Even in the wet drizzle of a grey day, Olallie State Park is a special place. The South Fork of the Snoqualmie River tumbles over boulders as it makes its way down through the Cascades towards Everett and ultimately, Puget Sound. I stopped in on my way south to Seattle back in December, 2013 when the trail was still in …
Pacific Northwest
Wallace Falls State Park
On a recent road trip through Washington and Oregon, I decided to stop and check out Wallace Falls State Park. It was fairly late in the day, but the walk didn’t look too far or too strenuous so I figured I could do it before it got dark. The beginning part of the trail isn’t too appealing as it follows …
Finally Finding Benham and Dillon Falls
I got an early start with the idea to check out Tumalo Falls, figuring to get there while the light was still good. On the way back into Bend, Oregon a side trip out to Benham and Dillon Falls on the Deschutes River looked like it would be fairly straightforward. On paper it looked pretty simple. However, the day didn’t …
Smith Rock State Park
View of Picnic Lunch Wall. In the early morning this entire face is nicely lit. Misery Ridge Trail rises to the right corner of this formation. If you’re looking for a stunning location to do some winter hiking think about checking out Smith Rock State Park near the town of Terrebonne just north of Redmond, Oregon. While primarily known as …
Whychus Creek Adventure
Even with a good guide book it can be difficult to find places that are a bit off the beaten path. Roads may have changed, descriptions are often not quite right, and distances may be inaccurate. Usually a bit of back tracking and second guessing is involved to make it to your final destination. Such was the case with getting …
Looking for Horse Thieves
It’s easy to imagine a gang of horse thieves hiding out at Horsethief Butte—the high basalt walls form a natural fortress and there are a number of narrow entrances into the interior of the butte that would make it easy to defend from a posse of lawmen. Horsethief Butte in the warm morning sun. I visited this Washington state park …
Damon Point State Park
During spring break this year I did a week long road trip down Route 101 through Washington and Oregon so this post is a bit of a retrospective. One of the places that I visited was Damon Point State Park, a bit of a nature refuge in the tourist town of Ocean Shores. I stopped in at the tourist info …
Westport Light State Park Beach
After a long bash of a drive from Port Angeles to Tokeland with stops at Sol Duc Falls and Rialto Beach, I was ready for a couple of days in one place. I had one night reserved at the very cool Tokeland Hotel and decided that it was worth spending an extra night to really explore the beaches to the …
Giant’s Bones on Rialto Beach
The huge battered Sitka spruce logs that mark the border between beach and forest give Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park the feel of a giant’s graveyard. In the late part of a cloudy early spring day, the cobble beach stretched away to the north. The dark, gray afternoon really suited the mood of the beach and gave it a …
Sol Duc Soul
I spent several days working my way from Port Angeles, Washington south to Pacific City, Oregon with plans to photograph some of the beaches and waterfalls along Route 101. One of my first stops was Sol Duc falls in Olympic National Park. At this time of year, the hot springs and resort weren’t quite open and there was still plenty …