PNWSights

By Astrid · 6 places

It Is Supposed to Rain. Go Anyway

Where a wet forecast is the whole point

I stopped checking the forecast for sun years ago. Rain saturates the greens, empties the trails, and turns moss into something that glows from within. These are the places I save for the wettest days.

  1. The entrance to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center sits beneath a low, flat roof, with double doors propped open to a dim interior and forest greenery visible beyond. Signage and a yellow caution notice flank the entry, while soft morning light falls across the concrete forecourt.
    1

    Forks

    Hoh Rain Forest

    Twelve feet of rain a year built this forest, and it only makes sense under a steady drizzle. I walk the Hall of Mosses while the spruce drip and the moss curtains go luminous.

  2. A narrow gravel trail winds through dense old-growth rainforest, framed by lush ferns, moss, and bright green undergrowth. Soft morning light filters through the canopy, with hanging moss draping from tall trees overhead.
    2

    Quinault

    Quinault Rain Forest Loop

    The cathedral groves above Lake Quinault hold record-sized spruce and cedar, and rain deepens every green in them. The south shore trails do not even require a park pass.

  3. A quiet, open grassy meadow is framed by tall evergreen trees, with a cloudy morning sky stretching overhead. The dark green forest edge and gently rolling lawn give the scene a calm, secluded feel.
    3

    Bainbridge Island

    Bloedel Reserve

    The moss garden here is at its most vibrant just after a shower, and timed entry keeps the paths quiet. I book a windless wet morning and head straight for the reflection pool.

  4. A glowing red-and-blue neon sign for Maximilien Restaurant hangs under Pike Place Market’s covered ceiling, with warm pendant lights, market menus, and a butcher shop sign clustered in the dim interior. The composition feels like an intimate early-morning street scene, emphasizing the market’s layered signage and old-world character.
    4

    Seattle

    Pike Place Market

    Wet brick and neon were made for each other. On a rainy weekday before nine I shoot the sign glowing over slick cobblestones, then duck into the Down Under levels to dry out.

  5. Thor’s Well churns among dark basalt rocks as seawater pours over the rim and foams into the sinkhole, with the blue ocean stretching across the horizon behind it. The golden light catches the wet rock and white spray, emphasizing the dramatic, swirling wave action.
    5

    Florence

    Thor's Well

    Storm swell is what makes the sinkhole perform, surging twenty feet down and blowing back out in spray. I stand well back about an hour before high tide and let the waves do the work.

  6. Snoqualmie Falls plunges over a rocky cliff in a wide, misty morning view, with the river spilling into a deep canyon framed by dense evergreen forest. A lodge and small buildings sit along the left rim while spray rises across the lower right side of the falls.
    6

    Seattle

    Snoqualmie Falls

    Rain fattens the river and the 268-foot plunge answers with mist you can feel from the upper platform. Winter mornings here are moody and nearly empty.

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