So I spent my Sunday romping around Washington Pass in the southeastern corner of Olympic National Park. My goal in the trip was to spot one or multiple Roosevelt Elk whom occupy the Olympic Peninsula in non-migratory herds. Ultimately, I failed in my elk quest, but it was a worthwhile trip none the less.
While the lowlands of the peninsula are typically packed on the weekends, one only needs to ascend poorly maintained forest service roads high into mountains to be completely alone in a matter of minutes.
The views from Washington Pass were amazing. The pass looks down over Lake Cushman, and ultimately to the south side of the Pugent Sound in the distance.
Cloud-obscured peaks higher on the range.
Had lunch on the hood, soaked it all in.
This would be my fate had I ventured too far to the drivers side. As always, the grade and depth of the slope is hard to capture in a photograph.
The trail quickly became tight as I began to cap the ridge line. Pinstripes don't scurrrr me! Surprisingly, these overgrown, seldom used trails were all on my factory GPS. Some of which weren't even featured on my National Park Service map. Props, Nissan.
Turning around on these tight, sloped roads was a bit of a chore. Backup cameras are for more than just parking at the mall, I've quickly learned.
You can barely see the trail I took up the mountain here, as evidenced by the lines cutting into the trees.
After about 4 hours of running around, driving trails and hiking hillsides, weather started to move in and I had to work my way back down the trail to civilization. The whole way down I had two bald eagles circling overhead, adequate compensation for the absent Roosevelt Elk.
