This was from a walk in the first week of October. The big leaf maple that was already turning contrasted with its neighbors that were still fully green.
Autumn Walk
Staircase and the North Fork Skokomish
The image above shows the North Fork Skokomish river just above the Staircase area in the Olympic National Park. If you look closely, you can see the bridge that runs across the river … providing access tof the Staircase Loop Trail. This is a very wide angle lens … which causes the curvature distortion. The image below is taken from the bridge looking further downriver.
At the bottom, a section of the North Fork Skokomish trail running through Maple Flats, about 6 miles up from the Staircase area.
Low Water
This is the North Fork Skokomish from the Red Rapids Bridge just upstream from Staircase Campground in Olympic National Park. I’ve been there a lot and this is about as low as I have ever seen the water level.
Maidenhair Fern
The Olympic National Park is fern country. These were growing alongside the North Fork Skokomish trail.
Upstream – Downstream
These two photos are taken from the middle of the bridge across the North Fork Skokomish at Six Stream, which comes into the North Fork just south of the bridge. The bridge is just about 6 miles up the North Fork Skokomish trail …
The Six Ridge trailhead is just at the upper end of the bridge … and that trail is one of the most rugged, least traveled and least maintained in the Olympic National Park. One that I have contemplated hiking in the past, but never got around to. (that’s what happens when you have a full time job)
