Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: hurricane hill, Page: 2

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Hurricane Ridge to Hurricane Hill - Part 1

Hurricane Ridge to Hurricane Hill - Part 2

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Marine Drive Eagles and Eaglets

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Upcoming Hiking Tides

These are low tides of under three feet at least two hours after sunrise or before sunset.

Next tides for La Push
6/3/25 1:17 PM 0.94 ft
6/4/25 2:09 PM 1.63 ft
6/5/25 3:00 PM 2.22 ft
6/6/25 3:48 PM 2.7 ft
6/11/25 7:34 AM -1.35 ft
6/12/25 8:11 AM -1.47 ft
6/13/25 8:48 AM -1.49 ft

Next tides for Dungeness
6/3/25 3:52 PM 1.72 ft
6/4/25 4:48 PM 2.89 ft
6/5/25 7:16 AM 1.62 ft
6/6/25 7:41 AM 0.76 ft
6/7/25 8:05 AM 0 ft
6/8/25 8:31 AM -0.64 ft
6/9/25 8:59 AM -1.14 ft

Next tides for Cape Alava
6/3/25 1:40 PM 0.94 ft
6/4/25 2:25 PM 1.7 ft
6/5/25 3:09 PM 2.4 ft
6/6/25 3:51 PM 2.99 ft
6/10/25 7:34 AM -1.19 ft
6/11/25 8:09 AM -1.45 ft
6/12/25 8:46 AM -1.59 ft

For more on the Hurricane Hill Trail, visit our Hurricane Hill website.

05/25/19 - Hurricane Hill - To The Summit We went back to Hurricane Hill again, and this time we made it to the summit. The trail is still closed every other week and never open on Wednesdays, so it if you want to enjoy it, check the Olympic National Park website. Be prepared to walk maybe ten minutes from one of the two picnic area parking lots to trailhead proper. The road there is closed. On the plus side, there are bathrooms at both parking areas. The alpine flowers were spectacular. There would be waves of sweet scent from the phlox as we walked by. All of the snow on the trail has melted, but there is still snow in the shade and on north faces. There isn't much more to say. Enjoy the pictures.	One of the many views of the Olympic Mountains
A view from the summit	As the season progresses, this snow on the north face melts and fills a little lake, now visible as a few blue spots.
Another view	And yet another
Still another view, follow that strip of white down ...	... and at its base, the snow melts and forms a stream.
It's hard to know where to look.	Patchy snow in a bowl below the trail
Glacier lilies	More glacer lilies
An arty view	Sweet smelling western wallflower
We looked these flowers up once, but forgot what they are.	Phlox
More phlox	Even more phlox
Paintbrush	Yarrow

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill

05/16/19 - Hurricane Hill The Hurricane Hill Trail is open. It is still being rebuilt, so it is only open about half the time. Check the park web page and scroll down to the calendar before you head up expecting to take this hike. Note that the trail is ALWAYS closed on Wednesdays. Also note that the road is closed at the second picnic area, so the trailhead is now an additional ten minute walk from parking. That said, the view from the trail is as beautiful as ever. Most of the trail is free of snow, and the snow is melting rapidly. The glacier lilies are out as is the phlox, so keep your nose peeled for that latter flower's wonderful scent. There were many marmots about which was a nice treat. We didn't quite make it to the summit, so that's for our next try. We had a long winter this year, so it's great that the high country is finally open again.	The Olympic Mountains
Phlox	A view from the trail
More of the mountains	A late winter scene
One of the many marmots	Another mountain view
Another marmot	A marmot in a field of delicious, to a marmot, spring flowers
The marmot by the trailside	That marmot checking us out
That marmot again offering us a closeup	A bit of snow on a shady stretch of trail
More spring flowers	Some of the trail work, a stone retaining wall where the trail has been widened
More phlox	Glacier lilies
Glacier lilies in closeup	Goodbye to the mountains

