Posts Tagged ‘Olympic National Park’
Getting My Goat
Quick! Name non-native invasive species in the Olympic Mountains; species that have altered the natural environment. Man, obviously! How about Scotch Broom, purple loosestrife, Robert’s geranium and mountain goats? Mountains goats? Yes, mountain goats, those furry lovable alpinists and members of the cattle family (Bovidae). They don’t belong here. The mountain goat, indigenous to the…
Read MoreGlacier Meadow’s “Ladder of Doom!”
There is nothing like the element of surprise while heading off into the backcountry. And I generally welcome surprises—especially if they are of the positive order. An unexpected viewpoint–a rare or unique wildlife sighting—a pleasant encounter with a fellow backcountry traveler. But sometimes surprises can be unnerving—finding a trail unmaintained—an encounter with a belligerent animal—or…
Read MoreThe Loneliest Ridge and Valley Trails in the Olympics
Image hiking for 22.5 miles—all but one of those miles on maintained trails—in one of the country’s most popular national parks—and encountering only 2 people—and that was at the beginning of the trip. My intrepid Olympic exploring friend Evan and I just finished an incredible one day journey across some of the park’s loneliest terrain—and…
Read MoreHiking among Paedomorphic and Neotonic critters—oh my!
Here are a couple of fifty cents words you can impress (or bore) your hiking friends with over your next post-adventure beer. I recently had an encounter with a paedomorphic critter. They are actually quite common in the Cascades and Olympics of Washington. Just what is paedomorphois? It’s a condition (sometimes referred to as…
Read MoreNew Path–Same Dangerous Traverse
Back in 2006 I swore never to hike up Olympic National Park’s Pyramid Peak again? Why? Certainly not because of the beautiful old-growth forest, historic fire lookout and breathtaking views of Crescent Lake below–those are all good reasons to make the grunt up this peak. The reason was that the section across a huge slide…
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