13. Olympic National Park
Back with another of my favorite national parks. Olympic! Originally established as a national monument in 1909 later on June 29th of 1938 it became a National Park. It’s one of the few national parks with such a diverse ecosystem. At Olympic you can see whales on the rugged coastline, mountain goats and glaciers and in the rainforest a whole new ecosystem awaits like these 10 inch Banana slugs.
I had the joy of visiting this Park back in 2019 with my dear friend Kendra. This is the 3rd National Park we’ve been to together. I don’t think words ever quite can do justice to how beautiful Olympic is. We started our trip hiking hurricane ridge, surrounded by wild flowers and 360 views. From the ridge you can spot Mount Olympus, the largest peak in the Park at 7,980 feet. Olympus is also home to the park's biggest glacier “Blue Glacier”. Further up the trail on Hurricane hill you can see Canada, as Vancouver Island is visible on a clear day across the ocean. You can also see the Cascades from that view.
We spent our second day at Lake Crescent and saw Marymere Falls and Hiked Mount Storm King. We kept telling ourselves we didn’t have to do the whole summit as it’s a tough hike with a 1700 elevation gain. The very last portion is only climbable by chain. But the thrill pushed us forward and I felt as free as a bird on the peak. At the bottom we jumped into the beautiful glacier made lake crescent in our hiking clothes!
The Olympic Coast is just as dazzling. I felt so at home on a rocky west coast beach exploring tide pools and taking in the scenic sea stack rocks. The park has an odd layout where portions of the coastland are part of the park though not attached to the main unit.
But Hoh Rainforest was probably the most striking to me, which is why I chose it for my painting. It felt like entering a fairytale in the vibrant green of the temperate rainforest. I remember the quiet as the moss is so dense it absorbs the sound, so wandering the great hall of Mosses was like walking in a dreamland. My Olympic painting is my most intricate and time consuming of all my national park paintings and I can’t seem to part with the original. You can see it hanging in my studio behind me.And It brings back so many good memories. The last hike we took was Blue Mountain back on the east side of the park again. It's one you can drive up for views that might put you above the clouds! While I only have the time to highlight my trip there is so much to this park I highly recommend visiting! I’d go back in a heartbeat!
Have you been to the Olympics? Feel free to nerd out with me in the comments!
Shop Olympic Art here!