Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park is an entirely different experience depending on where within it one visits. The boundaries encompass windy, creased, subalpine peaks; verdant rainforests bursting with ferns, moss, and waterfalls; and a gray mysterious coast, shattered and broken by the crashing waves of the Pacific.

The park is a farther way from Seattle than you would think, but wasn't too crowded on a late June Monday. I started by hiking the three mile Hurricane Ridge Trail after a 20 mile drive up into the Olympic Mountains, named for their tallest point, Mount Olympus. The overlook at the end of the trail offered distant but blurred views of the ocean and Canada on the other side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Next, I snacked up at a fancy organic grocery store in the town of Port Angeles, then sped off towards the park's northwestern corner. After a quick stop at Crescent Lake, I found myself at another trailhead, this time in a whirring, breathing forest within a mountain valley.

About a mile and a half along the trail a wooden bridge spans multi-spigoted Sol Duc Falls. Instead of continuing along the trail into the rainforest, I turned back and soaked temporarily in nearby Sol Duc Hot Springs.

I ended my day by the ocean. Among the numerous national park beaches along the coast, I chose to stop at Ruby Beach. It felt a bit like stepping into a fantasmic dreamscape. The crisp, clear blue skies of the mountains and rainforest had thickened into white fog, limiting visibility to a few hundred yards.

Glassy tidal pools, contorted driftwood logs, and tiny islands (or giant rocks, depending on how you look at it) dotted the strange beach. The dense fog made me feel claustrophobic. I knew a giant ocean was out there, but I could not see it.

I camped that night at South Beach, a little further down the coast. In the morning, I still couldn't see the ocean, but did get to see some more of the Pacific Northwest flora on a short hike into the Hoh Rainforest. From there I turned back east for Mount Rainier.

North Cascades National Park

High up near Washington's border with Canada, the North Cascades slash triumphantly into the sky. The national park is about three hours northeast of Seattle but the drive goes fast, broken up by giant mountains that first loom in the distance then come into focus and take on personality as the road passes. Also on the way is the washed out hillside that swept away the town of Oso in March 2014.

Along with my sister and her boyfriend, we made a quick stop at the visitor's center and a couple overlooks before driving to the east side of the park and hiking a few miles out to an unmarked but well-trodden trail to what we referred to as Extra Beautiful Turquoise Lake. The radioactive blue waters collecting at the base of waterfall-laced mountainsides actually go by the name Lewis Lake, but we liked our name better.

After the hike we drove to the Washington Pass overlook beneath Liberty Bell Mountain's twin peaks and took in one last sweeping view of the rugged, rutted mountains before stopping for ice cream  in Marblemount and driving back to the city. I was growing ever more impressed with the Pacific Northwest.

Journey to the Pacific Northwest

Besides a brief rainy stop at Crater Lake a couple years ago, I'd never explored the Pacific Northwest. I'd heard of its beauty and had for awhile wanted to see for myself how it compared to all the beautiful places I've already seen. There are also three national parks out that way I'd never before visited. My sister, who now lives in Seattle, housesitting at her boss's lakeside mansion the last weekend of June presented the perfect opportunity to visit.

I left Denver's inky industrial darkness before dawn and drove through Wyoming and Utah on the first day of my trip, ending in Boise. I stayed with a friend I'd gone to school with in Texas who now worked for a children advocacy nonprofit in Idaho's capital. In my short time there, I got to see Boise State's campus, the state capitol building, and the small but moderately lively downtown. Boise is nice.

The next day I continued on to Seattle. Driving into Washington through the hills of Oregon is a thrill. Suddenly, across the flat plains, a giant lonely mountain erupted on the horizon. It was clearly volcanic, shooting up from basically sea level to almost 10,000 feet. I thought at first it was Mount Rainier, but realized quickly it was actually Mount Adams. After passing through Yakima I could see Rainier.

Seattle lies across the Snoqualmie Pass through the Cascades in a cluster of islands and peninsulas--all the water does not ease the traffic. Even though there are a few bridges, to get anywhere it seems drivers have to go around some inlet or bay. I got in late on Friday afternoon and grilled out with my sister. Then we walked her boss's dog (she was also dogsitting) down to Lake Washington. Seattle's skyline lay across the water.

The next morning we did the expedited tour of downtown. She showed me Pike Place Market then let me explore her apartment rooftop and the park near the Space Needle while she packed up to move to the suburbs. The city was fine--it felt similar to Denver or Austin in many ways with a lot more ocean--but I was itching to see the mountains. I got my first taste that afternoon when we tubed down the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River about an hour outside the city with some of her friends.