I'm a week late in writing up my adventure on the Olympic Peninsula, so it looks like I'll split into two long segments. My optimistic statement that the journey to Forks and the North Coast beaches wouldn't be affected by the possible snow was laughably wrong, as I ended up behind a snow plow on Highway 101 between Sappho and Forks.
I got on the 7:10 boat Saturday morning, and made excellent time...good enough that I felt comfortable stopping at my favorite waterfall, Madison Creek Falls at the Elwha entrance to Olympic National Park. I learned about 'Mad Creek' during 
Jim Altengarten's Olympic National Park workshop in 2006. It's so easy to get to, I try to visit every time I'm out on the North Coast...there's a seemingly endless three-minute hike up a rugged paved trail from the parking lot, and then a beautiful 50-foot horsetail falls with a great plunge that sort of folds over and in on itself. If you don't mind pushing the bounds of good taste by jumping the fence, or getting your feet a bit wet, it really rewards with different looks throughout the year and an amazing variety of views. Spending 30-45 minutes there almost always yields a solid, workable image, if not several.
Jim Altengarten's Olympic National Park workshop in 2006. It's so easy to get to, I try to visit every time I'm out on the North Coast...there's a seemingly endless three-minute hike up a rugged paved trail from the parking lot, and then a beautiful 50-foot horsetail falls with a great plunge that sort of folds over and in on itself. If you don't mind pushing the bounds of good taste by jumping the fence, or getting your feet a bit wet, it really rewards with different looks throughout the year and an amazing variety of views. Spending 30-45 minutes there almost always yields a solid, workable image, if not several.Once I finished at Mad Creek, I headed west again, carefully driving the speed limit past Crescent Lake: from experience, it's about a $150 ticket for speeding through there, and because it's in the park, it's a federal warrant if you don't pay up promptly...and the rangers were out trolling. I got past without legal entanglement, and as I reached the crest of the hill by the Sol Duc turnoff, the snow got serious. It fell harder and harder the farther west I got, but I still didn't take it seriously...I was more interested in some of the comps I saw as I passed over the Sol Duc river, and besides, I was headed toward sea level! All of a sudden, I notice red lights ahead. A car behind TWO snow plows. It seemed like overkill for a bit, but again, the farther west we got, the more sense it made...along about Bear Creek, there were six to eight inches accumulated off the side of the road. In most years, we don't get that kind of lowland snow in December or January, let alone in APRIL!
Eventually, I made it to Forks, where the white was quickly turning to slush. I'd called ahead, and the people I was meeting were still holed up due to the 'blizzard,' so I went on to the Pacific Inn and got checked in and unloaded before heading over. We decided on a quick run out to Rialto in hopes of catching snow at the beach, but, while there were some traces on the drive out, it had fairly well melted. We were there, though, and with about $25K worth of gear between us, we were shooting something. The waves were working pretty hard, and I had a new nine-stop neutral density filter I wanted to play with, so we spread out. Within about 10 minutes, I turned around, and saw Martin's sister Rosemary looking a bit wet...I looked a bit closer, and she was soaked to the bone and looked scared and done in. A sneaker wave had caught her and bashed her around amongst the driftwood south of where we were. Martin and Richard (the other brother) took her back to their hotel, and Tim and I were left with several miles of beach mostly to ourselves.
No real joy with the new filter, but some images may be keepers with a bit of PP...several likely candidates for B&W conversion. I'll post later. Tim actually got an IR shot of me that I almost like. We packed up after a bit and, after some lunch at the Mexican restaurant in town (not bad at all for Texican), went back to check on Clan McLeish. Rosemary was OK, if a bit shaken. Once she'd warmed up, we decided we'd head out to Ruby Beach for sunset. Ruby's about 40 minutes south and west of Forks, and we had to drive through snow, sleet, and some rain to get there. Great pools of sunlight were breaking through the clouds, but sunset never really materialized when we made the short hike down to the beach. Nobody got munched by waves, which was nice, and even though the light never quite delivered, Ruby Beach is always beautiful. We traveled back to Martin's hotel, and he feasted us with a superb dinner of chicken with a fine mushroom and wine sauce. Not the most productive day photographically, but a lot of fun.
