Trading Desert Sand for Moss (and a Load of Laundry)

I love everything about the desert - the blistering heat, the pungent creosote, the blowing sand, the fierce bugs and reptiles. I’ve backpacked in the hottest part of summer, scrubbed pots with sand, and slept under the stars with nothing but a scorpion or two for company. Yup, I’m a desert freak.

But even desert freaks need a palate cleanser now and then. Years ago, I realized it’s probably healthy to step away from the sandstone and visit someplace different - maybe even somewhere green.

As it turns out, there’s a rainforest in the United States. Who knew? I stumbled across photos of the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park and thought, That looks like the opposite of a desert, so off we went.

Our two week trip included multiple stops, one of which required us to do laundry, since we never pack more than a week’s worth of clothes when part of the trip includes flying.

We ended up in the coastal town of Ocean Shores, Washington. At a local laundromat, we dumped a trash bag full of trail-dusted clothing onto a folding table. Rhonda tossed in a load of t-shirts while I loaded up the jeans and hiking shorts. As we settled into a couple of chairs, a large man - probably in his early 40s and dressed like he’d just stepped off a construction site - walked up to us.

“Excuse me,” he said. “Do you guys know how to use these machines?”

”The washers?”, I asked. Surely this was the setup for a joke.

“I’ve never used one of these before,” he continued, looking completely serious. “I don’t have a clue how they work.”

As my disbelief slowly gave way to sympathy, I was yanked back to the 1970s, when my dad gave me a piece of advice, in true New York style, that has echoed in my brain ever since:

“Bob, you don’t want to be one of those guys who doesn’t know how to wipe his own ass because he’s always had a woman do everything for him.”

My parents made sure I knew how to cook and clean from an early age. By fifteen, I was regularly doing laundry for the whole family and pulling dinner duty whenever needed. I always laughed at the idea of a guy so helpless he couldn’t wipe his own butt - but there I was, four decades later, explaining spin cycles to a grown man with a tool belt.

We spent five minutes giving him a crash course in Washer 101. I have no idea how his clothes turned out, but considering he tossed in some bright red shirts, I wouldn’t rule out the birth of some pink tighty-whities.

The next day, we reached the Hoh Rainforest. It was, as advertised, extremely green. I loved the change of scenery - ferns, moss, and enough damp air to make your skin feel like it had a drink. I dropped to my knees repeatedly for close-up shots of lichens and leaf textures, but I’ll admit: part of my brain couldn’t stop thinking about the grass stains forming on my jeans.

Fortunately, I know how to pre-treat.

Thanks, Dad.

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Photography Tips

There’s something magical about stepping into a completely new environment with a camera in hand. That first visit is when your eyes are freshest - you notice things you might overlook the next time. And when it comes to "someplace different," the Hoh Rainforest absolutely delivers. As the only rainforest in the continental United States, it’s a visual experience most people won’t encounter anywhere else.

The first thing you'll notice? Green. A lot of green. Deep, dark, mossy green that covers nearly every inch of the forest. That kind of tonal dominance can really mess with your camera’s metering system. Because most of that lush foliage is darker than a standard 18% gray card, many cameras will try to brighten the scene - resulting in overexposure. When I first arrive, I always review my early shots carefully. If things are looking too bright, I’ll dial in a little negative exposure compensation - usually around -⅓ to -⅔ of a stop - and keep shooting.

Even on a sunny day, the forest interior is dim. The contrast between the shadowy undergrowth and the bright sky peeking through the canopy is dramatic. Many of my favorite shots from that day wouldn’t have been possible without shooting in RAW format. The flexibility it gave me in post-processing - especially pulling detail out of the shadows without blowing out the highlights - was honestly kind of mind-blowing. If you’ve never tried RAW before, this is the place to start.

In short, the Hoh Rainforest is firmly on my list of top photography destinations in the U.S. It’s a landscape like no other - ancient, moody, and alive with detail. After one visit, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. Which, of course, gives me a great excuse to go back.

In the spirit of Monet.

Slugs - they grown 'em big out there - about 6 inches!

My family back in 1973, when I was 15 and absorbing all the advice I could get - except maybe about colors... 😏