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.

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.

Young Buck

Young Buck

This young buck was not shy, because it has lived its life in the National Park, where there isn’t any hunting allowed … so humans aren’t recognized as ‘the enemy’.

The Olympics In Winter

The Olympics in Winter

I tried this in black and white, since the colors weren’t a big part of the image. But I ended up liking it better in color. I think it had to do mostly with the separation in the sky. The blue in the sky created more separation than it did when converted to a gray tone. But maybe I was just too lazy to keep working at it.

The Olympics in Winter (B&W)

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