Keywords: high country, hurricane hill, marmots, spring

09/30/18 - Hurricane Hill Reopened Hurricane Hill has finally been reopened, at least for three days a week until the road is closed by snow. The trail is one of the most popular in the park, and it has shown a lot of wear. It is being rebuilt, widened, repaved and restored. For now, the Hurricane Hill road only runs to the second picnic area. The parking area at the usual trailhead is full of building materials for the trail work. We got an early start. This was a good idea since just about every parking space was taken when we returned from our hike around noon. The hike was as beautiful as ever. One day we expect to see Mount Olympus itself covered in construction scaffolding, but, for now, the mountains are being left to their own devices. We took in some amazing views, admired a few late blooming flowers and the golden grasses and checked out the sap covered pine cones. Check the park web site before you go. The trail is only open three days a week (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), but it is well worth the effort.	A common sight in 2018 - road closed
Hurricane Hill Trail widened	The new trail with have a lot of stone work to encourage people to stay on the trail.
The Olympic Mountains seen from Hurricane Hill Trail	Autumn color
More autumn color	Even more autumn color
Good grief, even more autumn color	Fields of gold
Fields of gold with distant mountains	More fields of gold, more mountains
Variation on a theme	One of the late harebells
Pine cones	More pine cones
Autumn color by the trail	Autumn color and more stones for the trail work

Keywords: hurricane hill, trails

05/27/18 - Hurricane Hill - First Ascent This time we made it to the top of Hurricane Hill. Most of the snow has melted, except for a long stretch between the bench and the "hamper". All sorts of flowers are starting to bloom: glacier lilies, yarrows, violets and avalanche lilies. The lupines are getting ready. Spring is here. We even saw some marmots.	Phirst phlox
Glacier lilies and others	One of the marmots
Another marmot	One of the views
That lake to the north of the peak	More flowers
Grasses in bloom	Yarrow
An assemblage with phlox	An avalanche lily

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, marmots, spring

05/20/18 - Hurricane Hill - First Look Despite the delays on Hurricane Ridge Road, we made our way up to the Hurricane Hill trailhead. There was still a lot of snow, but some of the trail was clear. The sky was blue and the view of the distant mountains was crystalline. Only the bravest plants, or those lucky enough to have an especially warm microclimate, were out and in bloom, but we could see signs of alpine spring. Stay tuned. We'll be back, road construction or not.	Snow on the trail - still passable
More snow on the trail	Someone getting a head start
Melting snow on the mountain	The Olympic Range in its majesty
Another gorgeous view	Paintbrush getting out in front

Keywords: hurricane hill, spring, flowers

10/12/17 - Fall Colors on Hurricane Hill The rainy season starts in the fall. That means autumn color and the start of the rainy season. The brilliant, almost crystalline summer sky is replaced by a sky of clouds and mists. Rivers of cloud snake their way through the river valleys and drape the mountain sides. The snows many come at any time and close the roads to the high country, so we try to get up as often as we can while we can.	Mountains and autumn haze
Some color	Mount Baker from afar
Port Angeles from above	Another mountain view
Snow on the north face	The season of the misty mountains and golden grasses
More golden fields	More grasses

Keywords: autumn, high country, hurricane hill

10/01/17 - Marmots on Hurricane Hill We've been watching autumn end and winter arrive on the Hurricane Hill trail. It has been hard not to notice all the new snow on Mount Olympus and the other great mountains for the Olympics. The grasses have turned golden and the marmots are out taking advantage of the late harvest to fatten up for winter.	A mountain view
More snow already	The fields below
Golden marmots ...	... in golden grasses
Autumn colors	Another marmot
Yet another marmot	It was like a marmot conference.
Another mountain view	A last harebell

Keywords: autumn, hurricane hill, marmots, winter

08/20/17 - Hurricane Hill as Summer Passes The summer is passing. More gold and brown are creeping into the colors of the high country. We hiked the Hurricane Hill Trail again and saw a bit of drama, two young marmots were attacked by a hawk. They were unharmed, but one tends to thing that these things are just staged for nature documentaries. Not true. We also ran into the team planning to rebuild the trail. The Hurricane Hill Trail is heavily used in season, and it has been showing signs of wear. We're hoping they don't have to close the trail for too long. We've been having a lot of trail and road closures lately.	Summer colors
Still plenty of green	Mountains in late summer
Another view	The view to the north
Clouds add drama.	A silky sky
Late summer flowers	The season
Yet another view	The trail planning team at work

