Backpacking in Olympic National Park
• ~200 words • 0.8 minute read
This past weekend I walked just a shade over a marathon, all said and done, with good company for my friend's bachelor party. We went up into Olympic National Park and did the trip in two nights, camping the first night at O'Neill Pass and the second at Enchanted Valley. The hike back was a long day.
Despite the predictions of rain we had nearly perfect weather — just the right mixture of sunshine, cloud cover and rain to make it interesting. The bears were out, but despite a bear-untee to run into one we never saw them; likely for the best. What we did see were elk. Dozens of elk. Elk are wonderful because they're slightly more awe-inspiring than a deer and significantly-less scary in-person than a moose.
There are funny stories to be written about the ultimately purposeless task the ranger appointed to us before departing, probable temporal loops, the beauty of getting away from things and what bachelor party shenanigans in the woods look like, but for now I'll leave you with pictures:
