Storm King

Storm King towers over Lake Crescent Lodge from the southeast, and for that reason it’s tough to get a sense of its scale when hanging out near the hotel and its minor trails. Several years ago, my partner and I took a boat tour and saw the mountain from the water for the first time — and holy shit, was it something else. We set a goal to hike it someday once we had it in us fitness-wise, and just the other week we checked it off our list. 2000-some feet of gain across a mile and a half of treacherous switchbacks and rock slopes and zero regrets.

Storm King over Lake Crescent, spring 2019.

Lake Crescent in 10 Scenes

Every time a friend asks for Washington State travel recommendations, I give a 15 minute speech on why they should go there. Sometimes said speeches are successful. I’ve had so much practice, people are starting to think the lodge pays me commission.

Hit the link below the photo to read 10 reasons I’m obsessed with Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula, written for Explore Washington State.

On Lake Crescent

The view departing from the dock.

At the start of the summer - mercifully before the worst of this year’s sweltering Seattle heat - my boyfriend and I took a weekend mini-cation up to Lake Crescent and stayed at the foot of Storm King. He took his bike up into the mountains one morning, and I impulse-boarded an hour-long boat tour to see this deep, glacial lake from angles I’d never been able to access before.

Ripples on a glassy surface, with a tiny tiny Lake Crescent Lodge in the distance.

This long exposure took me half a dozen tries to get exactly right.