Olympic Peninsula
Location Description
Sub-locations
352 photos
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Catherine on the High Steel Bridge over the Skokomish River.
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Bridge engineer on bridge!
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After leaving Olympia Saturday morning, we headed north...
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Jay checks on the rental car near the High Steel Bridge.
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Ah, roadsigns. Always good for target practice.
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Peering over the edge towards the truss below.
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Looking down at the Skokomish River, some 400+ ft below....
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We found this vista through a "waterfall tour" map Jay...
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But yeah, sure, this is pretty too. The picture really...
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Supposedly the river below is a pretty intense kayaking route.
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Very pretty, for sure.
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Including the bridge in the shot. The big waterfall is...
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When I wear my down sweater (very warm) and Jay wears...
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While it was beautiful in Seattle on Wednesday, and in...
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This picture is simply washed out a bit, but also is...
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Looking across the High Steel Bridge (685 ft in length)....
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One more look upriver.
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Bridges are also great places for graffiti. Apparently...
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There were two bridges on the road to the High Steel...
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Cat contemplates a different kind of cat.
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The Marymere Falls trail. It was very wet, even while...
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Jay and I drove to Port Angeles, and, upon learning that...
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Jay was in a tshirt and a light jacket. Catherine was...
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Jay hugs the biggest tree we saw.
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We were off on the Marymere Falls Trail! Something like...
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Jay near a tunnel under 101 at the start of the hike.
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Jay and Catherine by Marymere Falls.
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Jay tries to sneak up on any fish that might be in the river.
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Man my camera stinks at this light level. Trying to...
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With flash...
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A fancy new bridge over the river... in the river was...
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Bridge information. Too bad it's illegible.
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Walking across the bridge.
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Marymere Falls!
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Catherine takes a drink...
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Another shot by the falls; this time from the upper...
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Jay, wide-eyed with wonder and happiness in the Olympic...
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Trying to capture both halves of the falls and the pool...
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Showing of Jay's use of his gorillapod. Not exactly an...
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Blurry, but showing the other bridge over the river near...
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At our topping out point of the Storm King Trail.
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Jay and I started up the trail to the top of Storm King...
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Still smiling, however. I will also take this chance to...
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Water beading up on Jay's hood. Note: it wasn't...
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Looking up from the base of a very, very large tree.
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I believe this was the creek near Marymere Falls that we...
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Lake Crescent. This lake was formed in part by a...
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Jay has more awesome pictures of the lake, that I am...
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Jay ponders the yonder across the lake. We're standing...
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The official depth of Lake Crescent is 624 ft, though...
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Sadly, we saw very little wildlife on our hikes this...
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Jay got some awesome pictures of Lake Crescent as the...
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The dots of light are car headlights on 101 circling the lake.
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A dock out into the lake...
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... with a lone man visible. It's fun to flip between...
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View from the hotel in Port Angeles. If it were...
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Looking out from our hotel window in Port Angeles at the...
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Our hotel is Port Angeles (the Port Angeles Inn, I...
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The shower curtain.
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And the floor.
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Put it all together in a small room and your eyes hurt a...
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When we got up Sunday morning and left our "harbor view"...
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I think this is an unfortunate example of poor food...
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Looking out the window from breakfast at the Port...
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Our boat, the Puyallup, pulling into the dock to pick us up.
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Sunday morning, we drove from Port Angeles to Kingston,...
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Catherine on the very windy, very cold bow of the Puyallup.
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On the ferry!
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Look how clear the water is! You can see multiple feet...
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Jay smiles on the ferry.
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Desktop background of water churning near the hull of the ferry.
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Our boat was named the Puyallup, which is also the name...
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The fellow in black bought a bag of cheetos, stood out...
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This of course attracted more seagulls. There was one...
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Sunday morning, my new OLY friend Diana invited me to go...
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We stopped a few times on the road from Hoodsport, WA to...
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Between us and the mountains is Lake Cushman, which is a...
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Self-portrait of Diana and myself with Cushman Lake behind.
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Another picture of the Olympics. This was basically my...
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The road to the trailhead, surrounded by ... birch? trees.
