I recently paid a visit to a strange and beautiful place just a little further south of Olympia, WA (the state capital) known as the Mima Mounds, ("MY-mah") a 600+ acre nature preserve with unusual features: an expanse of hilly mounds that are fairly equal in size, height, and distribution which formed thousands of years ago.
The weirdest part is that, despite extensive research nobody knows for sure exactly what created them/how they got there.
I first became intrigued with the Mima Mounds a few months ago when I watched a virtual video tour about them by Pretty Gritty Tours, a Tacoma, WA based local business that conducts historical and cultural walking tours of Tacoma and the surrounding area. Since the pandemic, the Pretty Gritty team has offered quite a number of engaging virtual tours to help keep themselves and their patrons occupied and entertained. The Mima Mounds video tour is a fascinating, in-depth look at the site, including the history and science surrounding them - I've linked it at the end of this post, and I highly recommend it.
But, as with most things, you can't really get a sense for what a place is like til you go there and experience it for yourself.
The first striking thing about this place is how quiet it is.
At least, it was the afternoon I visited.
Yes, that is to be expected in more rural parts, but anyone from western WA knows how hard it is to find true quiet anywhere near the I-5 corridor. I've been to lots of parks and nature areas of WA, and very rarely have I experienced peaceful silence like I found at the Mima Mounds.
We were also very fortunately to arrive on a beautiful day and at the ideal time, the mild golden hour before sunset. There was a slight breeze and the temperature was perfectly comfortable.
It's a surreal feeling to wander amongst the mounds, with only the birds for company. We saw only about 5 other human beings the entire time we were there (2 were leaving as we arrived, then a small group arrived after we did, but quickly went their own direction and out of sight/earshot).
It was surprising to find a beautiful park so empty, when most places like this are thronged with weekenders taking their evening strolls at this hour. It's almost eerie how quiet it was -- but in a comfortable way, not unsettling in the slightest.
Beautiful flowers and vegetation are plentiful here, and the tall golden grasses catch the sunlight and seem to glow. Meandering through here feels meditative, like walking a labyrinth. Old Earth magic resides here.
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