This big overhanging rock lives along the Staircase Loop Trail (about a 2 mile loop) in the southeast corner of the Olympic National Park. The trail is heavily used, especially in the summer when the campground at Staircase fills up. It’s a great walk through old growth forest without much elevation gain.
I have visited the area year ’round and have wondered if the overhang provides shelter for any critters during inclement weather … besides hikers. I’ve never seen any, but I expect that critters leave when hikers show up.
One last shot (in this series) from the trip to Hurricane Ridge (Olympic National Park) earlier this month. I liked the way the rocky area curves around and then follows the tree covered ridge.
One of my favorite hikes in the past was to hike up the North Fork Teanaway (Esmerelda Basin) trail and then walk the ridge to the south summit of Ingalls Peak (above, the ridge for approach is on the left). It’s an moderately easy hike and can be made more interesting by continuing down the other side to the Long Pass Trail and returning to the trailhead with only a short double back.
Mt Stuart from the south summit of Ingalls Peak.
The view from the summit is wonderful, with the south face of Mt Stuart being the highlight. Stuart is the highest non-volcanic peak in Washington … and attracts a host of serious climbers. I prefer the more enjoyable saunter up South Ingalls.
Also from the summit, you have a stunning view north along the spine of the Central Cascades (below), including views of two of the Cascade volcanoes: Glacier Peak (on the right) and Mt Baker (in the distance on the left). Mt Rainier and Mt Adams are visible to the south (weather permitting).
Avebury is a collection of Neolithic henge stones (near Avebury, Wiltshire, England) including three stone circles … including the largest in the world. These standing stones were not part of a circle, but I thought the one in the foreground was amazing. They were set in the ground around 3000 BC. While not as famous as Stonehenge, it is a much larger complex.
This is another isolated stone circle that we found driving backcountry roads in southwest England (back in August 1999). I liked the double rainbow (the second is very faint) in the background. There were no other folks around and no real signage. Just a stone circle that had been there for hundreds and hundreds of years.
