T
his summer I had the pleasure of touring the Pacific Northwest for two weeks. Aside
from doing the usual sightseeing in Seattle, I had the opportunity to hike some incredibly beautiful trails.
Hoh Rain Forest
M
y first hike was in the Hoh Rain
Forest, situated on the Olympic
peninsula of Washington. With an annual rainfall of over 100 inches and a
temperate climate, the growth in the Hoh
Rain Forest is luxuriant, to say the least.
Every square inch of ground is covered
with vegetation, and the trees drip with
moss. The Sitka spruce is the predominant type of tree, and some reach heights
of almost 300 feet! The Hoh River Trail
runs from
the visitor's
center
along the
Hoh river
for about
23 miles. If
you're not
into long
hikes, there
are several
very interesting short
interpretive
hikes near the visitor's center.
Skyline Trail
S
everal days after visiting the Hoh Rain
Forest, I drove to the
Paradise Lodge at Mt.
Rainier and set off on
the Skyline Trail. I started the hike with some
trepidation because the
beginning of the trail is
paved, and heavily used.
As I progressed, however, the number of people
dwindled and the pavement gave way to dirt. I
hiked through snow
fields and pastures of
delicate alpine flowers,
and was awed by the
view of the craggy
summits of the surrounding
mountains.
The trail eventually levels off, then starts heading back downhill. This
circuit hike is about five
miles long and took me
four hours to complete.
Mount St. Helens
M
y final hike was at Mt. St. Helens.
The desolate beauty of this area
defies description. Although much of the
vegetation has grown back since the
1980 volcanic eruption, the destruction
is widespread, with mud flows covering
the valley, and large trees flattened to the
ground for a radius of several miles. I
started my hike at the new Coldwater
Angela Burke
Ridge Visitor Center on the north side of
the mountain, along Cold Water Lake.
This lake was formed after the eruption
when debris dammed up Cold Water
Creek. The trail runs along the lake for
about four miles and affords a spectacular view of the north side of the mountain, where most of the destruction occurred.
Hiking Trails
4/12/20
Angela Burke
Hiking Trails
4/12/20