Olympic Peninsula: the places I keep returning to

Fall color, spring rain, misty mornings, and the forests and coastline that keep bringing me back.

I have visited the Olympic Peninsula many times, in fall color and spring rain, and on mornings when mist softened everything around me. These photographs bring together several visits. What connects them is the feeling of being there: cool air, morning fog, and the kind of chilly weather that makes a sweater feel exactly right.

The forest I always want to see

The Hoh Rain Forest and the Hall of Mosses are my favorite places to visit in Olympic National Park. Of all the stops I have made on the peninsula, this is the one I keep wanting to return to. The moss-covered trees are a large part of that pull. Looking through these photographs, I remember how much there is to see within a single patch of forest.

The Quinault rainforest was also extremely beautiful. My memories of the peninsula include both forests, along with the spring rain and fall colors that made different visits feel distinct. Rather than trying to fit them into one itinerary, I think of them as places I have come to know a little more each time.

Fog, cool air, and sweater weather

The mornings are one of my favorite things about these trips. I remember morning fog and a lovely chill in the air: comfortable, cozy weather that made me happy to be outside. That feeling belongs in the journal as much as any named viewpoint. It is part of why the forest photographs bring back more than just what the trees looked like.

Marymere Falls is one of my favorite waterfalls. Alongside the rainforest visits, it stands out as one of the places I have especially enjoyed on the peninsula. Between the waterfalls and the rainforest, there is always a reason for me to spend more time among the trees.

Out to Cape Flattery

I make sure to visit Cape Flattery whenever I return to the peninsula. It is one of the stops that has become a constant across my visits, even as the season and weather change. Having both the forests and the coast in the same collection feels right: they are both central to how I remember this part of Washington.

The photographs between the bigger destinations matter, too. A road through the trees can bring back the feeling of moving through the peninsula just as strongly as an overlook. I do not remember these visits only as a list of places. I remember the mornings and the weather that accompanied them.

Rialto Beach, beyond the driftwood

Rialto Beach has been a wonderful place to explore. The logs washed up on the shore are enormous—some seemed the size of redwood trees. Getting around them could feel like an obstacle course before I reached the shoreline. Their size is one of the details that stays with me when I look back at the beach photographs.

I also enjoyed seeing Hole-in-the-Wall at Rialto. Between that feature, the sea stacks, and the huge driftwood, there was plenty to explore. But what makes the Olympic Peninsula special to me is the combination: a favorite rainforest, a familiar coastal stop, and another foggy, chilly morning. Those are the things that keep drawing me back.