In life we often take things for granted. Traveling was something that often went on the back-burner because the world is not going anywhere. Then we entered the age of Covid. It really put things in perspective and was a harsh reminder that life is short and that we should live our lives to the fullest. With the pandemic appearing like it was slowing down we booked a flight to Washington State for an eight-day adventure in and around two national parks: Olympic and North Cascades.
This was my first trip to the Pacific Northwest and it surely won’t be the last!
The Wildlife
One of the first questions that arise when people ask about the trip is about the wildlife that we encountered. Yes, we did see a couple bears but those were while driving. There was some bear activity on Thunder Knob but they had dispersed by the time we got up there. All of the other wildlife made up for it though. The high point was definitely the marmot fight while hiking the slopes of Mt. Baker.
The Beaches
The west coast beaches are definitely much different than the east coast beaches. Between the much colder water (thanks to the California Current) and the rough surf we did not adventure into the water. We still spent a lot of time during our first days exploring the formations along the coast and relaxing to the sound of the crashing waves. We visited Beach 4, Ruby Beach, Rialto Beach, and the beach at Fort Worden. We took a late night trip one night to Ruby beach to try to catch some bioluminescence but unfortunately it did not occur that night. Our patience did reward us with a variety of animal sightings and geologic formations that were new to me.
Hoh Rainforest & More
The Hoh Rainforest is a temperate rainforest near Olympic National Park. The trees there were much larger than I am used to hear on the east coast and everything is covered in moss. This rainforest receives about 3.55 meters of precipitation each year. Within this gallery I threw in a few pictures from some nearby locations: Lake Crescent, Madison Falls, Marymere Falls and the Elwha River. All of those locations were beautiful as well but nothing would prepare me for the North Cascades
Mount Angeles
During our time in Olympic National Park we decided to head up to Hurricane Ridge to hike the Klahhane Ridge Trail with a potential trip to Lake Angeles. This out and back would be about 13 miles but we did not attempt it as we got distracted. Mount Angeles towered above us and we were drawn to it like moths to a light. We ended up only hiking about 6 miles (probably). The hike itself was pretty easy until we got to the clearing towards the summit of Mount Angles. At this point the trail came to an end and I would have to make a decision. No matter what I chose I would lose. I could stay at the clearing or make an attempt at the summit. Hiking the summit would be much more dangerous but I felt that it was the choice that would have the greatest chance for survival. The push for the summit was steep. Quite steep. Also, volcanic rock is super brittle! I’ve climbed shale outcrops before and nothing was at soft as this rock. I was so close to the top but the face we were on was starting to become way too vertical for my liking. This is the point that I stopped. We did not make it to the top but we did survive. Later that day I saw this online:
“This is where the real climbing begins. Do not attempt summitting Mount Angeles unless you are experienced in scrambling and ready to take on a class 3 ascent. The views are staggering from the top, but don’t get distracted when you descend. It’s a rough fall.”
The Adventure continues on page 2!
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