Olympic NP and Oregon Coast - end of May

[Robert A. Zeichner]

I'll be in this area the last week of May and was wondering if any of you could recommend some not-to-miss LF opportunities.

[Brian Ellis]

There have been several very thorough threads dealing with the Oregon coast, one specifically dealing with the coast in May. A search with "Oregon" as the key word will bring them up easily. I don't think there's a whole lot to add to what's already been posted. The last week of May is getting into the start of the tourist season but probably still early enough that things won't be totally jammed.

If you read the thread that I started in May of last year you'll see that someone warned of high winds on the coast in May. That was right on. Around Bandon I ran into winds so strong that I literally couldn't hold the car door open so photographing with a LF camera was out of the question there and in a couple other places. So I'd bring a smaller camera along just in case.

[Colin Graham]

On the Olympic Peninsula you cant go wrong (really you can't go elsewhere) with the 101 corridor. The interior of the peninsula is mountainous and the 101 loop gives inroads into park trails and lakes. On the Northwest side there are also great beachs- Kalaloch and Ruby outside of Forks, Rialto and the Quileute string near LaPush (Second Beach is finally open again, btw)- and also the Hoh Rainforest. Further east along the northern stretch of 101 is the Sol Duc Valley, Lake Crescent, Storm King and Marymere Falls, and the Elwha Valley trail system a bit further east. Right above Port Angeles are the alpine wonders of Hurricaine Ridge and its fabulous trail system. All of these places are of course at capacity in May, unforutnately, but it's not hard to find some less travelled spots, especially if you're an early riser. Just out of Sequim going further east is the Greywolf/ Dungeness area which is a little more remote and less used but has some fabulous river and alpine trails.