About the Project

Mt. Constance at sunrise

Why the Olympics? Nestled in the northwest corner of my home Washington state, Olympic National Park is truly the crown jewel of our nation. It boasts four distinct ecosystems (coastal, alpine, western rainforest, and the drier eastern forest) and over 95% of the park is designated wilderness. It contains multiple species unique to the area, most notably the Olympic Marmot. When you enter the interior of the mountains you are truly in untouched wilderness. It is God's creation in its pristine form. Unlike the inferior Cascades to the East, the Olympics are not blemished by highways cutting through the peaks. There are no roads that the hiker can use to and drive to a trailhead at 6500 feet elevation, which protects the Olympics from the stampede of tourists that the Cascades often experiences. And while the Olympic mountains are significantly smaller (Mt. Olympus is only 7965 in height compared to the 14411 of Mt. Rainier) Olympus has the third largest glacial systems in the lower 48 states. I could go on and on, but my devotion to the Olympics is much more personal that just statistics.

The Olympics, including Camp Parsons at its base, is my favorite place on Earth. I started visiting Parsons as a young child and then spent 10+ years working on staff there. This was probably the single most formative experience of my life. Here I developed a love of the outdoors: forests, salt water, flowers and plants. I grew, in particular, to love the Olympic peninsula. Almost every building and area at camp is named after something in this mountain range: Dosewallips cabin, Mt. Olympus campsite, Honeymoon Meadows eco-con area etc. For decades Parsons has sent staff members and scouts into the moutains for week-long high adventure hikes. My own father hiked much of the range when we was on camp staff. It was time for me to explore the Olympics myself.

Working tirelessly at Parsons and then hurrying down south to start college classes each summer didn't leave much room for hiking in my younger years. I squeezed in a few hikes here and there. One day at REI I found the best complete Olympics map I'd ever found, published by National Geographic. It not only showed peaks and rivers but also the significant trail systems. The map was two-sided, showing half of the peninsula per side. I purchased two of them and carefully taped them together, then onto the wall of my apartment. There. Now I had the whole peninsula right in front of me. I used a permanent marker to highlight the hikes I had already completed. There were still so many trails to go. The Olympic Trails Project had begun! It is not my intention to hike every trail in the Olympic range. Many of them are abanoned dead ends or are no longer maintained. My goal is to hike every MAJOR trail in my lifetime. If you are unimpressed by the little I have hiked so far, just know that I am in no hurry. I currently have three small children whom I love dearly but who make it almost impossible to get away for long backpacking trips with my husband. I have a lifetime of hiking ahead of me. Enjoy the summaries of my hikes thusfar. And if you check back about once a year you might find something new has been posted.

For additional reading... check out assistant camp director Mike McNellis' thoughts on the Olympic mountains from his blog:

http://mike-acdblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/olympics.html

http://mike-acdblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/myoptic.html