PORT ANGELES — Lower Elwha Klallam Elder Johnson Charles had not visited the Olympic Hot Springs near the Elwha River since he was a child.
The hot springs, now inside Olympic National Park, were used by members of the tribe for centuries as a vision quest site.
Those seeking spiritual and personal guidance would fast, pray and bathe in the hot springs every day, sometimes for months on end, Charles said.
Last week, at the age of 65, Charles decided to make the 2.5-mile hike to the hot springs with 23 Lower Elwha teenagers 14 to 18.
The hike was part of a week-long cultural and science education project organized by Olympic Park Institute, the Lower Elwha tribe, Olympic National Park and Western Carolina University.
The project, which focused on the upcoming removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, provided science and social studies credits for the youth.
But the goal was larger than that.
“The project is unique in that the kids are being taught science and culture side by side,” said Rob Young, an associate professor of geosciences at Western Carolina University in Asheville, N.C.
