The Elwha River

December 28th, 2005 to January 1st, 2006

Click on the thumbnail images to view photographs. All photographs by Victor Hanson-Smith, unless otherwise noted.

The Elwha River runs deep into the northern Olympic National Park. The park is known for glacier-rimmed peaks and rainforest valleys. To celebrate New Years, I hiked up the Elwha and spent several days exploring the valley (below: looking south above the Elwha River Valley).

Despite the stormy weather, the trail was in good condition. From Whiskey Bend Trailhead, we hiked high above the river floor and past countless creeks and cascades (below: scenes south of Whiskey Bend).

We stopped at the Elkhorn Valley, where a primative hiker-hut overlooks a river meadow (below-left: the Elkhorn valley at dusk; below-right: inside the hiker-hut; photo credit to Josh Hanson).

On the second day, I hiked several miles south to the Hayes River Ranger Station. Along the way, I passed an old homestead at Dodger Point (below: scenes south of Elkhorn Valley).

On the third day, we took a photography expedition around Elkhorn Valley (below: the results of our photography expedition).

For New Years Eve, we built a fire and enjoyed the hiker-hut (below: New Years Eve 2005; photo credit to Josh Hanson).

On New Years Day, we hiked-out and returned to Seattle (below: the Kingston Ferry).

These photographs have been reduced for web-viewing.
To view high-resolution originals, please contact Victor Hanson-Smith.
All images copyright 2005.
CONTACT :: mail at VictorHansonSmith dot com