Crazy/Beautiful

Salmon returning to the Deschutes River to spawn, milling in Puget Sound at the Fourth Avenue Bridge

Tidewater

McAlister Creek in the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

Coolness

Deschutes River*, Tumwater Falls Park

The water is somewhat low just now, but here is a place you can find deep, welcoming shade and the soothing sound of babbling water on the hottest of days.  Fish ladders assist salmon returning to the hatchery ponds near Tumwater Falls.

For more information, visit Friends of the Deschutes Watershed Center.

*Not to be confused with a much more significant waterway, the Deschutes River in Oregon.

Survivor

Beaver Burn, 1985

A stalwart cedar stands among the snags and undergrowth of an old forest fire in Olympic National Park. Taken July 4th along the Staircase Rapids trail.

Greenery

Rocks in the Skokomish River.

This is another photo from my July 4th hike along Staircase Rapids Trail in the Olympic National Park.

Morning light

Beside the Staircase Ranger Station

Taken the morning of July 4th, heading out for a hike on the Staircase Rapids Trail in Olympic National Park.

The light in the forest

Staircase Rapids Trail

Taken the morning of July 4th in Olympic National Park. Staircase is a very popular hiking destination on the Olympic Peninsula. The trail begins at Staircase Ranger Station, about an hour and a half drive from Olympia.