From the lodge at Lake Crescent, Washington, you can take a short hike to a Marymere Falls. The hike leads you through a path of old forest, moss, and ferns for a short distance, before it crosses the pictured bridge and starts to ascend through a series of switch-backs up the hill. I really liked this part of the hike in particular, because the bridge is constructed using trimming from an old fallen tree. I love the look and feel of natural elements when they are used for projects like this. Nothing breaks up your Zen with nature like a big metal bridge in the middle of the forest. Know what I mean?

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After walking around the quaint city of Port Townsend, Washington for most of the afternoon, we decided to stop in this cool coffee shop for a cup of Joe and some rest for our feet. The Undertown coffee and wine bar is located (imagine this) underground; in this this cool Art-Nuevo setting. The whole place had this cool Washington State, coffee house vibe; from the seedy creatures hiding behind their Mac’s to the “independent” art hanging on the walls, to the abundance & exuberance of facial/body hair.

From the lodge at Lake Crescent, Washington, you can take a short hike to a Marymere Falls. The hike leads you through a path of old forest, moss, and ferns for a short distance, before it crosses the pictured bridge and starts to ascend through a series of switch-backs up the hill. I really liked this part of the hike in particular, because the bridge is constructed using trimming from an old fallen tree. I love the look and feel of natural elements when they are used for projects like this. Nothing breaks up your Zen with nature like a big metal bridge in the middle of the forest. Know what I mean?

Port Townsend, Washington also boasts a shipwright co-op that is definitely at least worth a stroll through in your car, if you get out this way. As you wind through the harbor space, there is lot after lot with some sort of vessel being worked on. From those with minor maintenance to those with major restoration, like the one pictured here. And even more interesting, most of the boats I saw were cool wooden jobs, not your standard fiberglass bath tub.

The drive up to Hurricane Ridge begins on the outskirts of Port Angeles, Washington, and snakes it's way up the mountain. It takes about 45 minutes or so to get from the visitors station all the way up to the top. And honestly, it took us much longer, because we made some stop-offs along the way for photo opportunities. The tunnel you see above is only one of a few that have been carved out of the mountainside to permit cars to pass through. The shot above is actually taken in this little 50 foot section between two tunnel segments. I guess the best way to illustrate the acoustics of this little area would be to compare it to holding two conch shells up to both your ears. It was pretty impressive... you could hear a car coming from quite a ways off.

For this shot I chose to apply a gaussian blur to the entire image on one layer, and then selectively mask the center portion back into focus. I thought this gave it a very LOST-esque, mysterious, feel.

The Hastings building has once been named "the most handsome building in Port Townsend." It was built in 1889 for a cost between $35,000 & $45,000. Through the years it has hosted many tenants, including a brothel during the depression. This beautiful building has been through some restoration in recent years, and continues to be one of the most impressive buildings in the shopping district.

I had to stop to check these trains out as we were driving from Port Angeles to Port Townsend, Washington. They were lined up on some old tracks, but hadn't moved in a long time because they had been converted over to some sort of food kitchen/stand; and I'm assuming, outdoor restaurant. However, the operation had long since been abandoned, leaving only the remnants of a failed business venture. Nevertheless, the trains were pretty awesome, so I shot a few pics and then we moved on.

All along Rialto Beach, in Washington, were these massive driftwood logs. In fact, there are signs that people need to pay attention to, and move out of the way of incoming driftwood, because a good majority of it could actually do you physical harm if you were to accidentally get crushed under, or rolled by it. I mostly just walked up, over, and around the bleached out "vintage" pieces further inland and took pictures.

Have you ever noticed that most all places that have those "No Trespassing" &/or "Private Property" signs are places that normal people would never really WANT to trespass on anyway? That's been my experience anyway; at least up until I started looking at things from a more photographic-perspective anyway. And by that I mean, trying to find and capture beauty in everything, or tell a story, or evoke a certain emotion, etc... And once you start seeing things that way, all of a sudden those same places that normal people would just pass by, hold a special interest to photographers.

The place pictured above was no different. I knew immediately that I had to stop and get a picture of this barn. I mean just look at it... pretty epic, I know! But the problem was that there were signs everywhere annoucing just how private this land was. So, without breaking the property line, I set up my wide-angle lens composed the shot and then later edited out a sign and CCD video camera unceremoniously attached to the front of the barn.

The streets of Port Townsend are flush with quaint little shops, eateries, and scenic vistas of Puget Sound peeking through the buildings. What's especially nice is that the city obviously understands the importance of attracting visitors so they endeavor to keep the streets both clean and presentable; either by flowers on lightposts, trash-free sidewalks, or at least new-looking fixtures such as these benches. It was one of those towns that immediately seemed inviting and welcoming as you're driving through the main drag.

From the lodge at Lake Crescent, Washington, you can take a short hike to a Marymere Falls. The hike leads you through a path of old forest, moss, and ferns for a short distance, before it crosses the pictured bridge and starts to ascend through a series of switch-backs up the hill. I really liked this part of the hike in particular, because the bridge is constructed using trimming from an old fallen tree. I love the look and feel of natural elements when they are used for projects like this. Nothing breaks up your Zen with nature like a big metal bridge in the middle of the forest. Know what I mean?

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Keywords: washington hiking hdr olympic national park pacific northwest marymere falls lake crescent charliesphotoblog

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