Whenever I visit a new place, it never feels as though I have enough time to truly explore. Not enough time to hike, not enough time to wander, not enough time to truly feel immersed and to begin to memorize the curve and sounds of the trails or the pulse of the city. I am often caught between wanting to do everything and pack as much as I can into a short period of time and making the effort to slow down and go where time and chance take me. Visiting Seattle felt just like that. There are parks upon parks, beaches upon beaches, waterfalls upon waterfalls, to infinity. Or so you’d think. Living in Texas, I don’t often get the opportunity to spend significant periods of time in the pnw, which can make visits there feel all the more urgent.
Over time I’ve realized that one of the most important pieces of having a good experience, regardless of the setting, is managing your expectations. What’s realistic? What’s important? What do I value and want to get out of this experience? Approaching trips and other situations with this lens helps me feel grounded and helps decrease that sense of urgency to do and see all the things. It interrupts the culture of busy-ness that we live in that encourages us to invest more energy into doing than on being.
Despite the million and one things I wanted to do, I was grateful to have slow days with good food, great company, and thrift store shopping interspersed with some serious hiking and waterfall chasing. Like running and lifting, hiking is another sport to me that brings me joy, exertion, and some aches and bruises here and there. My first visit to Seattle left me with a pretty gnarly bruise on my shin after I lost my footing and I still have flashbacks of our ascent to view Snow Lake via an icy trail without crampons. Sliding down backwards on the ice, down the side of the mountain, still elicits some terror in me.
This go-round we saw some epic views at Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, Dash Point State Park, Saltwater State Park, San Juan Islands, and more. Though we did see a lot in the week we were there, we also took the time to hang out on the porch and drink wine and be still. I am someone who appreciates those moments of silence because that’s when I process information and engage in a lot of self-reflection, all of which are good and necessary for my soul. Wine and porch time were actually a part of our first day in Seattle – that, combined with some grocery shopping and good old thrift store shopping. I love thrift stores because I think they’re an interesting reflection of the vibe of a city, so I try to go to at least one thrift store in the cities I visit.
The first place we visited was Snoqualmie Falls. It is the sacred place of the Snoqualmie Tribe‘s creation history – the birthplace of the Snoqualmie people. The 270-foot Falls receive over 1.5 million visitors per year and the nearby Salish Lodge, owned by the Muckleshoot Tribe, provides a place for weary travelers and hikers to rest. At the time of our visit, I was unaware of the dispute over the construction of the Tokul Road roundabout. The city of Snoqualmie cited safety as a top concern since the area receives so many visitors, but the Snoqualmie people are opposed to the construction because the roundabout would sit on top of a sacred burial site. At the moment, the Snoqualmie Tribe is fighting development around Snoqualmie Falls for the same reason. I’m not going to go more in depth into this issue because I don’t have enough information as an outsider, but it’s important for me to know the context and history of the places I visit, even if it’s information that I learn after the fact. For more on the history of native peoples in this area, go here.
At the Falls, we took the trail to the lower observation deck and walked around the two-acre park. My mind was blown by the size of the Bigleaf Maple tree leaves, which were almost the size of my head! The quiet sound of the soft rain hitting the ground added to the magic of it all. After buying a few items from the gift shop, we went to another spot that might be familiar if you were big into Twin Peaks: the infamous Double R Diner. I had never watched the show, but since this visit, I’ve seen at least a couple of episodes and the movie. Definitely bizarre to say the least.
Our second nature adventure stop took us to Mount Rainier National Park and their beautiful, majestic Douglas firs, some of the most awe-inducing trees I’ve laid eyes on. While these Douglas firs are about 800 years old, some of the trees in the park are 1,000 years or older. 1,000 years! or older! My mind can’t fully comprehend that length of time – my life is just a blip in that timeline, let alone the Earth’s timeline. We were surrounded by lush, green landscapes as we walked through the rainforest on Green Lake Trail to Ranger Falls. The falls were beautiful and the solitude we encountered as we made our way down the trail was exactly what I was looking for. Although we weren’t able to hike up close to Mount Rainier this time, it’s on my list for my next visit!
Dash Point State Park was next on our list the following day. Sea shells, gulls, and seaweed abound on the Puget Sound. We stayed in Federal Way, just outside of Seattle, and this park was a very short drive away. Though we mainly stuck to the beach, Dash Point also has miles of trails for hiking and biking. I think it would make a beautiful camping destination.