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Our trail: the Upper Big Creek Loop Trail #827.1,...
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If this is the Big Creek, it doesn't look so big...
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More views of mountains.
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Woohoo, a bridge! It looked like the trail used to go...
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Not sure if this is the Upper Big Creek or not.
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We paused at what we thought might be the overlook......
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Ah ha! A few minutes later, we found the sign for the "RLOOK".
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When we got to the actual overlook, the sight was...
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Looking down towards Lake Cushman.
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Mount Rainier again.
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My big head is likely blocking the mountain. D'oh.
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Diana and Mt Rainier. Barely visible in the full...
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Catherine and the Mountain.
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One more. It looks like I got Adams right behind that...
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Looking down (or up) the trail.
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Hey look! A bridge! We're now back on the main Upper...
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Catherine on the bridge.
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The bridge was over Branch Creek.
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Diana makes the crossing. Check out the awesome green...
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Diana poses on the bridge.
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Flowing water.
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Another bridge! The first half of this trail had a ton...
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This was Diana's first hike with me, so she didn't mind...
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Some of the bridges had wider spaces in them than...
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Bridge! This one had a giant boulder precariously...
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Diana in front of the giant boulder.
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Catherine + bridge + beautiful day = smiles.
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This bridge had a troll living under it.
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It also was only halfway built, it seemed, with regard to sides.
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Smiles!
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Beautiful sun-lit path through the trees.
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Oh! Here's the other half of that other bridge. Sadly,...
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Huh, that's an odd sign to have on a tree...
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Oh. That sign now makes more sense. I believe this is...
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More of Mt Ellinor. Diana has actually hiked this!
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And this is Mount Washington.
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I suggested the trees needed trimming, but apparently...
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I need more camera skills to somehow be able to both see...
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The mountains looked just spectacular. These pictures...
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This hike had many entries for my "Pathways" collection.
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Aw, poor tree. Really gotta wonder what happened there....
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Power plant in Hoodsport, WA, just off US-101. Giant...
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One more for good measure. It was a neat old building. ...
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The Hood Canal part of Puget Sound was calm and...
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Ah, yes: Junuary. The lovely time in the Pacific...
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The map at the trailhead. A GPS map of where we went:...
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We started bundled up because it was chilly.
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Things started out okay. While it was a bit wet and...
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Standing on a log bridge!
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Diana crosses the bridge.
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Stepping carefully across a stream.
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Diana hikes through the woods. The amount of fog was a...
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This path looks scarier now than when we hiked it.
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Eventually, we shed layers because the trail was fairly steep.
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Working hard...
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I wonder what lies through those trees, through the fog...
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Pretty waterfall.
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Trying to get both of us in the shot.
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A mine! The trail writeup [...
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The hike had two things we were looking to see: an old...
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Which is good, cause it had started to rain, the...
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More plane parts.
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More plane.
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It was a bit crazy to see all this metal laying about in...
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And the glimpses of the mountains beyond indicated this...
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Exploring the plane parts. Note the raindrops on the...
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Wreckage and mountain.
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I don't even have any pictures on the way back down! I...
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Diana got one, though: heading downhill as fast as my...
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Last week, I took a day off from work and went hiking...
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Here's a photo of Frank and Kathie, and the faintest...
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Frank's car after having driven up the dirt road to the...
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Now, there is a whole backstory with this hike. It is...
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Not a very long hike (1.5 mi, one way), but a decent...
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More hazy blue skies.
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Frank looks down towards Hood Canal and Lake Cushman. ...
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Frank and Catherine.
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At the first lookout. We could see Mt Rainier, but I...
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Demonstrating self-photography skills.
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Sweet photo of Kathie and Frank.
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Catherine hiking up the trail.
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Catherine and Frank pause on the trail.
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Making my way across a snowy patch. My hiking poles and...
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Frank spends a lot of time climbing and hiking, and is...
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There still isn't much to see below us...
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Mmmm fir tips.
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Somehow I convinced Kathie to try them, swearing that my...
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The trail is very popular and is very well developed and...
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There's that human/goat again.
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A view of the slope. Keep this meadow in mind for some...
