The Olympics’ Dark Cave

 

12/20/21 The dark cave

At the base of a small section of the Olympic Mountains visible from Maple Leaf is an intriguing phenomenon: It’s a dark, cave-like shape that appears occasionally a bit north of The Brothers’ twin peaks. I had assumed it was a deep shadow that requires a certain angle of light to appear. The strange thing, though, is that whenever I’ve searched for Google images of the mountain range, I’ve never found one that shows this “cave” as prominently as I see it.  

Shortly after I posted this sketch on social media, a follower provided this link as explanation of what I was seeing: The “dark cave” is where trees are visible, and the lighter parts around it are clearcut areas. Mystery solved!

It was 37 degrees but dry where I stood on a traffic circle to sketch this quickly. Elsewhere in the region, snow was falling or expected even as my toes and fingertips grew numb.

The "cave" is clearly visible in my photo. The Brothers are at far left.