The Slab Camp Trail runs from the subalpine meadows near Deer Park in the Olympic National Park down to Slab Camp on the Graywolf River in the Olympic National Forest. We just hiked the mile and a half from Deer Park to the park boundary, only dropping 600 feet of elevation. Once in a while we had some clearing and views, but most of the afternoon we were hiking with clouds blowing over the ridge, cutting our view down to the local environs. Just happy that it never rained.
On a recent hike along the Slab Camp Trail out of Deer Park in the Olympic National Forest, we found that there was a lot of Olympic Onion in bloom. I had hiked this trail a number of times, but not usually this early in the season. I was delighted to see that the Olympic Onion was quite widespread in places. (see hillside below) I was pleased especially since these are not far from a very popular car campground and I was afraid that campers may have harvested many of them.
Walking through fields of lupine up in the high country is one of my favorite things. It’s especially nice when it’s not wet and overgrowing the trail. Then your boots get wet … and usually your socks. It can be uncomfortable the rest of the day. Fortunately, this was dry and away from the trail. Another close up “panorama”.
Most of the white flowers here are American Bistort with one or two strays mixed in.
This was taken on the High Divide trail in Olympic National Park.
This is the photo that I chose for the cover of my hiking memiors: 60 Years of Hiking in the Olympics. I haven’t been able to get a book seller to carry the hard copy yet, but it is available as an eBook on the Amazon Kindle website.
I’ve got it priced low. By the way, if/when I get it available as a hard copy, I’ll let you all know. The 5.5″ x 8.5″ size is priced at $24.99 US and the interior photos are black and white. The Kindle version is priced at $2.99 US and the images are all in color (except for early images that I took on B&W film.) It is available globally.
Here’s the link (or search for “60 Years of Hiking”):
I like seeing subalpine fir, partly because it means (typically around here, anyway) that I’m in the mountains. But this image also shows that a ‘panorama’ doesn’t have to be a distant scene. Closeup panoramas are one of my favorites.