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Klahhane Ridge
A year ago, almost to the week, I drove up into the Olympics in the dark with a new word. This time I made the same drive out of Port Angeles carrying that same word, a year of seeing what it looks like in real life, and a sprained wrist I was mostly trying to…
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Hurricane Hill
Some mornings stay with me for reasons I never see coming. Yesterday’s drive toward the Olympic Peninsula gave me plenty of time to think, and I kept returning to a conversation from the week before that nudged me to consider what truly mattered. Last week’s early morning drive ended at a hospital instead of a…
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Dungeness Spit
DUNGENESS WILDLIFE AREA, SEQUIM, WA: been unfolding long before that. I drove under the pre-dawn sky, windows down, letting in the chill on the last mile of my drive to Dungeness Spit. Most of my hikes begin with a longer drive through sleeping towns and empty highways. This one started the day prior, somewhere between…
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Mount Townsend
BUCKHORN WILDERNESS, OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WA: The morning air, a crisp thirty-eight degrees, hit me as I stepped out of my car at the trailhead, the world still in darkness that would remain for at least another hour. The sound of rushing water provided a soundtrack for today’s adventure, and I felt a familiar excitement,…
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Hurricane Ridge
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WA: The crisp morning air accompanied me as I drove toward Hurricane Ridge, in Olympic National Park. It was a clear day between weather patterns, and my heart filled with anticipation. With each mile, the darkness of my thoughts began to lift, making room for gratitude, humility, and reflection. I was setting…
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Hole-in-the-Wall + Hoh + Ruby Beach
I had three trails, one day, and a long drive to the coast before any of them. I was on the road long before first light, with a playlist on shuffle doing what it does best, turning up things I didn’t know I’d lost. The plan was simple enough on paper: morning on the beach,…
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Mount Walker
OLYMPIC NATIONAL FOREST, WA: Arriving at Mount Walker just before dawn, I stepped out into the crisp air, anticipation sitting close. The chill bit at my skin, yet the beauty of the tall evergreens, silhouetted against the dark blue sky, soothed my nerves. This morning’s hike gave me room to think, with its own twists,…
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Spruce Railroad Trail: Lake Crescent
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WA: This morning, as dawn began to unfold along the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent, I found myself enveloped in an atmosphere of serene anticipation. The air was crisp, with low fog draping the hills like a soft blanket. Each step I took felt like a gentle awakening, a reminder of…
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“One Square Inch of Silence”
HOH RAINFOREST, OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WA: Before the sun began to rise, I set out on yet another adventure into the heart of nature, a ritual that nourishes my body, mind, and soul. Driving through the coastal darkness, the road felt like a blank canvas, inviting me to reflect on the gratitude I carry for…
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Lake Angeles Trail
About a hundred feet from the lake, after more than four miles of climbing, a sign told me I probably shouldn’t be there alone. I laughed, mostly. The rest of the morning had been quieter than that: a low gray sky, a cold mix of rain and snow that couldn’t decide which it wanted to…