Posted by Ken Canning on November 11, 2009 at 11:10 PM
Hi,
I will be in Seattle next week and it looks like I will have 1 or 2 days of free time. I'm interested in photographing landscape in the region, and trying to decide between Olympic and Rainier. Given the brief time I have, I was planning to focus on a small area only. Any recommendations for this time of year?
Many Thanks,
-Ken
Posted by Steve Cole on November 12, 2009 at 10:47 PM
No one else stepped up so I'll try to offer some info.
Winter has arrived like a lion so the odds of you seeing mountain landscapes will probably be low. At Mount Rainier, all roads have met their winter closures with the obvious exception of the road to Paradise from Longmire (but it does close nightly during winter). Right now, Rainier offers three options: Paradise (and other attractions between Longmire and Paradise), Ohanepecosh (Grove of the Patriarchs + Silver Falls), Carbon River (temperate old growth rain forest). Paradise will be accessible, Ohanepecosh *might* be accessible, and the Carbon River is accessible but only by foot.
I prefer the Carbon River area but the damaged road has made access tougher. This past weekend I hiked in to Green Lake (pictures posted on my blog) which normally would just be a 3.5 mile round trip hike. The road closure makes it a 10 mile roundtrip hike. You do get to experience a lot of beautiful forest so it IS worth it.
Unfortunately, I don't have much knowledge about Olympic NP so hopefully someone else will fill you in on that!
Steve
Posted by Bryan Swan on November 13, 2009 at 12:06 AM
Parts of Olympic are usually accessible all year (Quinault, the Beaches, etc). Lake Crescent is generally free of snow but the pass between Fairholm and the Sol Duc road will often get a foot or three. The biggest issue in the coming week is the snow level is suggested to be as low as 500 feet in the mountains until Saturday morning, and there is a pretty substantial front moving in tomorrow, so even the lower areas might get socked in a bit. However, if the snow level rises, whatever falls down low will melt off real quick (its about time for the annual November 100 year flood). I'd say Olympic is your safest bet - longer drive from Seattle but more likely that more places will be accessible (and there's a greater than likely chance you wouldn't see Rainier anyway).
Posted by Ken Canning on November 13, 2009 at 6:23 AM
Thank you Steve and Bryan, local weather was definitely one of my concerns. I'm leaning towards the beaches.
Posted by Steve Cole on November 13, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Discussion
4 repliesI will be in Seattle next week and it looks like I will have 1 or 2 days of free time. I'm interested in photographing landscape in the region, and trying to decide between Olympic and Rainier. Given the brief time I have, I was planning to focus on a small area only. Any recommendations for this time of year?
Many Thanks,
-Ken
Winter has arrived like a lion so the odds of you seeing mountain landscapes will probably be low. At Mount Rainier, all roads have met their winter closures with the obvious exception of the road to Paradise from Longmire (but it does close nightly during winter). Right now, Rainier offers three options: Paradise (and other attractions between Longmire and Paradise), Ohanepecosh (Grove of the Patriarchs + Silver Falls), Carbon River (temperate old growth rain forest). Paradise will be accessible, Ohanepecosh *might* be accessible, and the Carbon River is accessible but only by foot.
I prefer the Carbon River area but the damaged road has made access tougher. This past weekend I hiked in to Green Lake (pictures posted on my blog) which normally would just be a 3.5 mile round trip hike. The road closure makes it a 10 mile roundtrip hike. You do get to experience a lot of beautiful forest so it IS worth it.
Unfortunately, I don't have much knowledge about Olympic NP so hopefully someone else will fill you in on that!
Steve