Olympic National Park, Washington State
Date: Late July–Early August 2022
After returning from Europe—my heart still full from the Dolomites, the Swiss Alps, and long Italian days—I barely had time to unpack before flying north to Washington. It was a quick turnaround, but one I’d never trade. I boarded a flight to Seattle, where I reunited with some of my closest friends from college: Isaiah, Reed, Jacob, and Casey. We'd all met during our time at Whitworth University in Spokane, and though life had taken us down different paths, this trip brought us back to the same trailhead.
We piled into a car and drove west to Forks, a small town tucked against the edge of the wilderness. We got a place together, and for the next four days, we dove into the beauty of Olympic National Park—a place that felt both mythic and wild.
We hiked through the ancient stillness of the Hoh Rainforest, where moss-draped trees arched over our heads and the forest floor pulsed with life. Everything was lush, damp, and deeply alive. It felt like walking through a world untouched by time.
Later, we jumped into ice-cold glacial lakes, our laughter echoing against the mountains, our bodies jolted awake by the shock of the water. That kind of shared plunge—the hesitation, the burst of courage, the breathless surfacing—felt like a perfect metaphor for our lives at this moment: different directions, same willingness to leap.
Evenings were spent around the bonfire, wrapped in hoodies and stories. We talked about where we were headed, who we were becoming, and what we missed most about those days when we all lived in the same place. There was no pressure to be anything but ourselves—just gratitude, ease, and the kind of brotherhood that doesn’t need constant tending to stay alive.
I’ll always be grateful for those few days in the Olympic wild. The rain, the fire, the freezing lakes, the deep belly laughs. It reminded me how powerful it is to carve out time for the people who know you best—and how rare and sacred those reunions are when life gets loud. Different paths, same bond. That will never change.
