The past few years I’ve made it a point to take self-portraits as I travel on my hiking trips but I didn’t take any while at Mount Rainier National Park. Partially because I wasn’t in the mood, I didn’t want to take pictures of myself while pikas and marmots were around. Partially because I usually didn’t have the tripod along on the long hikes with thousands of feet in elevation change.

When I arrived in Olympic National Park, however, I was both in the mood and had the tripod along. I took some portraits in the Quinalt Rainforest during the couple of hours I had there, then the next morning took this one in the Hoh Rainforest. This one is probably my favorite self-portrait ever, it highlights both the massive size of these ancient trees and my silly mood.