Summer in Olympic & Mount Rainier (Archive Edition) 🌄📸

This past summer, I took advantage of a conference weekend to visit both Olympic National Park and Mount Rainier National Park. The photos have been sitting in my album ever since — finally organized and shared here as a little travel memoir 🌿📖. The high-latitude west coast of the U.S. is famously rainy ☔. Prevailing westerly winds from the ocean hit the coastal mountains, lifting and cooling to release generous rainfall — giving Seattle its “Rain City” reputation. Just across the bay west of the city, at the foot of the Olympic Mountains, localized annual precipitation can reach 3500 mm, creating the wonder of a temperate rainforest 🌧️🌲. Unlike tropical rainforests, the light and heat here aren’t enough to support towering, layered canopies. Instead, moisture from the air allows mosses to thrive, clinging to tree trunks and draping down in green, ethereal veils. Walking through the forest in a morning downpour felt like stepping into an elven realm 🧚✨. The moisture carried by those same westerlies turns into perennial snow atop Mount Rainier ❄️🏔️. On the north side, glacial tongues stretch all the way down to 1100 meters — unheard of at this latitude. On the south side, at the Skyline Trail viewpoint (2150 m), snow only fully melts during two short months in high summer. That’s also when the mountain’s weather is most forgiving, often granting clear views of its majestic slopes. My visit came just a bit earlier — luck brought me half a sunny day, though the summit stayed shrouded in clouds ☁️👀. By the time I circled the viewpoint, thick fog had rolled in everywhere. The eastern half of the trail was buried under deep snow, with no visible path — at times, we even had to slide down snow walls! Thankfully, I met fellow Chinese hikers on the mountain, and we finished the trail together 🥾👥. On the return trip from Portland, I made a detour to the Columbia River 🌊. Under the midsummer sun, the landscape was lush, dense, and vividly green — reminiscent of southern China 🍃. I’ve heard Oregon’s coastal highway is stunning, though I may not have the chance to explore it anytime soon. Travel Moments: 🌫️ Morning mist on the road 💙 Crescent Lake 🕊️ Seagulls in Port Angeles 🗻 Mount Rainier ☁️ Mist rising from Mount Rainier’s glaciers Note: Summer is actually the drier season in the rainforest — moss tends to look more brownish-yellow, not the ideal time for the full “green cathedral” effect 🟤🌿. For Mount Rainier, to hike trails like Skyline fully, you need to visit in late summer after the snow melts. Late June was my compromise between these two considerations. At the end of June, Seattle enjoys up to 16 hours of daylight ☀️⏳ — plenty for driving and exploring. I stayed in Forks and Tacoma for a night each, spent a day in Olympics and most of a day at Rainier, and still made it back for a late flight — timing worked out perfectly 🚗✅. #OlympicNationalPark #MountRainier #WashingtonState #PNW #TravelDiary #NationalParks #Hiking #NaturePhotography