Capturing the Moment

A Taste of Alaska in Washington's Olympic National Park    View from Hurricane Ridge Inside the forest at Lake Crescent Port Angeles describes itself as the gateway to Olympic National Park. This is where we dock the Safari Quest on the last day of our Pacific Northwest trips here in Washington. Scenic, 5000+ ft Hurricane Ridge is a 45 minute drive, and the glacially carved Lake Crescent is only 30 minutes away, giving us two great options to choose from.   I have been taking my groups to Hurricane Ridge, to explore the totally different environment that one can find at 5000+ft . Mountain firs and hemlocks abound, grey jays jabber from the limbs, and Mt Olympus pokes up from behind the remaining glaciers deep within the park’s 1,000,000 acres.   During the spring trips we encountered 10ft snowbanks… I’ll be sure to bring snowshoes next Spring. During the fall we found that we could escape the heat from below and exchange it for nice crisp mountain...

Forest of the Pacific Northwest   Having a few days off back in Seattle and looking for some down time after a whirlwind month and a half of no days off at my new expedition leader job I decided to go for a solo exploratory mission to the nearby Mt. Rainier. I had seen the snow covered summit from the plane when I first flew into Seattle and it has been calling me ever since. I knew there was all kinds of hiking trails and camping opportunities, plus some pretty cool wildlife to be sighted as well. I also hoped that on a rainy, foggy midweek day in early June the mountain crowds would be virtually nonexistent.   There are a couple of very cute towns on the way to Mt. Rainier National Park with little general stores and churches. I stopped into one general store and saw they still had VHS movies to rent which is about as small town vibe as you can get. I stocked up on some essentials (cookies and beer) and headed off into the park. I figured a plan would present itself...