The Hoh River

As the sun was setting, and we set up camp along the banks of the Hoh River, 12 miles of backpacking got the best of me. Instead of reaching for my tripod for this longer exposure, I opted to balance the camera on a rock. Of course that wasn't any easier, but in the end, the result was still the same. As the day turned to night, we made a roaring fire and we each found a comfortable place to lay on the stone strewn river bed. We watched the stars slowly turn and the sound of cool blue glacier water eased us all to sleep. The next day, we left the river valley and rainforest to make the grueling but epic climb to where this river originates, the Blue Glacier on Mt. Olympus.

The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness; and knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream - Kahil Gibran

Olympic National Park

Six years ago, I traveled to a place beyond my wildest imagination. A national park where  in one day, you can be among the towering sea stacks along the Pacific Coast, then a temperate rain forest with giant sitka spruce and douglas fir trees covered in moss, and finish the day off with Glacier covered peaks in the Olympic range. Never before or since have I experienced a place like Olympic National Park.Today I leave for my favorite city Seattle, then I'll spend a full day at Mt. Rainier National Park, and then 5 days in Olympic National Park (4 of those days will be in the backcountry in the Hoh Rainforest and the alpine meadows overlooking Mt. Olympus). I'm going off season, so I will likely see more elk in rut and bears preparing for hibernation than bipeds.

"Trees are the Earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven." -Rabindranath Tagore