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Hurricane Hill
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WA: 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…
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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
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, FORKS, WA: As the first light of dawn was still an hour away, I felt a surge of excitement for the day’s adventure ahead visiting Hole-in-the-Wall, in the Olympic National Park, on the coast near Forks, WA. The promise of exploration and reflection beckoned me to Hole-in-the-Wall at Rialto Beach, where nature…
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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,…