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Kathie works her way up the trail.
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We eventually started getting above the mountains around us.
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Trying so hard not to be squinty!
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It's amazing to think that in town, it was gray and...
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Frank sent me some photos which do not have time/date...
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Not quite there, but getting close(r).
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Catherine and Kathie take a break for a photo.
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Hiking more well-maintained paths near the top.
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Hey look, the car! It's the silver one in front.
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Looking over at what I later learned was Mt Washington...
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When we got to the top, we were really excited to see...
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Frank looks down over the back of Mt Ellinor, with other...
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Kathie, the edge, and mountains in the distance.
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A successful topping out!
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There were a couple of friendly chipmunks at the top who...
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Step 1: climb to the top of something. Step 2: find the...
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Mount Washington. We passed the trailhead either on...
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Kathie looks for goats.
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... or just at the dizzying dropoff.
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Looking out from the top of Mt Ellinor.
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Frank ponders the yonder.
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On that middle snowpatch are a couple of imperfections. ...
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Looking off the backside of Mt Ellinor. We could hear...
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Catherine pondering the yonder.
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And there's another, in the middle of the shot near a rock.
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Mama and baby goat come around the corner...
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... Mama checks out the edge...
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... and baby scampers over to join her. Those two...
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I found a really comfy rock to sit in. My back was on a...
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Frank, Kathie, and some mountains. The snow-capped one...
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Goats on the move! These are the ones who were on the...
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Hiking down through some snow off the top. Those goats...
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Hiking down more steps (maybe the same ones as before).
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Self-photo!
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We are now back down to that steep meadow. Who pops out...
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After he checked things out, the family followed.
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We came from the upper left; they came from the upper...
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Dad, baby, yearling, and Mom was how we saw things.
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Close-up of the whole family (courtesy of Frank). I...
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Attempt #1 at putting me and the goats in the same photo.
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Attempt #2. I can't say either is really a print-it-out...
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Frank did a better job of capturing me + goats.
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Dad, shedding some fur, and baby, all fluffy and new.
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The whole family scrambled across the path and straight...
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Once at the top, they basically just looked down at us...
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I swear they honestly just walked up the side of that. ...
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Finally, Lake Cushman appears below us.
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Hiking down through the snow patches again. We were on...
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At the bottom. We joked we should be in a Gatorade ad.
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Final group shot.
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Pointing at where we'd been. The top of the mountain is...
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On our way back to town, we pulled off at the Lake...
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One last shot. A trip totally worth taking the day off for.
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On the road to Sequim to see the lavender, I spotted...
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Sitting in a field of lavender. I'm somehow a bit...
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Mom stands among the lavender bushes.
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Our first Lavender field at Blackberry Forest farm. ...
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Attempt 1 of 2 at self-photography.
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Attempt 2 of 2.
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...but they had lovely chairs set out. Still was a...
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These wildflowers were everywhere along the roadside, no...
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Hitting the big time lavender fields now at Graysmarsh...
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At Graysmarsh Farm in Sequim.
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More fields of lavender. The clouds were clearing and...
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I was surprised to learn how many varieties of lavender exist.
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I liked the juxtaposition of the upright poplars and the...
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Maybe I could print one of these and put it somewhere it...
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View across the other fields. Prefer the poplars.
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Mom considers the bushes.
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Catherine (and a bee) amongst the lavender.
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This is my current background on my phone. I rather...
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Don't worry, the bushes weren't actually this tall.
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I'm not sure these photos really show how interesting a...
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A bee doin what bees do.
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Another bee.
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Bushels of lavender for sale. Mom bought me one and it...
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Mom at Hurricane Ridge.
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Mountains visible from Hurricane Ridge.
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Left the lavender and entered Olympic National Park and...
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The lupine were past their peak
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Views from just about everywhere of snow traced peaks. ...
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Looking out at more mountains.
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No signs of the pine bark beetle here, unlike Colorado.
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Mom with the mountains.
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The previous photos were taken from the trail visible on...
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Looking out across the Strait of San Juan de Fuca,...
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Faraway mountains and closeup flowers.
