Olympic National Park of the Olympic National Forest is located on the Olympic Peninsula in the northwest corner of Washington State. The Olympic Peninsula is an amazing conglomeration of five major landscape settings: rain forest, mountains, rivers, saltwater beaches,  and lowland lakes. One such amazing lake is Crescent Lake.

When I visited in February of 2010 the rainy season was upon me. I hiked trails into the amazing Olympic Rain Forests, feeling much like I imagined it to be in South American Rain Forests.

The rain finally cleared for just a little bit of time as I reached Crescent Lake.  The clouds were billowy and a scene unto themselves. Combine that with the beautiful reflective properties of a smooth as silk Crescent Lake and you get the images of from Olympic National Park captured here.

Olympic National Park - Breathtaking Cloud Reflections in Crescent Lake

I stopped where I could and spend a lot of time locating different angles and set up my tripod to catch the magic as the clouds danced and mirrored themselves in Crescent Lake. The Mountains were my backdrop and the clouds were my muse, painting images into the calm, clear lake below.

the clouds danced above while they enjoyed painting their reflections into Crescent Lake, Washington's Olympic National Park

Crescent Lake - Olympic National Park, Washington

The next stop: La Push Beach for sunset.

Greater Scaups facing challenges of waves on Lake Michigan on a blustery sub Zero temperature day

It’s been more than a few days since I’ve been on the trail for a few reasons. Sometimes reasons seem like roadblocks and can be highly frustrating when I’m trying to “get somewhere”. But once I grasp the concept that even the challenges are part of the journey, I begin to see the opportunities that lie even within the challenges.

… Sometimes the struggles are there simply to slow us down and remind us that there isn’t a rush in the journey .. There’s only “urgency” when we feel some particular need to get to the end. Why do we humans always want to get to the end? …

Even an Oreo cookie’s best part is in between (forget the bad nutrition for now.. This is a metaphor, LOL)! They Even made Double Stuff cookies when I was a kid and then different flavors of icing to put between the chocolate end points. It was the chocolate cookies that remained constant and the stuff in between that was exciting, adventurous, rich, always changing, challenging (you could lick it in many ways), and held the most intrigue… Such it is with life … The magic and the mystery that lies in between the start and what we call destination…

Canyonlands National Park at Sunset - September 2009. This is an amazing place, .. A place so quiet that I could hear the thunderous wings of a hawk beating with Father Sky to celebrate flight.

Canyonlands Pictures

“Our Heart knows the answers but our mind asks the wrong questions… usually because our mind doesn’t like the answer .. so we try to disguise the answer with evasive questions that allow for some sort of deviation of the reality … it (the deviated reality) may “act” as a placebo for a bit but all too soon its illusion stares you straight in the face and the truth knocks it out cold .. and there you are .. … See Morestanding there with an opportunity. Do you take it or do you look for another distraction and another and another? .. how long until you just get right down to the heart of the matter?” Kristen Westlake

To get to the soft and elegant waterfall that you see here I had to hike along a live railroad track .. about a mile. That was no big deal to hike but in the back of my mind, or the front of my mind, I felt a bit nervous as I pictured a train coming down the tracks with me standing on the narrow bit of land to the right of the tracks. .. Once I got to the falls I stood in the river to make the images. The falls are a gentle pouring out of water from the mossy cliffs above. It was tranquil just standing here.

Images on this page at the very low price of $20 per image as a promotion (that runs until April 1) – and the more you purchase the greater your savings. All images are printed on glossy paper and surrounded with a stunning black border.Each purchase automatically gives you chances to win a 20×30 inch canvas image. Find out more here. .. Just a little note: I have fallen behind on my goal to keep an even balance of print sales to trip cost. Please consider a great deal on photographic prints which helps me buy gas, food and shelter simultaneously so that I can keep bringing images back for all to see! Thanks!

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Please Select Number of Prints Below

8×10 (one) $20.00 8×10 (three) $40.00 8×10 (five) $60.00 all 5 Prints 4×6 $20.00 16 x 20 (one) $60.00 16×20 (three) $120.00 16×20 (five) $180.00

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A group of professional and serious amateur photographers and wildlife lovers got to witness a rare event today in Yellowstone National Park. This bobcat came strolling out to follow the trail of a deer carcass that had been abandoned earlier by a coyote and red fox. .. more later as I have time to write.. for now, enjoy the Yellowstone bobcat photos as I saw them through my D3X and 600 mm lens.

See all Yellowstone Images in My Gallery .. All are available as luster open edition prints or as Canvas Limited Editions (framed or gallery wrapped) ..

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