One of my favorite part of living in Western Washington is watching the cloudy weather blowing through the trees on the ridges of the Olympic National Park. It reminds me of Japanese prints and Zen poetry.
Trees, laced in mountain mist, patch broken cloud;
Yang Wanli
I thought this image captured some of the wonder and joy of a first walk at the beach. Some of my earliest memories are being at the beach with my family. We lived close to the beach until I was 6 … and went razor clam digging on a regular basis.
An Olympic beach is one of my favorite places to “watch the weather come in”. This one is Kalaloch. Quite remote, but popular. A nice place to visit in the winter when the crowds are diminished.
The clouds frequently hang low over the Olympic Mountains. That is true year around, but in the late autumn, it is almost perpetual. I enjoy watching the clouds move up valley and around the ridges. They add an element of mystery to the landscape. And as long as you are prepared and have good equipment, it’s a good time to enjoy the solitude of a mountain valley.
There was a little bit of fresh snow … one of the first snows of the season.
A cloudy, misty, late autumn day in Olympic National Park.
