Silver Lake

A recent visit to Silver Lake, near the Canadian border in western Washington, included a leisurely boat ride.

Maple Falls

Are there really Maple Falls near the small community with that name on the way to Mt. Baker? We were enticed by the trail near the grocery store. It was a pleasant walk in the woods but were later told it was too late in the summer to expect to see any falls. The area receives about 80 inches of rain a year so looked like a rain forest. Perhaps I'll try the trail again next spring.

Olympic Peninsula: Mt. Walker View (or not)

Mt. Walker is a 2804 ft. peak on the east side of the Olympics that has a view of Puget Sound. Smoke from the B. C. fires precluded us from seeing Hood Canal and Mt. Rainier to the southeast on August 3.

Nor could we see Mt. Baker to the northeast. I've driven to the top twice and haven't seen the view yet. The viewpoint is just south of Quilcene on Highway 101. Perhaps a third time will do it.

Olympic Peninsula: Dosewallips Elk

On the last day of our trip around the Olympic Peninsula, we stopped at Dosewallips State Park for lunch. We were surprised to see a herd of elk across the street. The droppings in the park seemed to indicate the area was a favorite place for them, even though it is at sea level and it was summer.

I had complained at home (Oak Harbor) that deer had been eating my plants. I am thankful they are not elk! August 3.

Olympic Peninsula: Ocean Beaches

Leaving Lake Quinault Lodge, we followed SR-109 down the coast to Ocean Shores. Here's proof my Silver Bullet made it on the beach. August 2.

Olympic Peninsula: Quinault River Valley

My sister and I decided to drive around Lake Quinault. The South Shore Road took us quite a ways east into the Quinault River Valley, passing waterfalls. The bridge to the North Shore Road gave us a good view of the Quinault River. August 2.

Olympic Peninsula: World's Largest Sitka Spruce

The giant tree is near the Lake Quinault Lodge and is just a short hike from the road. You can get a sense of its size by noticing my sister at its base.

Olympic Peninsula: Nature Trails

There are short nature trails near Lake Quinault Lodge. Informative signs are along the trail identifying the flora of the rain forest. We saw several small waterfalls too.

Olympic Peninsula: Rain Forest Hiking

There are several hikes close to the Lake Quinault Lodge. The valley is also rain forest, much like the Hoh.

Olympic Peninsula: Lake Quinault Smoke

We saw the thick smoke the next morning, August 2.

Olympic Peninsula: Lake Quinault Sunset

The smoke coming down from the B.C. fires made for a colorful sunset. This was the view from our room August 1.

Olympic Peninsula: Lake Quinault Lodge

We spent a night at the Lake Quinault Lodge.

Lone Sailboat

Sunset Beach, Whidbey Island, 8/19/2017. Smith Island is also on the horizon.

Solar Eclipse 2017

I used stacked ND filters, hence the secondary image reflections. From Whidbey Island, WA.

Sunset Waves

Sunset Beach on Whidbey Island, 8/19/2017.

Olympic Peninsula: Ruby Beach

Ruby Beach is a popular one along the Olympic Peninsula coast.

Destruction Island and its decommissioned lighthouse were barely visible even though it is only three miles off the coast. The smoke from the B. C. fires had arrived.

Hydros for Heroes Oak Harbor

The roar of Grand Prix class hydroplanes was heard in Oak Harbor today and will be again tomorrow.

The crews watch their boats travel up to 170 mph, producing impressive rooster tails.

Downtown Oak Harbor is buzzing with lots of vendors and race observers.

Olympic Peninsula: La Push

La Push is a Quileute Indian village at the south side of the mouth of the Quillayute River.

To the south is First Beach, a mile long crescent and part of the 57 miles of coastline along the Olympic Peninsula. 

Olympic Peninsula: Neah Bay Oddity

We saw this odd structure inside the jetty at Neah Bay. Curious, my sister asked a store owner about it. It was part of the old I-90 floating bridge. Some enterprising person had had great plans for it and had it towed here but nothing resulted. 

Olympic Peninsula: Highway 112 View

We saw our first sea stacks along the north edge of the Olympic Peninsula between Neah Bay and Sekiu. Vancouver Island was clearly visible. It would be obscured by smoke from B. C. fires the next day.

Olympic Peninsula: Hobuck Beach

The Hobuck Beach day use area is south of Neah Bay and is part of the Makah tribal lands. It was a nice location to eat our lunch. There is a resort near by.

Olympic Peninsula: Cape Flattery Light

The lighthouse was built in 1854 and sits on Tatoosh Island, named after Chief Tatooche of the Makah Tribe. The light was decommissioned in 2008 when a solar powered beacon on a 30 foot skeletal structure came into use, though the 65 foot original tower remains. The island is owned by the Makah Tribe.