Olympic National Park: Touch of the Tide Pool, Crack of the Glacier: A Family Journey in One of Our Greatest National Parks

101 Pages·2012·18.375 MB·English

by  Mike Graf, Leggitt Marjorie

Olympic NatiONal park s
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Touch of the Tide Pool, r
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Glacier h
Crack of the
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Mike Graf
I llustrated by
Marjorie leggitt
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FFAALLCCOONNGGUUIIDDEESS®
Text © 2012 Mike Graf
Illustrations © 2012 Marjorie Leggitt
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or
by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in
writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot
Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.
FalconGuides is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.
Falcon, FalconGuides, and Outfit Your Mind are registered trademarks of Morris Book
Publishing, LLC.
Photo credits:
Licensed by Shutterstock.com: Title page (all); 1; 4–5; 5: © Andrey Tarantin, inset); 7; 9; 12: © Steve
Estvanik; 18–19; 19 (inset); 20: © RedGreen; 22–23; 23 (inset); 24: © Albert Pego; 33: © Gerald A.
DeBoer; 34–35; 38; 38–39; 39 (inset); 41: © Susan Ridley; 42; 43; 45: © Gene Lee; 46; 49: © Steve
Bower; 53: © drewthehobbit; 70; 76: © 2009fotofriends; 81: © Rick S.; 82; 84: © TD Muldoon (top),
© Susan Ridley (bottom); 86; 88: © Susan Ridley); inside back cover
© Mike Graf: 11; 14; 15; 17; 54; 55; 59; 64; 72; 74; 75; 84 (top)
Song lyrics to “Sound of the Ocean” by Bob Rosencrans. Used by permission.
Map courtesy of the National Park Service
Cover image: Marjorie Leggitt
Models for twins: Amanda and Ben Frazier
Project editor: David Legere
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN 978-0-7627-7969-7
Printed in the United States of America
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Morgan, James, Mom, and dad filed into the h
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back of the amphitheater. They joined the other visitors at the Heart
O’ the Hills campfire program. It was nearly dark and the tall trees were
only silhouettes of their former selves.
Ten-year-old
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0 4 Miles GWlahciiteerWes27t4 9P38e20amfkt MPeiadkdlEeast Peak ranger asked.
AWP_Olympic_3pp_cs4.indd 1 1/26/12 9:19 AM
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rker “Mountain lions?” someone called out.
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OlymPic nAticrack of th hraer set. rWesistehd ,9 “5h peererc ienn Ot olyf mthpei cp aNrakt ipornoatel cPtaerdk a, se nwciolduenrtneerss sa, rteh ee xmtroeumnetlayi n
ol, lions have abundant terrain and lots of wild food. Any other guesses?”
o
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e “Bears?” another visitor asked.
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e ti “Ah, the Olympic black bear,” the ranger pondered. “Good guess, but
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of t in the history of the park, we’ve never had a black bear attack a human.
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c And it is the park rule, by the way, to stay 100 yards—or about a football
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field—away from all wildlife. What else?”
Morgan raised her hand. “Elk?”
“We certainly have elk here,” the ranger replied, “but they, too,
typically shy away from humans.
“I’ll give you a hint,” the ranger tantalized the audience. “Think
smaller.” He buzzed around while spreading imaginary wings.
Just then a family of small, furry animals walked behind the stage.
“Raccoons!” James called out.
The ranger noticed the furry family just as they disappeared into the
forest. “They’re frequent guests here,” the ranger informed the audience,
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“and like I said, we should stay away from wildlife whenever possible, so rker
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aroun“dT,”h et hme orsatn dgaern gsaerido.u “sT ahneimy’rael irne stphoen psaibrlke bfouril dtws on ehsutsn adnredd fl dieesa ths OlymPic nAticrack of th
a year in the United States and thousands of attacks. Furthermore, this ol,
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tormentor is typically no longer than an average thumbnail.” e
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“Wasps!” somebody exclaimed. e ti
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“Exactly!” the ranger replied. “There are twenty different types of of t
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wasps in the park, and they all sting. I’ve been stung a few times myself,” c
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he grimaced. “Wasps can sting repeatedly, too. They don’t lose their
