Sol Duc Waterfall

This wonderful 1.8 mile round trip hike starts at the Hot Springs which is at the end of about a 12 mile drive off Highway 101.  The waterfall is part of the Olympic National Park.  Once again we were thrilled to hike in a temperate rain forest.

I think we exhausted every little, and big, angle for photographing this waterfall.  We still found items along the trail that we thought were photo-worthy.

Looking downstream from the waterfall.

We don't know what this structure was for.  There was no sign to indicate its use.  It was common to see 'shelters' built along many of the hikes.

This couple walked past me and then turned around to apologize.  I told them, "Stand still and you can be an important part of the image and add scale to how big and awesome this place is."  They smiled and agreed to be a part of the scene.

There were several small streams along the path.

Spooky!!

Hoh Rain Forest

The Hoh Rain Forest is the largest temperate rain forest in the United States.  It is a key feature of the Olympic National Forest and its popularity is well deserved.  We hiked the 0.8 mile Hall of Mosses Trail.

To access the Hall of Mosses Trail you must first cross a wooden bridge.  This image is to your left.  My first thought was, "Oh man, I am going to have to de-saturate that green.  No one will believe this intensity."  Well, I decided to leave it alone.  The rest of the hike would be surreal and the green became more believable by the cross back over the bridge.

Once I took a deep breath with the view on the left side of the bridge I turned to the right side.  Immediately I knew it was going to be an awesome hike.

Light shows up and then disappears.  The overhead clouds play games with photographers.  'You want a ray of light?'  How much are you willing to pay?  LOL

Micro environments provide a relief from the over-stimulation that one gets when looking around and seeing the bigger picture!  Better to focus on something small, like me . . . .

These trees may have started many, many years ago on a 'nursing log' and then extended their root down into the soil.  The nursing log is finally absorbed and the roots are exposed with nothing beneath them.  Just guessing here!

A common view as we hiked along.

Our path.

For the photographer . . . unlimited dynamic range . . . . backlit . . .

Helter skelter rules!

I felt small in this place.  I was.

Creatures of the rain forest.

The predominant tree in the Hoh rain forest is the Sitka Spruce.  Other trees are the Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Big Leaf Maple, Red Alder, Vine Maple and Black Cottonwood.

Trees can grow to 312 feet in height and 23 feet in diameter.

Yes, you can feel pretty small here.

As we left Highway 101 and headed to the Ranger Station for Hoh Rain Forest we drove along the Hoh River. One thing that stood out among the large tree stumps was the aquamarine color of the water.  We finally stopped to see if we could capture the color.

There are twenty shades of green in a large box of crayons.  We saw every one of them as we hiked!