<< A Raven At Hurricane Ridge

09/13/08 - Autumn Comes To Obstruction Point

If you haven't already been out to Obstruction Point this season, you had better hurry. The road often closes in October, and with the Hurricane Ridge Road construction closing off the road, you can only get out there on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Meanwhile, the peak summer wild flower season has passed, and the fall color is coming in. Don't expect the brilliant foliage of New England, expect instead the brilliant crimson ground cover of Edgar Rice Burrough's Princess of Mars books. Really, the ground cover is that brilliant.

Hiking Obstruction Point always does feel like something out of science fiction. Mount Olympus looms grandly across the valley. With the clear air, it is hard to believe that it is perhaps 20 miles away. It feels almost like walking through a diorama, except here everything is real. The rocks and plants, the distant cloud of Mount Baker, the alpine lakes and their patterns of surrounding vegetation, they are all fantastic, but very real.

Patches of crimson

A few last lupines

The last pink paintbrush

An amazing trail

A valley view

Crimson fields and Mount Olympus

The blood of Mars

Mountain views

Fields of Mars and trees evergreen

Keywords: hurricane ridge, obstruction point, autumn, mount baker