Olympic Peninsula

Location Description

Sub-locations

352 photos

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