PNWNP Events

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Pacific Northwest Nature Photographers Events

Olympic National Park, Saturday & Sunday, July 10^th & 11^th, 2004

Heart O' the Hills
Mark your calendars for a PNWNP weekend of photography in Washington's Olympic National Park. Join your hosts, Simon Allenby and David Bostock, as we head up to Hurricane Ridge for sunrise and wildflower photography on Saturday, & then off to the Sol Duc forest on Sunday. We'll homebase in Port Angeles where there are great places to stay and eat with camping facilities nearby. Here's a small map of the city.

We're planning a very full weekend, but we'll have several meeting times and locations each day for those who may not want to participate in each shooting location but want to catch up with the group. We hope to see you all there!

At this time of year, sunrise is at 5:24 a.m. Sunset is at 9:11 p.m.

Friday Night Pizza

For those arriving Friday and who want to get together, we'll meet at Gordy's Pizza & Pasta at 5:30 p.m. for pizza & beer. Gordy's is located in Port Angeles at 1123 E. 1^st Street.

Saturday Itinerary

Elwah Valley
Sunrise on Hurricane Hill. For those wanting to shoot Sunrise it will be an early morning. We'll meet at Heart O' the Hills campgrounds at 4:00 a.m. From there we'll caravan up to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and on to the Hurricane Hill trailhead. It is a 1.5 mile paved trail that starts out fairly level and then climbs up to the lookout point. From the summit we'll have excellent views looking into the Olympic Range, east toward Mt. Angeles and north over Port Angeles and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We'll spend the early morning on the hill then head back to the Visitor Center to pick up the late sleepers...

For those skipping the Hurricane Hill venture but planning to meet for the Obstruction Point portion of the day, we suggest you plan on taking time to explore the various viewpoints and turnoffs on the road up to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. Note that these turnoffs are the planned Sunday morning sunrise locations as well.

Morning at Obstruction Point. We'll meet at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center—not the ONP Visitor Center just outside of Port Angeles, but the one at Hurricane Ridge—at 8:30 a.m. and caravan up Obstruction Point Road. This a fairly rough road but can be traveled by a passenger car—if we take our time. The road travels eight miles along the top of Hurricane Ridge to Obstruction Point. There are good views along the way and plenty of opportunities to photograph wildflowers. We will likely encounter Marmots and black-tailed deer.

Lunch at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center Cafe.

Salmon Cascades near Sol Duc
Afternoon explore on your own/down time. Time to just relax in the afternoon, take a nap, etc...or for the ambitious ones we'll explore the trails around Big Meadow behind the Visitor Centert.

Dinner at the Bushwacker Restaurant in Port Angeles. Dinner at 5:00 p.m. should give us plenty of time to eat before heading to our sunset location. Bushwackers is known for great seafood and is at 1527 E. First Street.

Sunset at Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and Beach. We'll leave from the Bushwacker Restaurant at 7:00 p.m. to head to Sequim and Dungeness NWR where we'll shoot sunset from Dungeness Beach.

Sunday Itinerary

Unnamed Stream
Sunrise on Hurricane Ridge road. For those wanting to shoot Sunrise, we'll meet at Heart O' the Hills Campgrounds at 5:00 a.m. and head up towards Hurricane Ridge stopping at turnoffs such as Lookout Rock and others. About a mile before reaching the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center is a turnout with an outstanding view of the high alpine country.

Sol Duc Forest and Falls. The highlight of our trip will be Sol Duc. We'll meet at 8:00 a.m. at The Olympic National Park Visitor Center just outside of Port Angeles on the way to Hurricane Ridge. From here, we'll caravan to Sol Duc. We'll stop for breakfast at Granny's Cafe then proceed to Sol Duc road. We'll make a quick stop at Salmon Cascades on the way. Then head to the Ranger Station and campground. There are several trails we can take from here, but most likely we'll head out toward Sol Duc Falls. Along this trail we'll come across a wonderful unnamed stream with magnificant moss covered rocks. We should plan on bringing lunch with us so we can eat at Sol Duc Falls. After lunch more ambitious hikers can continue up the Canyon Creek Trail. Others may want to head back home or take some down time. This will likely be the last part of the trip for those needing to go back to work on Monday.

Sunset at Second Beach. If you're staying over Sunday night, please join us for a trip out to photograph the sunset at Second Beach. We'll meet at Gordy's Pizza & Pasta at 3:00 p.m. for a bite to eat before heading out to the coast. Second Beach near LaPush, a Quileute Indian village is on the extreme west coast of the Peninsula. The Second Beach Trail goes 0.6 miles to a sandy beach with tidepools and views of sea stacks called Quileute Needles. This is an excellent sunset destination and a dramatic area to photograph waves. We'll return to Port Angeles later in the evening.

Places to Stay

Sol Duc Forest
This is a busy time of year in the Olympics so plan to book your accomodations as soon as possible. David spoke with the manager of the Best Western Olympic Lodge and they are filling up quickly.

For hotel accomodations we suggest the Best Western Olympic Lodge., 140 Del Guzzi Dr - Port Angeles, WA 98362. They have great rates and are close to many of the activities. David will be staying here.

Another option in Port Angeles is the Port Angeles Inn.

You might also consider the Red Lion Hotel - Port Angeles.

Campers may want to book into the Heart O' the Hills campgrounds, where we'll be meeting for sunrise shoots.

Here's a comprehensive list of RV Parks & Campgrounds.