Patrick Loafman, a biological technician with Olympic National Park, leads attendees of the next Olympic National Park’s Perspectives Winter Speaker Series on a search for rare plants.
The second of the four-part series is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13, at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., and will also be hosted on Zoom.
Loafman will detail his hikes to mountaintops, sloshes through bogs and kayaks in lakes on a quest to find the rarest of plants in the Olympics.
The presentation will be full of close-up pictures of plants, including many not seen before, organizers note.
The series, which kicked off on Jan. 9 with “The History of Skiing in Olympic National Park,” is held in person and on Zoom once a month, from January through April. The presentations are hosted by the North Olympic Library System at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
No registration is needed. The livestream can be joined using the link at NOLS.org/ONP or people can attend in person.
The series is made possible through the work of Olympic National Park, the North Olympic Library System, Discover Your Northwest and the Friends of Olympic National Park.
Coming up
The remaining 2024 schedule includes:
• March 19 — Olympic Hiking Trails and Tales
Photo courtesy of North Olympic Library System / Craig Romano, an award-winning guidebook author, presents a slideshow hiking tour around the Olympic Peninsula, Grays Harbor and the Long Beach Peninsula at the Olympic National Park Perspectives Winter Speaker Series event on March 19.
Drawing from his bestselling “Day Hiking Olympic Peninsula Second Edition,” Romano will introduce the audience to a diverse array of trails on the Olympic Peninsula.
He hiked more than 2,000 miles researching the book, from easy nature trails to wilderness romps.
The revised volume contains 136 hikes, including many found in no other guidebooks. Many of the hikes from the previous edition have been greatly expanded, providing for even more hiking opportunities.
Romano has penned more than two dozen books covering the region. His “Columbia Highlands: Exploring Washington’s Last Frontier,” was recognized in 2010 by Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed and State Librarian Jan Walsh as a Washington Reads book for its contribution to Washington’s cultural heritage.
Romano has hiked more than 33,000 miles in Washington state alone and is an avid ultra runner, recently completing the challenging Cuyamaca 100k Adventure Run.
• April 9 — Bat Research on the Olympic Peninsula
Bats are a key part of the Pacific Northwest ecosystems, yet relatively little is known about how they are using forest, mountain and coastal habitats.
Bats also are under threat due to the spread of a fungal pathogen called white-nose syndrome and are challenging to study because they are small, nocturnal and cryptic.
In this talk, Rebecca McCaffrey, a research biologist with U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, will discuss efforts to overcome these challenges in the Pacific Northwest and present results from studies conducted in and around Olympic National Park.
For more information about Olympic National Park, visit nps.gov/olym.
Photo from U.S. National Park Service archives / Skiing at Deer Park, pictured in this historic photo, is the topic of the first 2024 Olympic National Park Perspectives Winter Speaker Series hosted by the North Olympic Library System, set for Jan. 9 in Port Angeles. The presenter is retired physician Dr. Roger Merrill Oakes, a founder and past president of the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club.
