Not much hiking in grays harbor county (unless walking on the beach counts). The beach can be nice to visit and there are abundant state parks in the area. But it's a gloomy place to live with extremely limited social opportunities or ways to meet like minded friends

King County has summer field positions sampling stream invertebrates. They should be posting those soon. A full time wildlife position, even for someone with a degree, is a unicorn job. Most people in full time wildlife positions start with a series of temp and seasonal jobs and get a master's degree before scoring that full time job.

Washington wise you're in a desert of nearshore sand in Vancouver. The nearest rocky ish tide pools will be over by Ilwaco but the jetties can have extremely dangerous surf. A more natural alternative would be a long drive to La Push or even Salt Creek. You might have more opportunities in OR.