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Given that our plan was to look at lavender in fields...
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I do like that Washington has lupines, even if they...
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Looking towards the High Ridge Trail offshoot to Sunrise...
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We did some mild hiking / walking. Perfect temps
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Pretty sure that is Strait of San Juan de Fuca which...
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Another group photo. It had gotten downright warm!
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Ski patrol cabin near the top of what didn't appear to...
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Ski patrol building. Hmm. Seems like there should be a...
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Aha. It was interesting to see absolutely no...
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This plant was not blooming the way we saw at the top of...
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Looking down at the Visitor Center and across at the...
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And again, towards Canada.
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I believe that is Mt Angeles.
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The main canyon on the right is, I believe, where the...
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From the top of Sunrise Point. With giant fly (the bugs...
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Surrounding mountains.
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At Sunrise Point.
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Note to self: do not step back.
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The photo of the High Ridge Trail was taken from just...
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I tried to get some photos of these maps and then what...
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And here's the right side of the view. Blue Mountain is...
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Mt Angeles and Rocky Peak (left side of the map).
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Middle of the map.
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Mom celebrates the beauty around us.
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Catherine pointing at where she had just been.
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Mom pointing where we were headed.
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More of the same
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This was about the extent of the wildlife seen at...
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More photo maps.
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I think there were people blocking my ability to get...
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Right side - Mt Fitzhenry, Mt Carrie, etc.
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Middle, with the Elwha River valley.
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Left, Lillian River valley.
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Now with lens flare!
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One last shot of fake-looking faraway mountains.
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Aw. Cute.
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This is looking up a valley which has a trail going up,...
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Looking up the canyon at the Switchback Trail head.
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Actually, some of us washed our feet off.
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... while others took pretty pictures.
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An explanatory sign partway down the mountain.
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Can you see all that was pointed out?
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Left side.
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Sunday morning, I joined up with my friends Chrissy,...
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The first hour or so was spent in some pretty dense...
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We came out into a meadow and again scoped out the summit.
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Being less silly.
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And one more.
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Terra hiking through the meadow.
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Terra poses atop a rock we decided to use for our first...
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Chrissy working up to the snack rock. A lot of the...
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I believe those rocks are the ones I saw goats...
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Pondering the yonder. The clouds are over the Hood Canal.
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A better view of the Hood Canal. I have learned on these...
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Wildflowers were really starting to come out; the fields...
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You can't really see it, but this whole field is full of them.
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Somewhere near halfway?
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Terra, ready to rock.
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Josh tended to hike ahead of us cause we were slow in...
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We crossed a few small snowfields, which allowed for...
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More scree.
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Making our way across the rocks.
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Self-photo!
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The clouds are clearing! I like using big rocks as...
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Chrissy and Terra.
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Chrissy and Catherine make faces at Terra.
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With some scenery behind me.
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Lunch! Not a bad view. We're not quite at the top, but...
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The summit, from our lunch saddle spot.
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Goats on the backside of the mountain.
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The mountains behind Mt Washington. These should look...
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Panoramic view to the west of the saddle below the...
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Panoramic view to the east of the saddle below the...
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Anyone know what this bush is? The pinecones were...
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Looking from Mt Washington back towards Mt Ellinor. ...
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The actual summit took some scrambling, thus why we ate...
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Terra climbs to the top.
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Chrissy made it to the top too.
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Looking northeast up the Hood Canal.
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And north towards Port Angeles.
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I include this shot of the summit only because it shows...
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And here's a better shot, that Chrissy took.
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Chrissy also brought the world's smallest kite to fly on...
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There was a summit register, so we got to log our...
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Taking photos on top of the world!
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Josh filled it in for us. Note the couple ahead of us -...
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Another shot of Ellinor.
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Ahhhhh! Crazy giant flying ant!
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Better landscape shot.
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With me in it! Mt Olympus is the snowy one in the background.
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Climbing back onto the main part of the summit.
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More purdy flares.
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And scree as viewed on the way downhill. When it was all...
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Funny pair of photos - hiking down rocks...
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... and hiking through a meadow. Not a bad place to spend a day!