A Long Time Coming

In terms of bucket list photography trips, Olympic National Park has been on mine, Eric and Noel’s list for over five years. None of us had been there so it was a highly anticipated destination. It being out of state and with the pandemic continuing to ravage the world pushed it out even farther. After five years of patiently waiting, our small photography trio were able to make it out there for four days.

The trip to Seattle started with a 2:15 a.m. wake up call. I loaded my car and headed over to pick up Eric. We made the trip down to Lindbergh Field Airport to meet Noel. On the trip down, Eric and I caught up on what had been happening in life as well as how unprepared and nervous we both felt (I more than Eric) about going to the Pacific Northwest for four days for photography. We eventually caught up with Noel who had actually just returned from a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico a few weeks ago. After an hour or so of sharing stories it was time to board and head over to Seattle.

The flight over was smooth. I was running on less than two hours rest so I slept the whole way over. After a quick Uber right to downtown Seattle to pick up the rental car, we headed to a Filipino restaurant that Noel had researched. Musang had been recently featured on a YouTube show and had gotten great reviews. After a long morning of travel, some comfort food sounded perfect.

We arrived at Musang at 11 a.m. just as they were opening their doors for business. We were greeted by their owner and chef Melissa Miranda. She was really nice and hospitable. All the items on the menu sounded amazing. Each bringing back memories of childhood family parties. I ordered the Lechon Kawali (fried pork belly, lechon sauce with a bed of rice). The flavor was amazing and hit the spot. We ate, we drank and relaxed. The staff was great. We learned about the backstory on how the Musang name came about and even got some small stickers with the Musang logo. Really nice people, great hospitality and great food. We even got a photo with the Chef Melissa before leaving. If you’re in Seattle, I highly recommend visiting the nice folks at Musang.

With full bellies, we started the four hour drive to Forks, WA. It was great seeing how more green our surroundings got as we got deeper into the drive. Buildings and freeways were replaced with groves of trees and two-lane roads. We eventually arrived at our home base for the trip, the small town of Forks (of Twilight fame). The skies were gray and rainy. It was a nice change from sunny San Diego, CA. After we settled in, we headed out to explore the forested backroads in the area. The skies quickly darkened and rain began to fall so we headed back to the motel. After dinner we began to wind down early as the next few days would be pretty long.

Day two began with a visit one of the four rain forests within the national park. We began down one of the trails to explore. This area was magical. It looked like an area right taken right out of Dagobah from the movie Star Wars. There were so many textures and compositions to make images of. The entire loop was almost one mile but it felt a lot longer as around each bend seemed to be a unique area. I could have stayed there all day to be honest. There were large scenes, intimate scenes and interesting panoramic opportunities everywhere. After spending most of the day on that trail, we headed back out to the car to eat our lunches and stamp our National Park Passports. We shared our thoughts of the morning as well as some of the compositions we founds.

We then headed down to one of the beaches later that afternoon to explore and hopefully find a composition for sunset. There was so many interesting pieces of drift wood on the beach. I was able to find some really interesting small scenes, one of which is one of my favorite images of the entire trip. The time on the beach was great. Different from past trips, we were able to simply relax on the beach and not do photography the entire time. I had a blast exploring and experimenting framing various compositions up even if nothing came of the scene. The compositions I had scouted for sunset didn’t end up working up but it was ok. As the years continue, the less and less I worry about actually making a photograph during sunrise/sunset. I ended up putting the camera away and just enjoyed the colorful sky from the overlook. After we all had our fill, we headed back. The drive through the windy roads of the forest in the darkness was calming. I thought about our adventures in the forest and the beach. I was honestly really happy with the images I had made that day and would be completely happy if I didn’t make any more images over the next two days.

Day three began with a really early wake up call of 4:00 a.m. as we had to make it to our sunrise location ideally by 6:00 a.m. We grabbed our coffees, gassed up the car and headed up to the mountain area of the park. We made good time and got there in time to enjoy the predawn light. It was quiet and peaceful. I was in my happy place. We took our time and framed up a few compositions as the morning light began to highlight the tops of the trees.

After the sun had popped over the horizon, the three of us explored one of the trails. Along the trail there were many amazing textures I found on a few trees. The views from the area were amazing. In the distance we could see Vancouver Island. Noel continued on another trail while Eric and I relaxed on one of the benches overlooking the canyon. I spent some time writing in my journal about the morning adventure. Later, we headed into the visitor center to get our passports stamped and to pick up a few mementos.

Later that day, we headed to one of the waterfalls inside the park. It was a beautiful location, lush and with a beautiful rushing river running through it. I made an image of what I imagine is the iconic shot of the location. I spent some time using the long lens to create an intimate shot of just the rushing water. That intimate shot was more to my taste, something more anonymous and small. We spent a good two hours exploring various compositions in the area. The fatigue began to set in and we decided to head back to get some dinner and relax.

The burgers that night were solid. What a way to end the evening. Our last night was a quiet one. We just hung out and talked stories about our time in the park. It was hard to believe that we were leaving tomorrow. We had only been there two and a half days but I was ready to go home. I was pretty tired and satisfied with the work I had done on our visit. I slowly packed my things as we had a really early departure time to make it back to Seattle for our flight home.

We woke up before dawn and began our trek to Seattle. As the morning light began to show itself we saw some amazing fog rolling through the area. It was a peaceful drive back. I was really looking forward to being home. As much as I loved being out there exploring and doing photography, I missed Kat and I missed being home.

We stopped by Pike Place Market to take in some quick sights and to have lunch at a Filipino restaurant Noel had heard about. It was nice to have some cooking that reminded me of home. They were really nice folks and the food was amazing. I had the fried fish, bowl of cinigang and a bowl of rice. It really hit the spot. What a perfect way to end the trip.

We got to the airport with plenty of time to decompress and chat about the weekend. It was a blast. I missed shooting and hanging out with the fellas. The photography was fun but it was all the laughs and adventures during the trip that made it special. As the years go, the photography portion of the trips becomes less and less important. We don’t get to see each other many times throughout the year as we’re all busy people so I cherish these times. They are good dudes.

While we waited to board our plane, I asked with a smile, “So where’s our next trip in 2022?!” We had some ideas but we will have to wait and see.

I am currently in the middle of post processing the images from the trip. At some point I will release them in a gallery.

In the meantime, below are some sample images from the trip.

Thanks for reading. Until next time. - Marco