Hi, I'm Eric.

I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

I help implement the Content Authenticity Initiative at Adobe.

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78
Kanaskat-Palmer State Park
78

Kanaskat-Palmer State Park

east of Ravensdale, Washington
visited 19 December 2021
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This park feels like two parks in one: There is the park with the gentle hiking trails and campgrounds. And then there is the park that serves as launch point for some high-adrenaline kayak adventures.

I started with the part of the park that borders the Green River.

A dirt trail winds through a Pacific Northwest forest lined with lush green sword ferns, passing moss-covered bare deciduous trees and tall evergreen conifers, with a river glimpsed through the trees under a pale blue sky.
A rushing river flows over rocks and rapids past a rocky gravel bank, bordered by a forest of evergreen conifers and bare deciduous trees under a moody purple-blue clouded sky.
A leaning dead tree trunk, its base gnawed narrow by beavers, rises from a mossy rock and gravel bank beside a fast-flowing river with small rapids, backed by a dense forest of evergreens and bare deciduous trees under a pale winter sky.
Looks like beavers had some ideas about this tree that didn’t pan out.
A weathered reddish log with frayed, splintered ends and bits of dried grass rests on a bed of smooth multicolored river rocks, with other driftwood and larger logs in the background.

I happened on the rapids as a group of friends were starting their adventure down the river. Overheard, as they were carrying their kayaks to the river, “Let’s see what happens!” (Looks like they got off to a fun start.)

A kayaker in a red jacket and helmet paddles a blue kayak through churning whitewater rapids on a river, with a rocky bank and bare winter trees along the far shore.

So, flush from all that adventure, I set out to check out the hiking trails. I hiked a roughly two-mile loop around the perimeter of the park. Aside from the first bit between the campground and the river launch, I had the trails pretty much to myself:

A dense clump of green and rusty-orange moss and lichen hangs from a tree branch, with wispy strands trailing downward and a water droplet clinging to the tip, set against a softly blurred woodland background.
A thick tree trunk densely covered in bright green and golden moss, with small licorice ferns growing directly out of the mossy bark. Behind it, a shady forest of conifer branches and more fern fronds recedes into a lush, damp woodland scene.
A narrow dirt footpath winds through a mossy evergreen forest, lined with lush green sword ferns, with sunlight filtering through the tall tree trunks and a glimpse of water visible on the left.
Clusters of small, pale pink mushrooms growing in rows along a weathered, decaying log on a forest floor, surrounded by fallen twigs, pine needles, and bits of green moss.
A close-up of a weathered tree trunk or stripped log with bare, barkless wood showing winding wavy grooves and ridges carved into its surface, along with a long horizontal crack, in warm brown tones.
A wide forest river winds through dense evergreen conifers, with rippling water reflecting the bright sky and tall fir trees silhouetted along the right bank beneath a blue sky streaked with wispy clouds.
A narrow dirt and moss-covered trail winds through a leafless winter forest, with bare deciduous trees and moss-draped trunks lining both sides and the sun breaking through the branches against a blue sky. Fallen brown leaves cover the forest floor, with ferns and green moss visible along the left bank.
A tree branch draped in thick, vivid chartreuse moss slopes downward across a damp forest floor covered with fallen reddish-brown maple leaves and scattered green undergrowth. A bare dark branch crosses in the lower left, and ferns and vegetation fill the background.

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