stingers like bees do.
“Once I was taking a shortcut across one of those nurse logs the park
is famous for. As I stepped, the wood collapsed and hundreds of wasps
swarmed after me.”
The ranger yipped and danced around the stage as if he was
swatting away a slew of angry wasps. Then he paused,
hopped onto an empty bench, and looked at the
crowd. “Do you know what I did next? I jumped into the
river and swam away.” The ranger stepped off the bench.
“That’s what saved me.”
Mom raised her hand. “How many times were
you stung?”
The ranger started counting on his fingers. Then he counted them
again. “Twenty-four,” he announced. “But that’s only my best estimate.
“I was lucky,” he went on. “I’m not allergic. However, it’s a good
thing there is treatment for those who are!”
The ranger held up an epinephrine pen, a small cylinder with a
needle at the end. “A lifesaver for anyone who is allergic,” the ranger
announced. “And, in case you aren’t sure, keep an eye on the victim for
at least twenty minutes. Look for swelling, pain, redness, and, especially,
AWP_Olympic_3pp_cs4.indd 3 1/26/12 9:19 AM
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rker difficulty breathing. If any of these signs occur, immediate medical
OnAl PAe Glaci treatm“Wenats mpsa ayr be ed naencgeesrsoaurys.. Even our mule packers constantly look for
OlymPic nAticrack of th nmeusltess w chanen b teh ae yt rhicakuyl ssuitpupaltiieosn i.nto the backcountry. A startled pack of
ol, “But,” the ranger stated dramatically, “don’t let wasps stop you from
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e exploring our great park. We have the fastest-growing trees on the planet,
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of t mountain glaciers, and some of the cleanest air in the country. So please
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The audience clapped.
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the Parkers stood at the edge of a steep drop-off h
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on Hurricane Ridge. Meadows of wildflowers covered the hills nearby.
The family gazed down at the deep embankment of snow below them.
Farther up the trail there was a ski lift, but it was closed for the summer.
“I can’t believe there’s so much snow down there,” James said.
“I guess that’s why they’re practicing ice climbing here,” Mom said.
A group of mountaineers with packs was near the bottom of the
snowfield. A woman in a red jacket was standing farther up, instructing
the group.
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rker “If you fall and start sliding,” the woman explained, “that’s when
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OlymPic nAticrack of th push Tthhee awxo fmuratnh ecrl iimn.b Tedh ahti gwhiellr aucpt aths ey sotuere pb rsalokpee.”. Finally, she made it
ol, halfway up the embankment. She noticed the Parkers on the trail above
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e and waved. Morgan and James waved back.
d
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of t up a few more steps and pretended to slip. The woman slid down the ice,
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c rolled onto her stomach, thrust the ax into the snow and leaned on it, then
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quickly stopped.
The woman stood up and trudged back down the rest of the way.
Her students walked over to their packs, grabbed their ice axes, and
climbed the snowfield. They struggled upward and stopped just where the
snow was too steep to climb. One by one each person repeated the prac-
tice fall and slid down the mountain before braking with their ice axes.
The Parkers watched the mountaineers gather together again at the
bottom of the embankment.
“They must be preparing for the high peaks of the park,” Mom said.
James turned around and gazed at the series of snow-covered
mountains to the west. One peak was taller and bulkier. “Is that Mount
Olympus?”
“I bet so,” Dad answered. “The park’s highest mountain.”
s On July 4, 1788, Captain John Meares, a British mariner, named Mount
t
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g Olympus after the home of the Greek gods. On September 22, 1890,
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h the Olympic expedition, led by Lieutenant Joseph P. O’Neil, was the first

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documented European exploration to make it to the mountain’s summit.
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m Several years later, on August 13, 1907, Anna Hubert became the first
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O European woman to climb the mountain.
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