Mount Olympus from Bear Pass

In the summer of 2018, I spent 10 days hiking through the remote Bailey range in Olympic National Park covering terrain that required scrambling, route finding, and snowfield crossings. The landscape was rugged and wild and we didn’t see another soul for 5 days. The sunset at Bear Pass on our first official night in the high country was an unearthly glow of overlapping oranges and fiery reds, creating a stark outline of Mt. Olympus’ eastern flank.

These smoke filled skies are becoming a common occurrence in the PNW. August used to be the prime time to be outside, the month to plan the pinnacle trip of the summer. Now being outside in late summer is hazardous to ones health. We brought masks that would filter the air on this trip. At night, you could see particulates raining down on us through the light of our headlamps.

This print is the first in a series that will highlight climate change in the Pacific Northwest. It’s unclear just how drastic the effects of it will be here, but if the smokey skies of August are any indication, it’s going to be significant. 20% of the sale of each print will be donated to The Nature Conservancy.