Space Needle in Seattle

The Space Needle is a major landmark of Seattle. I would estimate that 99% of visitors to the city go up the Space Needle, so normally that would not be a place that we would visit. However, as the day was gorgeous, we decided to follow the standard touristy route and take an elevator up the Needle to see Seattle from up above.

The views from the top are indeed fantastic. The observation deck of the Space Needle is located at 520 feet (160 m) and the highest point of the Space Needle is at 605 feet (184 m). Therefore, on a good day, you can see as far as 100 miles from there and enjoy the views of the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands. We could not see that far, as the sky was overcast outside of Seattle. Still, we got to enjoy the views of the Downtown Seattle, which made it worth going up the tower.


Seattle Skyline from the Space Needle:

Space Needle during the day:

Space Needle at night:

Seattle Skyline

Seattle is a quite lovely city. It is about the same size as Portland (six hundred thousand residents in the city proper, and three million in its metropolitan area), but it feels much bigger than the latter.

In many ways Seattle is a combination of San Francisco and Portland. It has some skyscrapers (like San Francisco), but it feels a bit more suburban (like Portland). It also has good restaurants and beautiful nature around it (like both of the cities), and a reputation for heavy coffee consumption (like Portland). In fact, several famous coffee companies (like Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, Tully's) were founded in Seattle.

If only the weather were better there, it would be a very nice place to live. However, Seattle averages only 71 sunny days a year, so I don't think we will move there any time soon :) The bad weather did not seem to discourage students from hanging out at the Alki Park Beach, which has a similar vibe to the Pacific Beach (PB) in San Diego. For us, it was too cold, so instead of hanging out at the beach, we went to a nearby restaurant for a nice Thai meal.

After the dinner we went back to the beach to take some photos of downtown Seattle. It was slowly starting to get dark, so my hope was to capture a few good shots of Seattle both during and after the sunset. This turn out to be a several-hour-long photographic assignment and despite wearing a jacket and having eaten a generous meal, I was still freezing cold. But I think the pictures were worth it.


A few shots of Seattle Skyline, shot over a span of four hours:

Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

As I mentioned before, Olympic NP is one of the most diverse parks in the US. It protects a rain forest, beautiful coast and beaches, several lakes, and a mountain range called Hurricane Ridge. On our last day in Olympic we planned to explore the latter part of the park by hiking to Klahane Ridge. Our plans failed dramatically as the road leading to the trailhead was closed due to a recent snowfall.

We were not too sorry about it, as already at the Hurricane Ridge’s Visitor Center we understood where the mountains get their name from. It was so windy and cold there that even in thermal underwear, a fleece, and a windstopper, I was still shaking from the cold. As quickly as I could, I snapped a few pictures (published below) and jumped back into the warm car. Soon afterward, without any regrets, we started driving in the direction of Seattle.


Hurricane Ridge:

A close deer encounter:

Ozette Lake Loop in Olympic National Park

Ozette Lake Loop was one of the most spectacular hikes that I've ever done in my life.

It is a 9.4-mile loop made by stitching together a pair of three-mile boardwalks (called Cape Alava and Sand Point trails) and three miles of mesmerizingly beautiful beach between them. The beach part is what makes this trail so spectacular.

We started the hike by taking the Capa Alava trail, which led us through a pretty rain forest (though not as dense and untamed as the Hoh or Quinault Rain Forests). Most of the way was via a wooden boardwalk, which made walking there much easier than if we would have to struggle through the mud. On rainy days (which would be most of the days in Olympic NP), the wooden boardwalk becomes slippery and dangerous. To circumvent that problem, the park has begun replacing some of the rotting cedar planks with non-slippery plastic ones.

At around 2 miles (two-thirds of the way to the beach) the trail passes through a prairie, making the walk a bit more interesting. One mile later the trail descends slightly until it reaches the wild, beautiful beaches of Cape Alava.

