This year, we were able to camp up and down the coast of both Oregon and Washington, in one of the most ambitious camping trips I have ever personally embarked upon. This was also a great opportunity for me to get back into “real” photography. Since phones have gotten so much better at photos in the last 5 years, I have abandoned my DSLR for most outings. I chose to use this trip as a trial run for getting back into using a full-frame camera. The results are much better than I could have hoped for. I go into more detail on this in the Sol Duc section below.
Seaquest
We started at Seaquest State Park in Washington so that we could explore the Mt. Saint Helens area.
The road from the park, up to the peak of Mt St Helens was inaccessible due to landslides, but we were still able to visit the Seismology center, and hike Coldwater Lake.
Sol Duc
After two days at Seaquest, we drove up to Sol Duc in the Olympic National Park. I have wanted to camp there for the last couple of years, and this provided a great opportunity to explore more of the park. We also got to soak in the hot spring, which was a refreshing and relaxing cap to our time there.
For comparison, the waterfall photos are the most obvious. I took the long exposure shot using an iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the Live mode long exposure setting.
The following was shot on my Nikon D3200, with a Telephoto 55-200mm lens. The iPhone photo is certainly passable, and does capture the waterfall effectively. But the Nikon was able to capture much richer, and deeper colors, and much more detail for the water. These are not one-to-one comparisons, but I felt that the Nikon was consistently producing more reliable color, and sharper details for most subjects.
Ozette
The campground at Lake Ozette is a State Park, but inside of a National Park, kind of. I think the sole road to the park led us through the National Park. This was first-come-first-served, but we were thankfully able to secure a spot before it filled up.
At least 3 hikes are accessible from the campground, but there is also a separate, large parking area available for those wanting to explore the trails. The trails are also a popular location for backpackers, as you can hike out to the beach and camp there overnight.
From Lake Ozette, we took a trip to Cape Flattery, which is the most North-Western point in the contiguous United States.
Fort Stevens
After one night at Ozette, we headed back to Oregon, and spent three days at Fort Stevens State Park.
This was the most laid-back part of our trip, and we were able to go into town, replenish supplies, and stop by Fort George Brewing for lunch.