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane hill, marmots, summer

06/27/17 - Hurricane Hill and a Sunbow Taking a break from Klahane Ridge, we went back to Hurricane Hill. The snow on the trail is almost gone, so it was easy going. We even went down the side spur that leads to the Elwha Ranger Station a bit. We saw a blue grouse and several marmots, but the real treat was a sunbow on our way back to the parking lot. On our way back, admiring the views of the main mountain chain to the south, we noticed that one of the high cirrus clouds was not quite pure white. It was colored and colored like the rainbow. There was another cirrus cloud not far, and it too was also colored, but more faintly. It took a bit of thinking, but what we were seeing was part of a colored circle, a rainbow around the sun, but only visible where there were ice crystals in the high clouds. That's called a sunbow. It's not like a rainbow. Rainbows are centered around the anti-solar point, the point farthest away from the sun. A sunbow is centered around the sun. It was a pretty rare sighting. Moonbows, colored rings around the moon are much more common, so we were quite pleased with such a fine view.	A blue grouse
Mountain view	A piece of the sunbow
Another piece, more lightly colored	Together, these were parts of a ring of color around the sun.
Lupines	Lupines and mountain friends
Phlox	Avalanche lilies
More avalanche lilies	One of the many marmots

Keywords: grouse, hurricane hill, atmosphere, science, marmots

06/19/17 - Hurricane Hill - Critters We've been getting up to Hurricane Hill to watch the snow melt, enjoy the views, gawk at the flowers and do some wildlife spotting. Hurricane Hill is great place for seeing all sorts of animals: marmots, bears, hares, deer and even mountain goats. Well, we didn't see any mountain goats this time, but we saw just about everything else.	The scene
A black bear ...	... from a safe distance
One of the marmots, not Marmot Rock	Melting snow
More snow on the north face	Another marmot
Yet another marmot	A snowshoe hare
Phlox	The lupines are back; we missed them last year.

Keywords: animals, flowers, hurricane hill, marmots

10/22/16 - First Snow on Hurricane Hill Hurricane Hill was windy and cold, and the first snow has fallen. Obstruction Point Road is already closed, and it looks like we are having an early winter. The Hurricane Hill Trail started below the snow line, but we could see a lot more snow on the Olympic Mountains and snow on Mount Angeles early on. As we neared the summit, we saw the first snow by the trail. There wasn’t all that much snow, but this part of the mountain faces south. We could see a lot more snow on the north face, and the little seasonal lake has reformed after having dried out this summer. The wintry air and clouds played tricks with the light. There were bands of crepuscular light as the sun shone through gaps in the clouds. There was even a bit of a light column glowing brightly with the sunlight reflected and concentrated by ice crystals. There wasn’t much of a view as we made our ascent, but at the summit the clouds blew past, so we had great views on our walk down. We often tell people to take the trail even when visibility is limited as things are likely to change. We were well rewarded for taking our own advice, but by the time we returned to our car, the clouds had started to close in again.	A last bit of color
Mountains and sky	The summit and the first snow
Crepuscular light	Mount Angeles snow
The north face	Snow on the trail - Doesn’t that look like winter?
Almost like autumn again	Autumn color
More shafts of light	A light column

Keywords: hurricane hill, obstruction point, winter

10/05/16 - Late Season Hurricane Hill The Hurricane Hill trail may only be open for another few weeks, so we’ve been heading up there to enjoy the autumn colors. They aren’t as spectacular as the brilliant red of the Fields of Mars out at Obstruction Point, but they nicely mark the season.	The last rose
More snow in the mountains	Fading colors
The side spur	Fields of gold
Another late fall view	Yet another field
Still some red below	Autumn colors
Where the red and orange come from	Late season yarrow

