On our last day, we did not go to a highlight kind of hike. I once saw a snapshot that was taken on the Pamelia Lake trail in Oregon. It wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t a great composition. It didn’t have any particular subject. It didn’t indicate why that trail is so popular that hikers need to apply for a limited amount of permits. The thing I loved so much about that picture is that it was simply a representation of a Pacific Northwest forest.

Today we were treated to scattered showers. That’s exactly how the forest should be experienced. We hiked part of the Elliot Creek Trail and a little bit of Monte Cristo. For a change, I didn’t have a difficult time choosing my picture of the day. Instead of my usual creek, waterfall, or wildflower shots, I wanted this one to be a picture of the forest. It’s not any particular interesting scene. It isn’t even a good composition. It’s simply a reminder of being in the forest.

I sometimes wonder if people who live up here appreciate how lucky they are to be in such a beautiful place. I imagine it’s easy to take for granted what you’ve been around your entire life. Looking at it from an outsider’s view, I see an embarrassment of riches. Last week we were driving down US 2 and saw a sign stating Don’t Dam the Sky. It took me a minute to realize what the message was. I remembered that there was a proposal to dam the Skykomish River somewhere around Sunset Falls. There are so many beautiful rivers around here. What if they weren’t so lucky? If the Skykomish was the only river wouldn’t they be ashamed to ruin it? I’ve seen many examples where I marvel at how things have been desecrated. On the good side, there are still so many wonderful places left. I feel as though we’ve only started to explore what this wonderful area has to offer. Obviously we need to return again and again.