10/07/08 - Enterprise Rent A Car Park, Follow Up

Thank you for your inquiry. Officially, we call our park a Japanese Rock Garden. We wanted to beautify the un-useable area infront of our business, so we developed this area into the garden about 3 years ago. Thank you for noticing our efforts improve the Sea-Tac strip, and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

10/05/08 - First Snow on Hurricane Hill - Part 1

We could see fresh snow on the distant hills, but we didn't see much by the road side until we were at the Hurricane Ridge parking lot. The trees were frosted, but the road was clear. We headed on to Hurricane Hill, and we were rewarded for our persistence. This had been a wet summer, so the alpine vegetation was lush and the grasses higher and fuller. There had been a profusion of flowers. In September, temperatures started to drop, and the autumn colors came in. There were the golds and reds and browns. Now, an early snow had come, and highlighted all this rich color.

10/05/08 - First Snow on Hurricane Hill - Part 2

10/04/08 - Enterprise Rent A Car Park

09/21/08 - Hurricane Hill As The Summer Ends

Just a few days ago it was cloudy in town, but the webcam showed fairly good weather. We drove up Hurricane Ridge Road which is almost completely repaved now. We pulled into the parking lot on the ridge, and the conditions were nearly whiteout with thick white fog. Despite this, we decided to press on to the Hurricane Hill trail which starts about a mile and a half past the lodge. We made our way, cautiously, to the far end of the big parking lot. The road dropped and the fog lifted.

Hurricane Hill was spectacular. The white fog had returned at the start of the trail, so we couldn't see any mountains until we made our way up to The Hamper, noted for all its dirty sock plant. Then, the views began with high, snow topped mountains rising out of a sea of cloud. Clouds pressed in from the Pacific, spilled through valleys, and washed up against mountain sides. Not everything was perfectly visible, but the views were spectacular none the less.

09/02/08 - Klahane Ridge and The "Kick In The Ass"

This year the Switchback Trail has been open and closed. Sometimes the parking lot is simply closed. Sometimes it is open, but you have to share your parking spot with a big pile of gravel. Other times, such as this Labor Day, it was open. We took the trail up, watching the sea clouds heading up and inland, and hoping that we would reach the ridge before our view was spoiled. We made good time, and were rewarded with a spectacular view of Mount Olympus to the south. To the north, there were clouds, but we could see the bowl of the mountain below us with only a few patches of snow remaining.

The flowers are heading towards autumn, with more asters, yarrows and possibly coreopsis. We wanted more, so we went for what one hiker called the "kick in the ass". We took the trail towards Lake Angeles, which heads up about 150 feet, before it begins its 2000 foot descent. This trail heads along the open ridge face for a ways, then it passes through "the gate", along a magic carpet of what appear to be frosted plants, and then through a second rocky "gate" to the high castle. This area is always slow to thaw and early to freeze, so here, the lupines lingered in masses among the eerie stones.

There are views north and south, and a bit past the "castle" there is an overlook of the bowl of Klahane Ridge. Shortly after here, the trail begins its descent in earnest. We weren't quite that earnest, so we turned back. It was afternoon, and the view was getting cloudier. Mist ran across the trail, hiding trees, and playing games. Then came the sun again, as the mist blew by. By the time we returned to the parking lot, the trail looked sunny and clear again, ready with its spectacular views for another group of hikers.

08/31/08 - Hurricane Hill

We were pleased to see that the corn lilies were in bloom. We had been up on Hurricane Hill earlier in the year, but with the road reconstruction and rain, we had not been up for a while. We were afraid that we would miss their subtle green blossoms. As you can see in our photo, we had time to spare. There is something to be said for a cool summer.

07/22/08 - Lake Angeles, At Last

The climb was 2380' from the parking lot to the camp site by the lake. There were a few downed trees in the camp site, but we managed to get to the lake. The lake is in a deep bowl surrounded by mountains, so the views of the high ridges above were spectacular. These photos do not do it justice. We waded into the lake a bit. The water was quite cold which was not surprising for a lake fed by melting snow. Though most of the snow has melted, we could still see patches of it, and waterfalls of icy water making their way lakeward.

07/18/08 - Hurricane Hill Update

07/15/08 - Klahane Ridge

We start the hike from Hurricane Ridge Road a mile or two before the lodge at Hurricane Ridge. A part of the road collapsed near the trailhead, so there is a bit of construction and a bit less parking there. The little stream near the road is now hidden behind a mound of road material, but it is still there, as is the umbrella tree forest and the meadows and gardens above.

This year there was more moisture, so the flowers are spectacular with great spikes of lupine, arrays of turk's cap lilies, gauntlets of cow parsnips, fields of indian paintbrush and great swathes of richly scented phlox. Summer has come to the high country. The snow has vanished, and the hanging gardens are in bloom. We can tell already that this is going to be a great year for the mountain flowers.

07/01/08 - Expedition: Hurricane Hill

As for the trail itself, it is largely clear of snow except for that section shaded by trees that runs from the open area near the Wind The Sculptor sign to The Hamper. (We call it that because it is full of dirty sock plant in the high season). Even that section, perhaps a few hundred feet long, is melting rapidly, and the snow is walkable if you take care.

06/28/08 - Hurricane Hill Road Is Open

Being lazy sorts, we decided to walk, rather than drive, so we set out from the lodge along the road. The snow is melting fast. The views are spectacular, as usual. The big show is the flowers. We have never seen so many and so many all at once. Already, there are lupines, phlox, glacier and avalanche lilies, indian paintbrush, yarrow, and a good many we don't know the names of. There were even mushrooms, which are not all that common a mile up. Clearly, the wet winter, with nearly twelve feet of snow, had something to do with this.

As it turned out, Friday was the first day the road was open. The Hurricane Hill trail is generally clear, though there was a big pile of snow near the start, and the rangers reported a fair bit of snow in that shady patch about a mile along. Next time, we aren't going to be so lazy. We are going to drive out to the trailhead and get to the top of Hurricane Hill. Wish us luck.

06/23/08 - Hurricane Hill Road

06/13/08 - Flowers At Lake Crescent

04/14/08 - Signs Of Spring - Hope (For Spring) Springs Eternal

This is rather pathetic for this time of year, but we will take what we can get. Two salamanders and a few feeble flowers aren't much. The thaw has barely started, and the lake water is low. Still, there are some signs of progress.

03/29/08 - Flowering Currant at Morse Creek

02/22/08 - Shore Road Nursery Has Closed

The good news is that Dave Allen is now working for Olympic National Park, specializing in badly needed restoration work. Our local national park is a treasure. We're glad that its future is in such good hands.