Keywords: autumn, hurricane hill

09/18/16 - Smoke in the High Country The Cox Valley fire is still smoldering in the high country. We hiked the Hurricane Hill trail and could see the smoke filled valleys to the south. We also saw a number of blue grouse. The grasses on the hill sides have been turning golden, but it was the spectacular blue of the smoke and sky that caught our attention.	Autumn colors and smoke
More valley smoke	Smoke and clouds
Golden grasses and forest fire smoke	One of the grice or perhaps one of the grouses
More distant smoke	Smoke, sky and trail
Dried flowers	Even more smoke
A close up …	… and another one

Keywords: grouse, high country, hurricane hill

09/07/16 - Hurricane Hill in the Mist The weather in the high country is as changeable as ever. That means packing a light raincoat and making the most of whatever the mountains and clouds offer. We didn’t expect much from Hurricane Hill on a cloudy day, but the round trip walk takes over an hour and a half. That gave the clouds plenty of time to shift and change. At times we were wrapped in fog, but we still managed to discern a blue grouse and a marmot. We also had some spectacular scenery and a beautiful walk.	Mixed skies
Autumn colors	Mist
One of the views	A blue grouse
Autumn colors and autumn mist	The flooded foot path
A marmot in the mist	A closeup of that marmot
Some teasing blue sky	Another view

Keywords: grouse, high country, hurricane hill, weather

07/19/16 - Hurricane Hill - Fog and Goats We recently climbed Hurricane Hill on a cloudy, changeable day. At one moment there was sun, blue sky and a fantastic view of the distant mountains, at another one was walking in a cloud barely able to see a few hundred feet. If nothing else, there was variety. There were also mountain goats. We saw them from the summit. They were along the north face of the ridge, at least ten including a number of kids. This may or may not have been the same group of goats we encountered on Klahane Ridge. Apparently, the goat population has been growing, and the ranger we talked to noted that there was a goat census in progress. She also asked if we had thrown any rocks at them. We hadn’t, but we’ll carry a sling shot in the case of any problems in the future.	A sunny view
An odd flower season	Fog rolling in, or perhaps out, or even both
Mountain goats	A close up - Ultra-zoom is great!
Fog and goats, as promised in this post’s title	Fogs, goats and bonus snow
Two kids tussling	More rolling fog
Another cloudy view	Bright flowers

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, mountain goats

07/05/16 - Hurricane Hill - The Fifth of July We took advantage of the cloudy weather to hike up to Hurricane Hill. The distant mountains at times were obscure and at others clear, so the view changed as we walked. Now and then a bright ray of sun would illuminate a field of snow on a mountain top, then the clouds would move and hide the entire range from us. This has been a magnificent year for larkspur. It loves the rocky mountain soil, but this year seems to have been perfect for it. The wall flowers and phlox are passing, but there were roses blooming, dirty sock plant, paintbrush and a host of other flowers. After last year’s drought left the lupines shrunken, we feared the worst this year. There were lupines out, but it looks like it is still early in their season. The corn lilies on our favorite side spur have grown larger, but are not yet in bloom. Not everyone likes the trail in gray weather. There is always the risk of fog and rain, and the view can be limited. There is nothing like the crystalline view of the distant Olympics on a bright sunny day, but the clouds add depth and give a greater sense of the sheer majesty of the view.	A view of the mountains
A seasonal lake	Corn lilies
A misty field	Lupines
Last bit of phlox	Paintbrush
Witch’s hair	Hair of the mountain goat
Larkspur	Roses

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, weather

05/20/16 - Hurricane Hill Flowers, Marmots and a Bear The wildflower season progresses up at Hurricane Hill. The hillsides are covered with phlox. The wallflowers are out, and the glacier lilies are blooming. The marmots are out as well. We saw at least four of them including two younger ones sparring. On our way back down from the summit we saw a black bear eating ferociously along the hillside below. It was close enough for us to see its black mane, but far enough for comfort. They say black bears are the little ones, but they are not that little.	One of the amazing views
A golden marmot amidst the phlox	Another marmot
Snow still covers the north face.	The hills are alive.
A wallflower and friends	More flowers
Another marmot reminding us to stay off his or her lawn	Two young marmots sparring
The black bear at the limit of our telephoto lens	More flowers

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, marmots