Matt Mikkelsen carries "Fritz," his microphone system, to the path in the Hoh Rain Forest that leads to One Square Inch of Silence in Washington's Olympic National Park. Samir S. Patel/Atlas Obscura hide caption
Summer Road Trip With Atlas Obscura Travel website Atlas Obscura and All Things Considered team up to travel up the West Coast, from California to Washington, seeking out "hidden wonders."
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Summer Road Trip With Atlas Obscura
Collections manager René Corado examines an egg, from a newly donated collection of 1,200 specimens, for a tiny notation made by the collector that can help Corado reconstruct when and where the egg was collected. "It's just like detective work and I'm so excited because I'm finding all the data," he says. Samir S. Patel/Atlas Obscura hide caption
Roger Tofte in front of his first creation, the Castle, at the Enchanted Forest in Turner, Ore. Samir S. Patel/Atlas Obscura hide caption
Oran Z. Belgrave, founder of the now defunct Oran Z's Black Facts & Wax Museum in Los Angeles, stands in front of the shipping containers that have held most of the contents of his independent African-American history museum since it closed in 2011. Samir S. Patel/Atlas Obscura hide caption
Through A Looking Glass Of Black Americana: The Long, Strange Journey Of Oran Z
Joshua Tree National Park lies about two hours south of Los Angeles. Samir S. Patel/Atlas Obscura hide caption