Lake Tahoe | Seattle | Whistler | Vancouver | Mt. Baker | Olympic National Park - In Two Weeks' Time

(2.19.18) In a matter of thirteen days I’d been through seven airports, ridden (🏂) nine nearly-consecutive days between 5 mountains (Heavenly, Kirkwood, Sierra, Whistler Blackcomb, Mt. Baker) across the western coasts of United States and Canada, and driven 1000’s of miles throughout CA, WA, and B.C. My travel and adventure buddy, Noah, and I decided to spend the final two days circling Olympic National Park before catching a 5am flight home.

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ONP day 1 was spent between ferry rides, visiting Port Angeles, driving around Crescent Lake, hiking and photographing the westernmost point of the lower 48 - Cape Flattery, and catching a captivating Pacific sunset at Shi Shi Beach. The final goal of our ONP loop was reaching the Enchanted Valley that lies deep within the Quinault Rain Forest. About an hour from the next day's starting point, we settled into a little roadside cabin to pack our daypacks and catch a few hours of sleep.

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ONP day 2 began with a 5am alarm that sent us down the only road into the trailhead. Our boots hit the trail in utter silence at 6:51am in the brisk, mid 20’s morning filled with a dense, eerie fog. Our sole goal for the day, reaching The Enchanted Valley, which begins at mile 13.5 and stretches to mile 15. Little did we know that the rain forest, in Winter, tends to become a snow forest. We knew it would be tough, if not impossible, to trek 13.5-15 miles and then retrace our crunchy steps in the allotted time, but why not give it all we had. The trail wound through 250ft+ Western Hemlocks, Douglas Firs, Sitka Spruces, Red Cedars, and various other trees and epiphytes. The out and back hike gains around 4,700ft and, was 80% in shin to knee high snow. Fighting the clock, basic distance vs. time calculations had us nearly turn back twice, but pressing on was the unanimous vote. It came to a point, roughly 12.5 miles in, that we couldn’t continue and had to turn back - merely a mile from our goal. The final two hiking hours were led by flashlight, and at 6:57pm we see the relieving sight of Noah's Subaru. Car seats had never felt so heavenly. We set sails toward his house (Lynnville, WA) around 7:15pm - a 4+ hour drive ahead of us. Three minutes into backtracking, we come to an abrupt stop - a quality landslide covered the single path out, looking like the rocky roadside cliff had crumbled and melted over the past twelve hours. Hours out of cell service. Not a soul for tens of miles. In the middle of Olympic National...in the heart of Winter. Still with a plane to catch in 10 hours, the only choice was to move some earth. Roughly an hour in, the final obstacle in the clearing operation was a ~2,000lb boulder that we managed to wiggle away with some old janky tow straps, tons of patience and teamwork, and his trusty 99 Forester.

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We pulled into his Lynnwood apartment moments past midnight, giving us time to catch a couple hours of sleep after unpacking the car/repacking luggage. I made it home and have never enjoyed my bed as much as the following few days of recovery. Fifteen days, seven states, one province, and two countries. The longest, most exhausting yet exhilarating and rewarding adventure to date. The Pacific Northwest has beyond captivated me and I cannot wait to return and explore deeper and capture more of its majestic beauty.

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'Enchanted Valley - we will return'