5 feet from me!!
As you can see, I was truly above the clouds!
Look! Proof I was there!!!
From this point, you could see across the Juan de Fuca straits…. on a clear day anyway. You can really see how cloudy it was down by the water though. In the distance, you could almost see Canada.
Visitors Center off in the distance
Here’s a nice shot of the wildflowers and setting sun.
This area was once a ski area.
As I went back down the mountain, this is what I drove through.
I drove around the peninsula that night and arrived late at a (FREE) campsite along the road to the Hoh rainforest. It was spooky at night but very green in the morning.
I arrived at the Hoh visitors center relatively early in the morning for some hiking through the forest.
I took lots and lots of pictures. Here are some typical shots of what it looked like. It was very green, although i’m not sure it was as pretty as the west side of Rainier or in Oregon. It was just SO green there!
The trees were very tall!
This was near the hall of mosses.
One interesting aspect was the “feeder” logs. When big trees fell, other trees would grow out of them. Life lives!
One sad element to this entire area was the extensive logging. Anyplace that wasn’t directly protected had been logged and the picture looked more like this:
Finally, i got to the Pacific Ocean! It is very rustic there. Wide beaches and the water is COLD!
All in all, this area was pretty as well, although I don’t know if I would do this section again. it was a VERY long way around the peninsula and the highlight was certainly hurricane ridge. What you see at Hoh can be seen in other places in the pacific northwest. Still, I am glad I made the trip.
To continue with the final section of my trip, the Oregon Coast, read Part 6 – Oregon Coast.
Tags: beach · campground · nationalpark · olympic · rainforest · washington · wildflowers · wildlife2 Comments
[...] Continue reading Part 5 – Olympic Peninsula. [...]
So your shadow is supposed to prove you were there? That could have been anyone’s shadow!
More great pictures anyway. I love the one with the wildflowers and sun, that would be pretty blown up and framed. I think your photography skills are definitely getting better. Not that they were bad before but you know what I mean 