The imaginatively-named "Big Spruce Tree" in the Hoh River Rain Forest area of Olympic National Park. This tree is over 270 feet tall and is about 12½ feet in diameter at the base; it is about 550 years old. Sitka spruce grow in a narrow coastal strip from northern California to Alaska.

Here is another of the big ones; this one has bit the dust, probably blown over or undermined by saturated soil at some time or other.

They say the longer the time you spend in national parks, the smaller the things you observe closely. A newcomer will be shooting big trees; us old timers will be shooting tiny blossoms. Of course we shoot the trees too.

A last look at the Hoh River Rain Forest: the Hall of Mosses.

The Pacific Ocean area of Olympic National Park, at Ruby Beach. On this day the weather was cloudy and misty, as you can see. But it was warm and a mild breeze was blowing.

Olympic National Park is a diverse area with seven main features: The rain forest, the coast, the mountains (which were clouded in and not visible while I was there, even though the weather reports said it would be clear), the vast wilderness with its hundreds of miles of trails, Crescent Lake, and the wildlife. Pictured above is only a small taste of what Olympic has to offer.

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