Tag Archives: Olympic National Park

Sign of Sanity

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A Douglas' squirrel sits atop a rotted tree on the Hoh River Trail in the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park

While visiting Olympic National Park in 2004, my wife and I escaped the crowds of the Hall of Mosses Trail and walked down the lovely Hoh River Trail. When you spend time photographing something as common as a squirrel at a place as special as the Hoh Rain Forest, some of the other tourists look at you with a mixture of curiosity and pity, as though you’re either slightly mad or slightly a moron.

Both of which might be true, but I enjoy photographing squirrels and will do it no matter where I am, especially species like this one that I see less often.

Tree Cave

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A large hole in a tree in the Quinalt Rain Forest in Olympic National Park

The elevation varies dramatically in Olympic National Park from the ocean in the west to the Olympic Range in the east, so when you see a large hole at the base of a tree, you can never be quite sure what might live there, be it yeti or sasquatch. Given that this tree cave was near sea level in the Quinalt Rain Forest, it was almost certainly inhabited by sasquatch.

God’s Own Goalpost

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A dead tree looks like a natural goalpost on Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park

The Hurricane Hill Trail is easily a day hike (easily being a relative term, there is some elevation change here) with a feel of the backcountry and great views of the surrounding valleys and the Olympic range. Black-tailed deer are prevalent along the trail, once a buck popped out of the forest a few feet from me and immediately jumped back into the trees. This dead tree always reminds me of a natural goalpost whenever I see it.