Saltwater State Park is another gem a few miles away. Driftwood covered the shore, as did many people. Being by the water and watching the wildlife was a huge draw for people. If it hadn’t been so chilly at the time I would have definitely dipped my toes in the water.
A little whiskey on a cold day anyone?
We made an obligatory stop at Seattle’s Public Market to walk around and grab a bite to eat at the end of the day. I hadn’t seen the monkfish last time I was here, but they got me this time! If you’re there, look out, it’s rigged…
The following day was driving-heavy and full of interesting stops. I don’t remember exactly how it came up, or where he found the information, but my partner learned that there was a ghost town on our way to Forks, near Olympia. Bordeaux (so named after Thomas and Russell Bordeaux, the French Canadian owners of the Mason Logging Company) was once a logging company town but the population left after the saw mill shut down due to a vanishing forest, courtesy of the logging. Though the trees eventually returned, the people did not, and now all that remains of Bordeaux are a few structures. Unbeknownst to us when we were there, this ghost town is actually closed to the public because it’s a protected archaeological site. The Bordeaux that we saw is covered in green, with trees and moss blanketing buildings that once played an important role in a community. In certain areas you get the sense that maybe there are other structures that are buried below what is now the surface.
We continued on and drove through a portion of the Olympic National Forest until we arrived at Forks, WA. Yes, for Twilight – but also for the natural beauty and the history! We stopped at First, Second, and Third Beach and Rialto Beach, parts of which are on what is now the Quileute Reservation. The Quileute Nation’s website has a lot of helpful information about Indian Country etiquette, history, stories, and more. In reading the history, several tools of colonization emerge as a pattern: renaming native peoples so that they would have white and christian names and burning down homes in order to drive people out. A lot of violence has been enacted against native and indigenous peoples in this country, and that’s history that we can’t forget, for the sake of our own humanity. A lot of people treat travel as purely a form of escape. I think it’s important to be mindful and intentional, especially when we travel.
On our way back I, of course, needed to have my picture taken next to the Olympic National Park sign, which just so happened to be as tall as I am. We also stopped at the Lake Quinault Lodge just after the sun set. It was such a picturesque place, decorated for Halloween, and I know that I have to return and stay there as a guest one day.
On recommendation from my sister in law, my partner and I decided to go up Mount Si the next day. We were told that it was a challenging hike but my thighs and calves were really not prepared for this. I am a fairly active person but even I felt it. I was also not prepared with respect to layering – I’m still trying to master the art of layering. Living in central Texas means I usually don’t need to spend a ton of time thinking about layers. The jacket I wore was far too heavy and not breathable and I quickly heated up as we started to ascend the mountain. As we were huffing and puffing along, getting overheated, there were others in lighter layers who had clearly done this before and were just flying up the mountain. I’ve gotten better at layering since this trip, but I am still learning!
Before we took off, my partner found a really sweet tiny journal at the trailhead. We don’t know who wrote it, but it contained all the reasons why this one person loved another. We brought it with us, unsure of where we wanted to leave it, but feeling like this was something meant to be passed along and shared – some hope for love, hope for romance. It felt rather fitting that when we reached the top we found a tiny door. I read the tiny journal by the tiny door and felt tiny myself as we looked out from the top of Mount Si. Pretty much the only thing that was not tiny at the top was the bear claw we stuffed our faces with. We bought it at a restaurant earlier in the day and saved it, knowing we would want to enjoy a treat once we reached the summit. The hike was 8 miles round trip and we gained 3150 ft. in elevation!
Our final great adventure of the trip took us to San Juan Island / Friday Harbor to watch whales. I was a little worried that we wouldn’t see whales at all because the peak season for whale watching is April-September and it was now late October. In the end, we went on a tour with Maya’s Legacy and were fortunate enough to see a few humpback whales! I know I’ve said this before about other things, but our world really is awe-inducing. As terrible as things can be, our world truly is a beautiful place.
Our guides talked about tracking whales by listening to their songs and how they’ve gotten to know the different whales. In addition to whales, the guides pointed out harbor seals and sea lions, and many gulls. We also learned about Spieden Island, which was used as a sort of hunting adventure island decades ago. Wealthy people paid a lot of money to hunt “exotic” animals on this island and then had them stuffed and shipped back home. Today, hundreds of animals remain on the island (after the operation was shut down), some of which we saw from afar during the tour.
I’m really glad we spent our last full day in Washington watching whales. I can think of no better way to end the trip. You can check out a video of our whale-watching adventure here. Until we meet again, PNW!
Animals on Spieden Island.
