Valley Clouds

Valley Clouds

The mountains across the valley is the Bailey Range, which run down the center of the Olympic Mountains. The view is from Hurricane Ridge, where there is a visitor center over 5000 feet. The valley full of clouds is the Elwha River … one of the huge success stories in salmon restoration. Two dams that were erected in the early years of the 20th century, without the required salmon ladders, were removed which opened up miles of prime salmon habitat. There used to be 5 species of salmon plus steelhead that called the Elwha home, and some of those have returned … hopefully the rest will eventually follow.

Is this Photo Crooked?

Olympic Ridges in Winter

I did a double-take on this image when I was working on it. I kept trying to make it level and was distracted by the angles of the ridges and the cloud banks … and echoed by the cloud-line in the distances. But the trees show the image is ‘straight’. This is taken from the Hurricane Hill Road just past the Hurricane Ridge Visitor center, a popular snowshoe and cross-crountry ski route.

Dungeness Spit (2)

Mount Baker from Dungeness Spit (looking northeast)

Dungeness Spit State Park is located on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The views (on clear days) is spectacular and can include views of Mt Baker in the North Cascades plus the northern Olympic Mountains. The Dungeness lighthouse is a 16 mile round trip hike … I’m not sure if they sit offer it, but there used to be an option to stay the night at the lighthouse (bring your own everything).

The Olympic Mountains from Dungeness Spit (looking west)

Dungeness Spit

Beach Walk at Dungeness Spit

Dungeness Spit State Park is located just north of Sequim on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula. The lighthouse at the end of the spit is an 8 mile walk (one way) … and the signage warns to make sure you are aware of the time and tides. At high tide you may be forced to work your way through a maze of driftwood, slowing your progress dramatically. If the weather is clear, the views can be spectacular … including looking towards Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park.

Looking Towards Hurricane Ridge from Dungeness Spit

Tree, Mountain, Tree

Tree, Mountain, Tree

Another view from the top of Blue Mountain, this one looking west towards Hurricane Ridge and Mt Angeles (you can see the roadcut running from the right middle of the image across to the left skyline … Hurricane RIdge is just at that point. This is Olympic National Park. Mount Angeles (Port Angeles is at the bottom of the road) is between the two tallest groups of trees. Tree, Mountain, Tree is a pretty typical (and probably trite) photo motif that my friend and I joke about. But it still works.

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