Washington: The Olympic Peninsula

It’s not too farfetched to think that the gods of ancient Greece might have chosen this northwest corner of the United States as their home. Few other places exemplify so vividly the immense power and beauty of natural forces. Surrounded by dramatic coastline and carved by 60 active glaciers, the peninsula is replete with rainforests and bubbling hot springs. Rising majestically at its center are the massive Olympic Mountains, the source of one of the world’s most unusual weather patterns.
     British sea captain John Meares christened the range in 1788, when he first spotted the most massive of the mountain peaks, Mt. Olympus (7,965 ft). Nearby Ares, Hermes, and Athena Mountains form a divine pantheon. The mountains trap incoming clouds, creating a rainforest on their western side (with 145” of rain annually) and a “rain shadow” to the east, with near desert dryness year-round. This trip takes you through the pristine and protected wilderness of Olympic National Park, through old-growth forests, alpine meadows, sandy beaches, and meadows of wildflowers. You are soothed by healing mineral waters and rainforest dew and enjoy the pure, clean taste of local foods such as tiny strawberries, “Walla Walla Sweet” onions and, of course, the salmon that return annually to their native freshwater streams from the mighty Pacific.