Olympics Nat’l Park, Hurricane Ridge MOUNTAINS, Aug 18, 2023

 Aaron is saving his mush toes hoping they heal in time for next weeks 4-day backpack. He couldn’t have been less interested in the 2 short but challenging hikes I’d planned for today, so he graciously and selflessly waiting for me all morning. 

Todays ecosystem adventure was up to and along the  dry popular Hurricane Ridge area high in the core mountain range of The Olympics. 

The Day Lodge built in the 1950’s along Hurricane Ridge was undergoing extensive renovations when it burned to the ground this May. The road up to Hurricane has been closed to traffic for the past 3 days while debris was brought down. When the road reopened this morning at 0700, I was in the front of a long line of approx 200 cars heading to this popular area.

Short and extremely steep, the trail up Hurricane Ridge to Hurricane Hill rewarded me with 360-degree views of the Olympic Range, Mt Angeles, and stellar Mt Olympus. The other direction far below at sea level one can see the Straits of Juan de Fuca separating Port Angeles from Vancouver Island and Victoria, BC with the San Juan Islands in between.



Later in the morning, I also summoned Sunrise Point for more stellar views of The Olympics and The Straits. 




Our afternoon was spent lounging lakeside in the sun possible only because the heat wave has abated, thank goodness. Aaron was intrigued by these pontoon boats motored by foot power.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lassen Volcanic Nat’l Park, Northern California, Sept 12-14, 2023

Image
Fall has most decidedly arrived at this, the last national park of our 2-yr USA Tour here in the high elevations of Lassen Volcanic National Park. It’s rather quite nice to have arrived after the summer crush has gone. It’s cool and quiet and pretty as can be, and I was quite a bit more pleased with this park that I had imagined. My only regret is that I have only a handful of nights left on what has been one epic 2-yr adventure. I am saddened to see it come to an end; I will truly miss traveling and living in my adorable Bambi. Lassen boasts 10,500 ft Lassen Peak which represents one of four distinct types of volcanoes present in the world, and all four of them are on display within this one park.  We camped at the north end near Manzanita Lake where the nights are chilly at 42 degrees and the night sky is unspeakably full of billions of stars alongside a brilliant Milky Way. We hiked the Bumbpass Hell Trail to a 16-acre area of steam vents (fumeroles), colorful boiling ...
Read more

The Enchantments, the mother of all day hikes - Aug 13, 2023

Image
 When Elder Ben Jensen, a junior missionary from Vachon Island, WA, whom we met in Thailand, told me of  "the best hike ever" through The Enchantments, it immediately went onto my bucket list.  We'd have done this hike last year while in the Chelan area, but alas our truck died and we spent 3 weeks getting another one.  Finally however the timing worked out and we hiked The Enchantments yesterday.  It was a doozy of a hike.  Never have I been more beat up and broken by a hike than by this one. Distance:  19.5 miles Difficulty:  Extremely strenuous Total elevation gain:  5500 feet Total elevation loss:  7000 feet Length of time:  14 grueling hours 0430:  Out of bed 0515:  Leave truck at trail end, catch shuttle to trail head.                                                    0545:  Beg...
Read more