"O" is for Olympic National Park

Sunset at Olympic National Park - National Park Photo

Olympic National Park in the state of Washington was first created as Mount Olympus National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909. In 1938, it was designated a National Park by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The park is located on the Olympic Peninsula and has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine, western rainforest, and eastern forests. In 1988, 95 percent of the park was designated the Olympic Wilderness by Congress.

The Northwest features so much beauty, it's hard not to want to spend vacation time every year in the area. I especially want to visit Mount Olympus which is 7, 965 feet high. It receives lots of snowfall and has the highest glaciation of any non-volcanic mountain in the 48 states.

Camera in hand, I look forward to visiting Olympic National Park.

"N" is for Nez Perce National Historical Park

"We did not travel here; we are of this land. We did not declare our independence; we have always been free."

-Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee

 

 

 

What an impressive quote from the Nez Perce. These are the people who decided to help the Lewis and Clarke expedition when it crossed into their territory in September 1805. These people have always been here.

The Nez Perce National Historical Park preserves, protects, and commemorates the history, culture, and contributions of this tribe of people. The park has 38 sites located in four states--Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Lewiston, Idaho has a regional airport that is located 11 miles east of the Spaulding Visitor Center.

Horse lovers will enjoy knowing that the Nez Perce selectively bred horses after they came on their land in the 1730s. They became known for large herds of intelligent horses with speed and endurance.

This National Park will be difficult to visit because of the many site locations. It offers much in the way of history from a perspective far different from what I learned in school.

 

Old Chief Joseph Gravesite - National Park Service

                                                                                                                    

"M" is for Mount Ranier National Park

When we were in Seattle, Washington a few years ago, I was completely captivated by the mystic distant view of Mt. Ranier from the downtown streets. My excitement continued when I was able to take photographs (35mm color slides) of the mountain range from the commercial jetliner as we flew over the area.

When Mount Ranier National Park was established in 1899, it became our nation's fifth National Park. Mt. Ranier, the highest peak in the Cascades, rises 14,411 feet above sea level and continues today to be an active volcano with its last eruption in the mid 1800s.

Mount Ranier volcano is often shrouded in clouds that obscure it from the view of many of the 1.8 million visitors to the park each year. Of the about 378 square miles in the park, approximately 39 square miles are glaciers.

This is a popular mountain for climbing. Paradise, at about 5, 400 feet on the south slope, is the best-liked area in the park for tourists. Interesting to know that the National Park Service says, "Paradise is the snowiest place on Earth where snowfall is measured regularly."

Although we have viewed Mt. Ranier only from a distance, I would like to visit the National Park someday when the peak is not cloud-covered. I'd like some digital photos of my own and, perhaps, I might even try plein air painting there.

The Inn at Old Faithful - A Journey to Yellowstone National Park

When we visited Yellowstone National Park in 2006, our daughter arranged for us to stay at the Inn at Old Faithful. What a marvelous experience! We had a room located directly across from the famous geyser and could check the schedule of expected eruption times so we didn't miss seeing it.

The rustic Inn was built in 1903-04 when Theodore Roosevelt was president. Yellowstone, located on a plateau in midst of 10,000 foot mountain ranges, was established as a park 31 years earlier, and at the time we did not yet have the wonderful National Park Service that is so helpful to visitors today. In those days, travelers to the park had few accommodations for the brave guests who journeyed by horse or by stagecoach along rough and muddy roads where robbery was a definite threat.

Robert C. Reamer was the young architect for the difficult project of building the Inn at Old Faithful. From the local setting, he chose logs, stone, and twisted beams for the project. With his crew, they worked through the winter to meet a goal to open the Inn for the summer 1904 tourist season. It's amazing to realize they did this work despite the fact the park is snow-covered seven or eight months of the year and the snow can drift as high as 20 feet. So even though the men were dealing with brutal winter weather in 1903-04, they used the snow to their advantage by skidding logs and stones over it to the construction site. Stones for the foundation and the massive fireplace at the inn came from quarries at the Black Sand Basin five miles away.

Staying in the Inn at Old Faithful is a special treat for visitors to Yellowstone. Sadly, most of the photographs I took on that part of our trip are lost somewhere in my computer files. Hopefully, they will resurface eventually. I did find photos of some of nearby mudpots which create a beautiful and unforgettable terrain. Between the geysers and the mudpots, no wonder early 19th century visitors were willing to face the dangers to reach Yellowstone and the exotic Inn at Old Faithful. Anyone planning a trip to Yellowstone would be wise to make reservations far ahead of time at the Inn and to request a room overlooking Old Faithful.

"Blue and Ochre at Yellowstone" photo ©Mary Montague Sikes