Regular readers will have noted that I often have images of misty mountain ridges. And yes, I really like the mystery of watching clouds move through the forested ridges that are so common in the Olympic Mountains. So, I hope you enjoy this one, it’s a nice one that shows the misty mood pretty well.
I found these nice little falls in a visit to the Quinault Rain Forest in the Olympic National Park.
I would really encourage you to click on the image above to get a larger image view of this photo. I was over camped on the Quinault river and set up my camera on a tripod. I had a 21mm lens on my DSLR and an exposure of 15 seconds … a combination that lets you take some interesting night photos without having the stars turn into tracks.
This old picnic table is near the beginning of the East Fork Quinault trail that runs up to the Enchanted Valley in Olympic National Park.. It’s not surprising that it shows its age: it’s living in the middle of the rain forest. It’s an area that I believe was once accessible by car and a small parking lot.
Trail maintenance has suffered for years … some trails get brushy or have trees that have fallen across the track. Depending on the ‘importance’ of the trail, maintenance may go waiting for years. Trails are a valuable and limited resource and should be protected from neglect. All of these trails are in the Olympic National Park … and show different levels of maintenance. The top image shows a meadow area where the trail has almost disappeared: it is a rarely used section. The middle image shows a trail that gets regular maintenance due to heavy use. The third image shows yours truly on a trail that gets very heavy use … and regular maintenance.