Cape Alava is the western-most point in the contiguous United States and it offers absolutely fantastic views. For your hiking efforts, you will get rewarded with the views of offshore islands, sea stacks, millions of rocks, driftwood, and, if you get lucky, marine life. You might see seals, whales, seagulls, oyster catchers, and bald eagles. If the tide is low, you might also see starfish, crabs, algae, and fish playing in one of thousands of tidal pools.

About halfway along the coast there is a group of boulders called "Wedding Rocks." If you look carefully, you might spot Makah petroglyphs etched into them. (We missed them, as we were too busy following a family of bald eagles hunting their dinner.)

After 6.3 miles of hiking (3 miles from Cape Alava), you'll arrive at Sand Point. From there, you'll have to hike another 3 miles before you can get back to your car. The return hike, also on a boardwalk, will be as pretty as the hike leading to the beach, but you might not see it, as your memories will be filled with the images of the gorgeous beach you saw just a few minutes earlier. I guarantee that you will cherish these memories for a long, long time.

This was truly one of the most beautiful hikes that Anil and I have done in our lives and I just cannot recommend it strongly enough. Even now, a few months later, when I close my eyes I can transport myself back to that beach and I can recall the same feeling of peace and connection with nature that I felt when I was there.

A word of caution: Before you embark on this hike, check the current weather and tide chart (they will be posted at the trailhead). When high tide drowns the beach, the three miles between Cape Alava and Sand Point might be impassible. You can then use a primitive coastal trail, which follows the beach just a few feet above the high tide line, but then you will miss out on the beauty of the beach.


Cape Alava boardwalk:

Passing through prairie:

Beautiful beach:

A bald eagle:

Sand Point Boardwalk:

Second Beach, Olympic National Park

The "Second Beach" in the Mora area of the Olympic NP is supposed to be quite spectacular. "Supposed to" being the key words here. When we got there, the beach was completely covered by a thick blanket of fog, so, sadly, we did not get a chance to experience its beauty for ourselves.

As it took us around 50 minutes to get to the beach (30 minutes of driving to the trailhead plus 20 minutes of vigorous hiking through a forest), we were quite disappointed. It seems, though, that the fog usually clears up by the afternoon, so if you go there later in the day, you might get more lucky than we did.


The Second Beach under the fog:

Spruce Nature Trail - Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park

The Spruce Nature Trail was the second trail that we hiked in the Hoh Rain Forest. It was slightly longer (1.25 miles) than the Hall of Mosses trail, but it took us less time to complete. Surprisingly, the two trails were quite different from each other. Mosses were no longer the dominant part of the landscape on the Spruce Nature trail. Instead, we got to see many "nurse logs", fallen trees that become a fertile base for new trees to grow:

A super-long fallen Spruce Tree:

The Spruce Nature Trail passes next to the river:

The river next to our campground:

A deer eating dinner near our tent:

Hall of Mosses Trail - Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park

In the Hoh Rain Forest we went for two short hikes. The first one of them was called "Hall of Mosses" and, as the name promised, mosses seemed to be covering everything there. They were growing on trees, fallen dead tree trunks, stones, occasional benches, and, I'm sure, if we stayed there a bit longer, they would colonize our bodies as well.

It was an absolutely beautiful trail and forest, and I would consider it a must for anybody visiting Olympic NP. Even though the trail was only 0.8-mile long, it took us around 1.5 hours to complete, as we were constantly stopping to ponder the beauty of the surrounding nature. We loved how lush green and serene it was and we were amazed by mosses ability to colonize pretty much everything.

If you go on this hike, make sure not to skip a short spur trail to the Maple Grove, where mosses are particularly pronounced.


A few pictures from the trail:

Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park

Wild and beautiful Ruby Beach is easily accessible from Hwy 101 running through Olympic NP and definitely is worth a short (or longer) visit. Like virtually all beaches on the Northern Oregon Coast, Ruby Beach has lots of driftwood and huge rocks, called sea stacks. Despite the gloomy weather and dense fog, we spend quite some time there inhaling the fresh air and gorgeous views.

I would strongly recommend taking the short, 0.25-mile long, hike down to Ruby Beach, as it has a high reward-to-effort ratio. Places like this quite me down and help put things into perspective.


Ruby Beach: