James Delbert Anderson Photography: Olympic trip

A couple weeks ago, I took a camping trip to the Olympic Peninsula, staying at a campground a little ways west of Port Angeles. The original plan had been to do something in the Blue Mountains in southeast Washington, but with a forecast for hot temperatures and maybe even wildfire smoke during the full days of my visit, I opted for a safer bet. Daily breezes off the Strait of Juan de Fuca meant that I definitely beat the heat - indeed, I was cold most evenings and wore a warm jacket at the campsite!

A special part of visiting the Olympic Peninsula is how near the distinct environments - beach/coast, forest, and mountain - are to each other. As such, I organized my trip by visiting one of these environments on each of the full days of my trip.

Part 1: Mountains

I spent my "mountain" day at the very popular Hurricane Hill. It's popular for a reason - the trail is short and well-kept, with stunning views in multiple directions. Thankfully, we started early enough that we were able to avoid any issues entering the park or finding parking. My favorite image from the day is this one, an arrangement of yarrow (white), paintbrush (red), and other wildflowers with mountains in the background. Even though there's a lot going on, I think the composition came together pretty well. F/9.

Overall, the wildflower displays weren't as extensive as they've been other times when I've visited Hurricane Hill, so there were a lot of vistas like the one below. While not as flashy or eye-catching as masses of wildflowers, the grassy slopes had their own kind of beauty. I tried to depict that in the image below. The image quality suffered a bit - I had to boost the ISO to get a shutter speed quick enough to get all the grass sharp. Even so, it'd work at a standard size (8x10 or 8x12). F/18.

Next, a meadow of what I think is American bistort. I wish I could've gotten a bit closer to some of the flowers (I wouldn't have been able to without putting my tripod in the meadow), but I still like it. I enjoy the color contrast between the yellowish-green of the meadow and the blue of the mountains. F/18.

In this last image from Hurricane Hill, I was drawn to the way the topography changed from green to blue as it became more distant. That's something I love about mountain views on sunny days. F/16.

Part 2: Beaches

For my "beach day," I visited the Salt Creek Recreation Area and the Lyre River Conservation Area, which are along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the west or Port Angeles. In contrast to Hurricane Hill, the trails in these parks were very quiet. We were fortunate enough to be at Salt Creek at a lower tide, enabling some beach exploration.

First, from the Salt Creek Recreation Area, red elderberry in focus, with a sea stack in the background. This is probably another favorite image from the trip. F/5.

Here's another view of the sea stack, this time from the tidally fluctuating beach. The gray sky is a bit drab, but I like the sea stack's reflection, and the ripples in the sand. F/16.

The rocks, beaches, and tidepools of Salt Creek were teeming with life, as depicted below. F/18.

Finally, the quiet, secluded beach from the Lyre River Conservation Area. F/16, 1/50 of a second.

Part 3: Forest

My final full day on the peninsula was my "forest day," during which I visited the Marymere Falls and Barnes Creek trails near Lake Crescent. The Marymere Falls trail can get very busy during the day, but was very quiet when we started (not long after 7am). This enabled me to set up my tripod in the trail without interrupting other hikers. The Barnes Creek trail, in contrast, vas very quiet throughout the day with only a few other groups, despite the fact that it passes through some excellent old-growth forest with frequent views of the creek. I'd like to make a return trip specifically to the Barnes Creek trail, skipping Marymere Falls, and explore farther up the valley.

First, Marymere Falls behind a cedar tree. F/16, 2.5 seconds.