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05/20/10 - Hurricane Ridge Update

The snow melts apace up at Hurricane Ridge, but there is still lots to go. We're still getting a fresh fall now and then. The webcam has been down lately, but you can watch the snow melt thanks to the snow sensor.

Right now, the little shop at the lodge is open on weekends, but it will be open all week starting on May 29th.

A wall of snow in the Hurricane Ridge parking lot - that looks like more than 78"

Keywords: hurricane ridge, weather

04/30/10 - Hurricane Ridge

Hurricane Ridge is still open, so if you want some late season skiing or sledding, head on up. There were signs of spring though. That snow geyser, was just the spew from one of the snow removal machines making its way towards the road to Hurricane Hill. The park folks are getting ready to open the road, maybe in a month or two. In the meantime, there is lots of snow to enjoy.

Old Faithful - the original snow geyser, a major attraction in Olympic National Park

Mountains

More mountains

Snow covered trees

The view from the roda

Keywords: hurricane ridge

03/06/10 - Snowshoeing Again

Now that the road is open again, we went up to Hurricane Ridge for some snowshoeing. The temperature was in the mid-40s, and the sun was shining brightly. The snow was a bit crunchy, but that's more a problem for skiers than snowshoers.

Of course, the parking lot was pretty full when we arrived before noon, but there were still a lot of spots. The little kids were all over the little sledding area at the west end of the lot, and the ski slope was full of skiers. It was great seeing so many people out and trudging around on the trail. We should add our thanks to the team that managed to get the road reopened before the snow melted. (That includes all you taxpayers out there.)

We weren't the only ones.

The mountains were as amazing as ever.

You can see the snow melt.

Keywords: hurricane ridge, snowshoeing, weather

01/20/10 - It Was Fun While It Lasted

These are some photos from our last snowshoeing trip up to Hurricane Ridge. As you may know, Hurricane Ridge Road is closed until early March, so this may have been our last snowshoeing trip of the season. We suppose it is a rule of the high country, carpe diem - seize the day.





Keywords: high country, hurricane ridge, snowshoeing

01/01/10 - Snowshoeing at Hurricane Ridge

Hurricane Ridge has been open for snowshoeing on its usual on and off schedule. We made it up there on Boxing Day, but we've been lazy about posting our photos. Our report:
  • The trail is great.
  • The scenery spectacular.
  • Come early or you might not get a parking spot.





Keywords: hurricane ridge, snowshoeing

10/05/09 - Webcam Moon

It gets awfully dark up in the mountains so the Hurricane Ridge webcam is pretty much black all night, except now and then. For example, when the moon broke through the clouds early in the morning on the 29th of September.

The moon over the mountains

Keywords: hurricane ridge

09/29/09 - First Snow at Hurricane Ridge

We checked the webcam at Hurricane Ridge this morning, and look, there's the first dusting of snow. The seasons are changing.

Webcam photo of the first snow at Hurricane Ridge

Keywords: hurricane ridge, winter

09/23/09 - The Elderberry Bushes of Hurricane Ridge Road

There are two elderberry bushes along Hurricane Ridge Road, just past the twelve mile marker. They can be tricky to spot, but right now they are in bloom. That means they are covered with grape-like pale blue berries. They are easiest to spot on the way back down from the ridge, but there is an awful lot of distracting scenery. We look for them every year, and this year they are in top form.

Keywords: hurricane ridge, autumn

06/06/09 - Hurricane Hill

We haven't made it all the way up Hurricane Hill, but we have been making progress. The road from the lodge at Hurricane Ridge to the trailhead for the Hurricane Hill hike is still closed, though most of the snow has melted. The road isn't in very good shape, so the park service may be reluctant to use their heavy plows on it. So, we hiked from the lodge the to the trailhead and then a fair ways uphill.

Our efforts were well rewarded. The high country flowers are coming out in spades. The trail is lined with phlox, lupine spikes, glacier and avalanche lilies, paintbrush and a host of other flowers we haven't bothered to look up yet. Even with a stuffed nose, we couldn't miss the sweet scent of the phlox. We usually aren't big on sneak previews, but this year looks like a great year for the flowers on the Hurricane Hill trail.

Phlox in the rock garden

We aren't sure of what this plant is, but that butterfly seemed to like it.

Lupines and paintbrush

Some deer in silhouette

This is where we turned around. This is usually the last part of the trail to melt, so if we had pushed on we could have made it to the summit.

