Olympia National Park

"From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam, God bless America, my home, sweet home."  Irving Berlin

I doubt that Mr. Berlin would have considered substituting the word rainforests in place of prairies.  That would have messed up his iambic pentameter, not to mention spurned the middle of the country.  But if he had wrote the lyrics that way, he would captured the diversity of Olympic National Park.

Within its boundaries are rocky coastlines, old-growth rainforests and alpine mountains.  Tim and I observed them all and I have the photos--too many photos, in Tim's opinion--to prove it.  So the following needs editing, but I am reluctant to cut any.  I'll leave it to you to skim through this.

As a postscript, let me say that having two base camps from which to explore the park was key for us.  We camped near Forks, Washington giving us great access to the coast and the rainforest on the west side of the park.  Then, after three days, we moved the Dawntreader to Port Angeles, gateway to the Olympic Mountains.  Otherwise, the distances within the park might have prohibited us from enjoying all three ecosystems.

Now, ready, set...skim!


The Beach

The Rainforest

The Mountains

"God bless America, land that I love."