By Guest Blogger Enid Crowe
My partner and I live in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland and we have been visiting Washington’s National Parks since the summer of 2010 as often as possible! My partner, Ian, is a writer and has had the privilege of teaching for a week at the prestigious Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle. He had been to Seattle a few times before and had always wanted to visit the Olympic Peninsula and Mount Rainier, but hadn’t made it. I think he was saving it for me. He kept saying: “You will really like it!!” He wasn’t wrong. Much as he loves teaching at Clarion West – not to mention making lifelong friends there – he needed a bit of a break afterward and the National Parks proved to be just that.
The first place we stayed was at the Elwha Ranch in a log cabin. The owners had a fantastic array of books so I was able to immerse myself in the history of the local area. I studied history and theatre and taught both for years, and now work in a huge open-air museum, so I loved finding out the stories about the area. The scenery and wildlife were phenomenal. I think it is worth pointing out the effect of seeing different species in the wild, for the first time, can have on an adult. I had visited family in Canada over the years so had seen some of your wonderful North American wildlife. Ian, even though he had been to the states quite a lot, hadn’t seen elk in the wild or even wild deer. You should have seen him when he saw his first chipmunk! I did take about three hundred pictures up-close-and-personal of one up in Mount St. Helens, but that is another story…
On that first visit to Olympic we went on trails up the Elwha River, the Hoh Rainforest (where we had a fantastic ranger tour) and Sol Duc Hot Springs. I’ll not forget the Hall of Mosses any time soon. Hurricane Ridge was a particular favourite and we went a couple of times. Again, we had a fantastic ranger tour there and that made all the difference.
We visited Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier as well. Both were fantastic. When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, I was a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. I can remember hearing the news and reading about it. My mother was very eccentric so we didn’t have TV! So, to see it up close and personal was fascinating.
When we visited Mount Rainier, we stayed in the old Packwood Inn which was a log-built hotel over a hundred years old. It had an old piano that apparently President Roosevelt had played as he used to visit there! I am a musician as well so I got to play it. Our visits to the park included the drive up to Sunrise and also Paradise. The weather was very dramatic which made the vistas even more magical. I remember the architecture as well – I love historic buildings!
On the next visit, we stayed in Lake Quinault Lodge. We went straight there after Clarion West as Ian needed “decompression.” I can remember getting two cocktails from the bar and he was sitting on the grass outside in the sunshine looking at the stunning view. He didn’t know I was looking at him, but I could nearly see all the “busy-ness” leaving him thanks to the peace and beauty of his surroundings. We went on a lot of trails around the area and they were all really interesting. I loved the history of the building and everything about it. And they had another “Roosevelt” piano and I got to play that one too! We also got to have our dinner at the Roosevelt table.
Then it was back up to Margaret and Bill’s log cabin at the Elwha Ranch and back up to Hurricane Ridge. It has to be one of my favourites, and Ian took a stunning picture of me — or rather Hurricane Ridge(!)
We returned to the Northwest last year, but it seems like a hundred years ago now. This time we went to Lake Chelan and it was so beautiful. We didn’t get to visit North Cascades National Park itself, but we did see the area and we are going back. We’ve both been really inspired by the fantastic Virtual Field Trips put on by the Fund.
Our visits to Washington’s National Parks have meant a lot to me. They have helped me feel connected to the landscape, the wildlife and the history of the area. Our primary reason for visiting was rest and recreation, and we have had that in spades every time. We frequently look at the photographs and reminisce about these visits. This was why when, during lockdown, I saw a reference to the Virtual Field Trips we jumped at the chance. I believe I saw it listed on Olympic National Park’s Facebook page.
We were in lockdown. My work was closed. We are both involved with a local drama group and its scheduled tour got cancelled. We were feeling very isolated; at least I was. Zoom quizzes weren’t really doing it for me. The key to the Virtual Field Trips is that they are an opportunity to be part of something in live time, if you see what I mean. It’s important to me that somebody was actually doing something there and then in front of our very eyes that gives us a direct connection to the parks. If it is at 12 noon Pacific time it is 8 pm for us. Each time after dinner, Ian hooks up my laptop to the TV and we watch the tours. I am glad that nobody leading the tours can hear the swearing when the tech doesn’t work just before the Zoom meeting starts! Even the cats hide…
We have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. We feel a reconnection with the places that we have loved visiting, and they offer something outside of our “lockdown lives.” And, it has also helped with the weekly routine because Wednesday night is now National Parks Night for us.
We will definitely be joining you whenever possible during lockdown, and beyond, and we really look forward to visiting the parks in reality sometime soon! Thanks again for all your hard work in supporting them.