Washington - May 2019
We chose the Seattle area for our trip to visit a couple National Parks and take our engagement photos! I found a photographer, Kim Butler, on Google and reached out just a little over a month before our trip. She is a native of Port Angeles and grew up taking photos since her grandfather was a photographer too. She had given us options of where best to shoot in Olympic. We set a date toward the end of our trip. We intended to have some photos in normal attire and some in fancy clothes. Funny story - as we were packing, Kevin remembered to pack his hiking boots but did not remember to pack nice shoes, so we had to go shoe shopping while we were in Washington.
This was before I started planning trips on spreadsheets, or even fully planning trips, period. I didn’t do as much research on things and have a set itinerary ahead of time. I knew the main things we wanted to see - visit Mount Rainier, Olympic, Chihuly, Boeing. One of the nice things about traveling just the two of us is that we wander and take our time, see where the wind takes us.
I distinctly remember the tents. I knew homelessness was a big problem in Seattle, but I still - to this today - have not seen it worse in any other place. We visited the flagship REI store which was close to our hotel, and I remember we wondered if that’s where the homeless people got their tents - like old, past models or on clearance - although REI is still expensive, just not as expensive as rent.
Washington is a beautiful state and the epitome of the PNW, like a “hiking mecca”, if you will. We’ve barely even scratched the surface with what we did this trip.
Itinerary
Day 1: Fly to Seattle
Our flight to Seattle was at 16:40, so we got in late, got our rental car and checked into our hotel, the Springhill Suites Seattle Downtown. The only thing I remember is that the lady checking us in was also named Ariane - spelled the same but pronounced differently!
Day 2: Mount Rainier NP
We only saw Mount Rainier NP as a day trip from Seattle. My sister had been to Mount Rainier before and had recommended the Skyline Trail and Wonderland Trail. When we got to the park, a lot of it was still covered in snow. We did a short hike near the visitor center (don’t remember the name, but it was completely snow-covered. People were sledding by the visitor center. We drove around to Reflection Lake, which was also covered in snow. We’ll have to return someday in the summer time to truly experience the park.
Once back in Seattle, we didn’t have a plan for dinner. We were walking around the area of our hotel and stumbled upon Kizuki Ramen and Izakaya. We each had a bowl of ramen - I want to say it was black garlic ramen - which was very good.
Day 3: Seattle
For breakfast, we went to a cute coffee shop called Sugar Bakery and Coffeehouse, which was right next to Seattle Center, where all the “main attractions” are. We went to the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass. The Space Needle allows panoramic views of the city, the Olympic mountains, Cascade mountain, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker and the Puget Sound. Chihuly had been on our list for quite some time. The best of us admire the craftsmanship that goes into glassblowing, I enjoy the artistry of it. The exhibits were phenomenal, very inspiring. There was even a glass blowing demonstration.
In the afternoon, we went to Pike Place, wandered around the shops, walked by the fish market, past the Starbucks (we had no interest), just hung out in the area. We found ourselves at the Seattle Aquarium. I don’t know how old I get, I’ll always marvel in an aquarium. This is where I fell in love with otters. They are resourceful creatures that have a favorite rock to open mollusks and such to eat, and store snacks in their armpits, and hold hands as they float. More importantly than being my spirit animal, they help keep the kelp and urchin population under control. Kelp is important to protect the coast by absorbing the power of waves, and also serves as home to many creatures including sea urchins. Otters eat urchins (they know what’s up!) and by doing so, help prevent urchins from overmultiplying and eating the kelp forests.
Day 4: Boeing
We spent the day at Boeing. They said that many families that live in the Seattle area are affiliated with Boeing in some way - either they currently work there or someone in their family has worked there. The tour took us inside the hangar where they built planes. We walked on catwalks high in the area to see the operation from above. They build planes and the seats for commercial airlines are added later, since every airline has a slightly different design. There are planes to transport the planes - as in the planes fit inside bigger planes. They are the only company that has their own private road, to move planes by train between facilities. There is also a museum about the history of the company.
Back in Seattle, we had a late lunch at Manmoon, we were the only ones there - it was like 15:00. We had some time, so we decided to go to the Museum of Pop Culture. It didn’t really call to us, but it seemed like one of the big things to do so we figured we’d check it out. It turned out to be super cool. I am not pop or hip or cool, so I didn’t fully appreciate it because I felt I didn’t know enough, but there was a Nirvana exhibit, Pearl Jam exhibit, Prince exhibit. I enjoyed the museum though and would recommend it.
