Rainier to Olympus

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your comments and prayers. I've been trying to take it easy but I haven't been all that successful. There's just so much to do! To make matters worse I found out that I could get in on a seabird tour. I just had to sign up. It leaves from here, Westport, WA, tomorrow, Saturday, morning. So I'll have one less day to do other things. I guess that's not too bad.

In spite of the busy schedule, I did fit in some relaxation and I do feel better now. I think the bird trip will help too. And I really should be able to relax on the ferry to Alaska. I'm discovering that just a nice little conversation with someone can help a lot too. Hopefully I'll meet a lot of people on the upcoming boat trips.

I was at Mt Rainier in May a few years ago now and not that much has changed. It was good to see the mountain though. It was too cloudy to see it before. This time it rained the first day and then it cleared right up.

The park also has it's fair share of beautiful waterfalls and rivers. This waterfall is called Comet Falls. It takes two miles of steep hiking to get there and It rained a lot along the way but it was worth it.

Near the Paradise Visitor Center I met this family of Foxes. They were very used to people. I'm sure some people have been feeding them. In fact I saw signs warning people not to feed the foxes.

I spent Saturday night in another Walmart parking lot. I don't have to do that much anymore and I'd be glad not to do it at all, but in this case all the nearby campgrounds were full and Walmart was my only good option. I also haven't stayed in a motel for a long time. I decided it would be a good money saving move.

My church choices were strangely limited. I asked at a christian bookstore and a lady told me that that area was one of the most unchurched in the country. I have no idea why. Anyway, I ended up at Evergreen Church which, as it turns out, is an Assemblies of God church. I was a little nervous about it since I'm not used to their style of worship. But, aside from one woman dancing in the isles and a little more background "noise" during the prayers, it was fine.

From there I headed for Olympia National Park. What a great place! It has mountains, rain forests, and seashore. I started on the coast and worked my way north. And surprisingly I never had trouble finding a campsite in the area. Thanks for the prayers on that.

A lot of the beaches have these piles of logs. They get washed down stream, when they get a lot of rain, and then they end up piled in these heaps near the high water mark.

At low tide you can find some great tide pools.

I found that I was able to have the beaches to myself from sunrise to about 8:00 AM. After that I had to deal with the vacationing hoard. You might not be able to make them out very well in this shot but they are all over. I would finally have to give up on getting a shot with no people in it.

As you can see I even resorted to taking some people pictures. She didn't know I was there so it was really like wildlife photography. Her dad saw me taking the pictures and asked me to email some to him.

At the Northwest most corner of the lower 48 states is Cape Flattery. It's actually on an Indian reservation but you can visit it for a small fee. If you get out that way don't miss this spot! It takes a half mile hike to get out to it but it's well worth it. I actually did it three times. I got this shot on my second trip as the sun was going down.

The next morning was wonderfully foggy. I have dozens of shots that I could have posted here but I thought it best to show some restraint.

At one point all the gulls flew off and this eagle came out of the fog. It just kept moving and the gulls came right back.

I also added two lifers at the cape, Tufted Puffins and Heermans Gull. I expected to find the Puffins, but the gulls came as a surprise. I think I'm on the extreme northern edge of their range here.

The viewing area at the cape is pretty small and it got a fair number of visitors. It wasn't bad though since they can't really get into your shot. In situations like this the ranger/naturalist in me tends to come out. I started pointing out birds and things, and pretty soon people are asking me questions, just like that's what I was there for. I actually enjoyed it. It really helped my mood.

From there I went to Hurricane Ridge up in the mountains.

I found it quite easy to find Mountain Goats here. Surprisingly though they are not native to this area. someone brought them in in the 1920s. Now they're trying to get rid of them because of the damage they can do.

This bear, number 21, turned up along the road. I talked to a ranger about it and she was surprised to hear that it didn't have a cub with it. It looks like mother finally sent her cub off on it's own.

Since I'll be out on the water all day tomorrow I have to take care of some of my Saturday things today. I've got my blog updated and I'm now off to do my laundry. Yippee! I'll have to take care of some relaxation while the wash is going. OK so maybe that isn't quality relaxation. Anyway... take care and keep praying. I'll try to get in one more post before I get on the ferry but I might not get to it until I get to Alaska. Take care.

Steve