Glacier lilies - Look closely and you'll see a small blue butterfly.

An avalanche lily

Mushrooms seem to be doing well this year.

The view - The mountains seem to have made it through another winter.

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, spring

05/30/09 - Winter's Passing On Hurricane Ridge

Winter is passing on Hurricane Ridge. We had one last snowshoe the other day. There was still a fair bit of snow, but it was getting thin and slushy. We made our way down Hurricane Hill Road which as of yesterday still had a foot or two of snow on it. The snow was melting furiously, and had vanished in patches. The park service will probably plow the road soon, and the Hurricane Hill trail will be open from the parking lot.

There is still plenty of snow on the mountains.

It's a bit slushy, but good enough for snow shoes.

The Hurricane Hill trail should be open soon.

Another pretty view

More mountains

Keywords: hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, spring

05/27/09 - Melt on the Ridge

We hadn't been looking much at the Hurricane Ridge webcam, but yesterday we noticed a big change. The snow is melting. Didn't the park service recording at 360 565 3131 just say there was ninety inches of snow at the stake, or was that three or four weeks ago? It may be a while before we get up to Klahane Ridge, but the high country beckons.

If you want to check out the webcam image yourself, try the official page first. If that doesn't work, try going directly to the image. The latter is sometimes more reliable.

Hey, where's the snow?

Keywords: hurricane ridge, spring

05/09/09 - Beautiful Sunset At Hurricane Ridge

There's a beautiful sunset up at Hurricane Ridge. We haven't used very many webcam photos lately, partly because the webcam has been up and down. If you a bigger picture, use the park service link.

Keywords: hurricane ridge

02/20/09 - Quick Update On Hurricane Ridge

The mountains are still standing. They are still covered with snow, though the surface is packed and a bit slick for cross country skiiing. The road is clear but for a few stretches of well sanded ice. The sun still shines. We were up there snowshoeing on the trail from Hurricane Ridge to the Hurricane Hill trailhead. A lot of people were just hiking the trail in boots or hiking shoes. Did we mention that the mountains are still standing?

The mountains are still standing.

Keywords: hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, snowshoeing

11/23/08 - Snowshoe Season Is Here

There is not a whole lot of snow, but there is enough for us to strap on our snowshoes and tromp our way from the Hurricane Ridge parking lot to the Hurricane Hill Trail trailhead. The mountains were in a good mood today, and the scenery was spectacular.





Keywords: hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, winter

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

08/19/08 - Obstruction Point In Season

Obstruction Point Road has been open for a couple of weeks now, so we drove out to the end of the road and checked out some of our favorite high country. It was a clear, sunny day, and the views of the distant mountains were spectacular. The Lilian Ridge trail is a high, open trail, so there was plenty of sky.

Most of the snow has melted, though there were a few big patches here and there. The little lakes in the valley were full and surrounded by lush green vegetation. We could tell this was a moist year. All of the plants were big and green, and there were lots of lupines and still a bit of phlox.

Our special treat was a marmot, scampering across the trail near the staircase that leads down from the point to the traverse. We couldn't get a good picture, only a shot of its tail as it vanished into the shattered field of rocks.

This part of the park is only open for a few months of the year, from July through October, so we try to make the most of it. Despite the road work, our drive up on a Saturday was pretty smooth. A lot of Hurricane Ridge Road has already been repaved, and the one lane sections expanded back to two. That's real progress. If you are ever in the area around this time of year, head up to Hurricane Ridge, then take a sharp turn and head out to Obstruction Point and really explore the Olympic Mountains.






Keywords: high country, hurricane ridge, obstruction point

07/15/08 - Klahane Ridge

The Klahane Ridge hike is one of the most spectacular in Olympic National Park. From the ridge there are views north of the Dungeness Spit, the San Juan Islands, Mount Baker and points beyond, and views south of the Olympic Mountains, including Mount Olympus with its Blue Glacier. It is a 1450' climb through hanging gardens and alpine meadows and, while exhausting, every step is rewarding.

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.

Melting snow, Dungeness Spit, the San Juan Islands and points north

A field of phlox

The Olympic Mountains as seen from Klahane Ridge

Lush alpine meadows

A glorious year for the flowers

The hanging gardens

Some lupines by the trail

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane ridge, klahane ridge, mount baker

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