We had dinner reservations at Shiro’s Sushi. This was the best sushi we’ve had in the US - to this day. It was a twenty course omekase meal, and came out to be $200 for the two of us, including tax.
Day 5: Lake Serene
When we were planning this trip, I reached out to a friend who visited the area often. He had recommended a hike outside of Seattle that isn’t affiliated with any of the NPs. Lake Serene is an eight mile out and back trail to an alpine lake in the Mount Baker-Snoqualamie Forest. I only remember the end of the trail being tough - steep and rocky - but as your head peeks over the ledge, you can see the lake. We took the trail around the lake a little to a large flat-faced rock where we had lunch, then spent a little time just relaxing by the lake. You do have to pay to park, unless you have the Forest Pass or, at the time, the America the Beautiful Pass (not sure if that’s changed).
According to my Timeline, today was also the day we drove to Olympic NP, stopping at i5 pho on the way. We had rented a VRBO in Port Angeles for our time in Olympic. It was a little out of town, but had views of mountains from just out the front door.
Day 6: Olympic NP
We grabbed breakfast at First Street Haven - I want to say we got bagels. As we walked around the downtown area, there were several large, beautiful murals.
We made our way into the park. Olympic NP is known for its different ecosystems, and on this day we visited two of them. First, the Hoh rainforest. The area is named after the Hoh river which runs from Mount Olympus to the ocean, and it gets an average of 140 inches of precipitation each year, creating the lush rainforest, tall giants (spruce, fir, cedar, maple to name a few) and grounds covered in moss and ferns. We explored the Hall of Mosses, and it was here that I learned about nurse trees - a fallen tree that nourishes other trees as it decays.
Second, La Push, the coastal area. We chose La Push because it was recommended by our photographer, but other areas that look similar include Rialto Beach, Ruby Beach, Second Beach. To get to La Push, we drove through Forks, which is apparently the setting (or inspiration) of the Twilight books. It was cloudy, a little cold and windy, but we enjoyed our time exploring the beach. Lots of driftwood, including large trees. Some areas are known for tidepooling too.
Around sunset, we hiked Cape Flattery, the most northwestern point in the contiguous US. The trail to the cape was beautifully green, and not too difficult - 1.5 miles round trip. At the end, you are rewarded with dramatic views of rugged cliffs, caves and the blue blue water. It was only us and one other couple at the end of the trail. You have to pay for a permit from the Makah Tribe to get here - it was under $20 and good for a year.
Day 7: Lake Crescent and Hurricane Ridge
Our first stop was Lake Crescent. I remember there being traffic on the way there - not too bad, definitely not as bad as it has been. We had lunch at the Lake Crescent Lodge. We were seated next to the window overlooking the lake and rhododendrons. After lunch, we walked the Moments in Time Trail and just hung out around the lake for a while. We visited the gift shop here on our way out.
Today was the day of our engagement photo shoot! We met Kim at Hurricane Ridge. It’s a long windy road to the top, with no cell service (which is common in NPs). We had probably about two hours with her for the photo shoot. This was our first time having a professional photographer, and we were both nervous about it because we are awkward, especially in front of the camera.
After our engagement shoot, we went to Next Door Gastropub in town - Kim’s recommendation, and a good one at that. I remember the garlic fries were amazing.
Day 8: Ediz Hook and Hurricane Ridge
Our last day. We had breakfast at the Chestnut Cottage - a really cute place and quite busy too. After breakfast, we explored the northern side of Port Angeles, Ediz Hook. There’s a stretch of land (the hook) that extends into the harbor. From Port Angeles, you can catch a ferry to Victoria, Canada - we didn’t do this since we didn’t have our passports on us. It would have been a cool day trip.
Since we didn’t have the opportunity to really explore Hurricane Ridge the day prior, that’s what we decided to do. There were some trails up there. We didn’t do anything strenuous, just wandered a little more around the area. To be honest, there wasn’t really much for us to do around the area. We visited the Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge, which sadly burned down a few months ago (May 2023).
Our flight was later that night, so we drove back to Seattle - about three hours away. We visited the Tacoma Bridge on the way, which had Chihuly glass installations, like a small art exhibit.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope to return to do more hiking, to see Mount Rainier when the trails are more accessible, to visit North Cascades NP and the Cascade Mountains, and to see the larches turn golden.
I would return to eat sushi and ramen too. I also imagine the uni out there is really good - I don’t remember it specifically from this trip.