In all of our exploration, we've done relatively little in our home state of Washington. Partly, this is because the weather window here is relatively short each year; partly, it's due to our desire to explore lands further afield; and partly it's due to the landscape. Western Washington is so wet that finding a route that is more than simply a tunnel through trees can be challenging. Roads are quickly overrun with brush, structures rot away in the blink of an eye, and with much of the land owned or leased by logging companies - the roads gated and locked, "for safety."
Still, I've always wondered if we could find something amazing in the far west of our state. There is - after all - an entire National Park, surrounded by a National Forest, on a peninsula larger than many states.
In the end, both our fears and curiosity were realized. Put bluntly, the driving aspects of this trip were monotonous. While the truck was in motion, there was only one type of terrain - forest - and only one view - forest. Still, there were treasures along the way: hikes through majestic rain forests. along sharp ridges, and to the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. Historic bridges towering above plunging ravines. Here and there, Olympic-sized views that only hint at the wonders that can be found on the Olympic Peninsula if one is willing to tackle the passages to get there. Those are the wonders that made this trip one we'll remember.
Hiking Hurricane Ridge | Olympic Peninsula #1 - In all of our exploration, we've done relatively little in our home state of Washington. Partly, this is because the weather window here is relatively short each year; partly, it's due to our desire to explore lands further afield; and partly it's due to the landscape. Western Washington is so wet that finding a route that is more than simply a tunnel through trees can be challenging. Roads are quickly overrun with brush, structures rot away in the blink of an eye, and with much of the land owned or leased by logging companies - the roads are gated and…
Bridges and Falls | Olympic Peninsula #2 - It was a little strange to be heading back to the Olympic Peninsula only a few days after having bailed on a trip to the same location, but such is life sometimes. This time - not wanting to retrace our steps through the same terrain to kick off the trip - we decided to pick up the loop around the peninsula at the five-o'clock position, near Skokomish. From there, we'd run the loop clockwise, the opposite direction of our previous attempt. This meant that rather than take a ferry to kick off the trip, we drove down and around the…
Rainforests | Olympic Peninsula #3 - Wanting to get an early start, we were up before 7:00am - right along with the sun as it crested the ridges to the east. Climbing out of the tent, we were pleasantly surprised to find the rain fly completely dry, having expected that it'd be dripping wet after a night in the rainforest. Nestled off the road, we'd slept well, undisturbed all night. As with a couple of our recent trips, we decided to skip official breakfasts on this adventure, opting instead for snacking on trail mix and blueberries - something that allows us to get out of camp…
End of the Earth | Olympic Peninsula #4 - I have to say, it was so pleasant sleeping next to the Hoh River, as it quietly rippled by through the night, bringing cooler temperatures along for the ride. Those temperatures - along with the fact that we were parked in a valley - meant that sunrise wasn't on the agenda, and it was nearly 8:00am when we finally climbed down the ladder to get our day underway. I'm usually a fan of cliff-side camp spots, but this one turned out to be great. Note: I'm kicking myself a little bit that we didn't camp *in* the river, which was so…