Olympic News

The book is not what you might dread. Olympic National Park: A Natural History by Sequim poet and nature writer Tim McNulty delves into global warming and an ecosystem filled with fragile life forms, but it is far from a dry, dreary tome. 

Park rangers say 30 percent of visitors are wide-eyed Twilight fans.

With snow melting rapidly in the park’s high country and people gearing up for summer hikes, Olympic National Park staff reminds hikers and backpackers to be prepared for safe food storage in the Olympic National Park wilderness. Many of the park’s popular backpacking destinations are also frequented by black bears and other wildlife. In order to stay safe, visitors must be ready and able to keep their food, garbage and all scented articles away from wildlife. “

Biologists have confirmed the first fishers born in Washington since the animals, members of the weasel family, were reintroduced to the state two years ago.Photographs taken last weekend from a camera placed deep in the park show a female fisher carrying four kits down a large snag.

It was a bright, sunny morning when my wife, children and I stepped onto Ruby Beach. The sun cast shadows on the large rocks that rose out of the ocean’s edge, rubbed smooth by the endless waves. 

Despite the snow and cold, biologists reintroduced 14 fishers Sunday within the Elwha and Sol Duc valleys of Olympic National Park. State and federal biologists, along with several members of the public, released the animals and watched them as they bounded into the snowy forest.

About 15 fishers will be released into Olympic National Park on Sunday as part of a reintroduction of the species to the area, which began early this year. About five of the cat-sized animals will be released into three areas of the park: the Elwah, Sol Duc and Hoh River Valley, said Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes.

At least 15 fishers will be released at remote sites within the Elwha, Sol Duc and Hoh valleys of Olympic National Park this weekend, adding to the fisher population that was reintroduced last winter and moving closer to the goal of establishing an initial population of 100 animals.

Fans of the hit movie “Twilight,” inspired by Stephenie Meyer’s vampire series, are swarming tiny Forks on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where the novels are set, and checking out “Twilight”-themed tours, hotel packages and even food.

Scott Gremel makes his way swiftly and surely up the steep trail, across a frigid stream, through the colossal stands of hemlock and Douglas fir. On the ridgeline, thousands of feet above where he left his truck on the valley floor, Gremel points the antenna on his tracking device toward the next valley. A faint ping responds, the radio tag of a single barred owl that has laid claim to two entire valleys.

The winter schedule for Olympic National Park’s newly reopened Hurricane Ridge has been released, and includes some changes. The road reopened Friday after $12 million in work to repair storm damage and repave the road.

The new superintendent of Olympic National Park likes moving into the biggest restoration project in park service history. Karen Gustin told the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce yesterday she had good reason to take the job after serving in Florida.

People will have the chance to meet Karen Gustin, the new superintendent at Olympic National Park, at an open house Tuesday. Gustin took over the top spot at the park in April. The event is 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Sequim Visitor Information Center, 1192 E. Washington St., Sequim.

Visitors to the Olympic National park will pay no entrance fees on Saturday and Sunday. The back-to-back entrance-fee-free days are part of nationwide celebrations at national parks and other public lands. National Public Lands Day will be celebrated on Saturday when the park will join other National Park Service areas and other federal land management agencies in waiving entrance fees.

In the fall, my husband decided that our next big vacation should involve something we’d never done before. His idea: wilderness backpacking. Wow. OK. I am not the best at packing light or sleeping out of doors, but I try to be a happy camper. And so we signed on to an organized three-day hiking tour in the Pacific Northwest coastal area of Olympic National Park in June.