Speaking of the Quinalt Rainforest, one word of caution: it might be tempting to huddle inside one of the massive trees to shield yourself from the rain, but do so at your peril. If a tree should grab hold, no mysterious nature-sprite will answer your summons, you’re on your own. Fortunately for me, for reasons unknown the tree seemed to expect someone half my size and I took advantage of its confusion to make my escape.
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.
Somewhere along the way down from Amphitheater Lake in the Tetons, I lost my hat.
I try to be an ethical hiker, so I backtracked for a bit but still couldn’t find it. It had been stuffed into my coat pocket along with my bear spray and some snacks, so I’m not sure how it fell out. I had a spare waiting in the car, so it wasn’t a problem for the trip, but it has joined a list of minor items I’ve lost the past year or so, including caps for cameras and lenses.
Looking back, though, I’m not sure that I actually lost it. I think it was stolen.
I had hiked this trail the year before and enjoyed the scenery, the exercise, the handful of grouse near the trail, and the bear I saw raiding squirrel caches near the top. This year I saw no animals at all and turned around up high when I got into heavier snow. I think the bears were there, just deliberately hiding from me, and suspect that a thieving bruin stole my hat when I wasn’t looking.
There are signs at the trailhead warning against letting bears get at an unattended backpack, but I think they need to also warn hikers to watch their pockets. As dangerous as it is for a bear to associate food with a hiker’s backpack, I think we’re in for a lot more trouble when they realize they can overwinter in a snuggly warm winter hat.
I’d be on the lookout for bears that are nattily dressed — make that hattily dressed.
This picture of me was taken the year before at the top of Mount Washburn in Yellowstone by a hiker from Seattle. The hat in the picture is the hat that is now adorning a lucky bear’s noggin.