Category: Valley

North Fork Skokomish Fire Before and After (1)

The Olympic National Park opened up the Staircase Rapids Loop Trail on July 8th for the first time since the fire in 2025 devastated the area. The valley of the North Fork Skokomish was one of my favorite locations and I went to take photos of the area on the 8th. Each set of photos shows the same location before and after. Some images aren’t exact matches … but I did as well as I could with the images I had. The Staircase Loop Trail leaves from the Staircase Ranger Station, runs 1 mile (1.6 KM), crosses the river (on a bridge that was protected from the fire) and returns back to the parking lot.

The first set is from an overlook close to the trailhead (but slightly off the trail).

Up River View Before
Up River View After

The second set is of the Slate Creek crossing. The wood single stringer bridge is completely gone.

Slate Creek with Bridge (before)
Slate Creek Crossing with No Bridge

(Note the woman on the left for scale)

13

Ridge and Panorama

Ridge Above Slab Camp Trail

These are the last shots from my recent trip up to Deer Park in the Olympic National Park. In the panorama below, the three valleys (from left to right) are the Graywolf River, Cameron Creek and Grand Creek. Where they all run together is the Three Forks Shelter.

Panorama Looking South from the Slab Camp Trail
2

Raven Visit

View south and west from Hurricane Hill Picnic area

We took a break while on our walk up at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park on May 3rd. While we were enjoying a snack and the view, we had this raven come in to visit (and/or beg for some of our snacks). Its beak is open, but it wasn’t squawking. I think it was trying to cool off … it was a record warm day (for May 3rd) and I don’t think it was used to the temperature.

Raven with the Elwha River valley in the distance
3

Visit to Hurricane Ridge and Snowpack Comparison

Bailey Range from Hurricane Hill Road — May 3, 2026

Taking advantage of beautiful warm spring weather, we went up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. The views were stunning, but comparing the view (above) with a photo from about the same spot back 5 years ago and three weeks later in May shows that we have a very low snowpack this year.

Bailey Range from Hurricane Hill Road — May 21, 2021

For another view, this time looking down the Elwha River valley. This one is a little more difficult to compare snowfields, because they are similar and both are a long ways away.

The Elwha River Valley from Hurricane Hill Road — May 3, 2026
The Elwha River Valley from Hurricane Hill Road — May 21, 2021
11

Winter Elwha Valley Views

Winter Elwha Valley View 1

These were taken during the recent trip I made to Hurricane Ridge. The view above is looking south down the Elwha River valley at the heart of the Olympic National Park. I have hiked the valley a number of times, and it’s as lovely from ground level as it looks from this elevation. Below is looking more west towards the south end of the Bailey Range. The close valley is the Elwha and on the other side of the ridge running along the other side of the Elwha is Long Creek … the ridge is Long Ridge.

Winter Elwha Valley View 2
7

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