Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: hurricane ridge, Page: 5

View From Hurricane Hill

Obstruction Point Road has just opened, so we decided to take the sharp left at the entrance to the Hurricane Ridge parking lot and see if our Honda could fit on the 1.5 lane road into the high country. We were hoping to take one of our favorite hikes, but the weather was not with us. A bit after PJ's Lake we ran into heavy fog, and were just not up to a harrowing drive on hairpin turns on a narrow road with steep drops and limited visibility. Applying the rule of sour grapes, we rationalized that there was still an awful lot of snow on the trail, as there was along the road, and that we would not have had much of a hike anyway.

Instead, we took a walk at Hurricane Hill, a much more accessible trail. We are pleased to report that the wild roses are in bloom, and the lupines are starting to blossom as well. There were still a few glacier lilies and great fields of dirty sock plant. The Hamper was quite full.

There's a warm weekend coming up, so we'll give Obstruction Point another try in a week or two.

Keywords: high country, obstruction point, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge

02/19/06 - Icy Waters on the Lake Angeles Trail

It's been cold the last few days, at least by local standards. The temperatures has been down in the low 20s towards sea level, and much colder up on Hurricane Ridge. But, today the cold snap seems to have broken, and the sky is full of milky clouds. We went out to stretch our legs on the Lake Angeles Trail, though we had no intention of climbing 2400' to the lake.

The trail itself was hard and dry. We haven't had any rain lately, but the ground seems both friable and frozen. We dodged a few fallen trees and some black ice along the way to the rude bridge that arches the stream up at the first campground. We were rewarded with a great view of ice and moving water. It's a bit hard to tell the white ice hanging from the rocks and logs from the whiteness of the running water, but if you look carefully, you can see the icicles hanging from the log, that used to be the old bridge, in the lower picture, and you can see the ice patches clinging to the mossy rocks and looking much like ctenaphores in the upper one.

There were lots of people out checking out the trail. We aren't sure if any of them made it all the way up to Lake Angeles. We know that there is a fallen tree that fills most of the trough of the trail up around 900' above the parking lot, but you can walk alongside it if you watch your footing. Eventually, we'll make our way up to the high country, but the cold, and particularly our fear of ice, have been holding us back.

Keywords: lake angeles, high country, hurricane ridge

12/05/05 - What It's Like Out

Just a quick note on the outdoors on the Peninsula. We were up at Hurricane Ridge snowshoeing over the weekend, so we cxan report fairly good snow up in the hills, but the Lake Angeles trail is still best climbed from Heart of the Hills in hiking shoes, or boots. There is just not that much snow on the forest floor, even when there is snow by the road.

We were also out at Lake Crescent, and it looks like most, if not all, of the snow on the Spruce Railroad Trail has melted. There is still ice on the access road, so drive carefully.

Keywords: high country, winter, spruce railroad, hurricane ridge, lake angeles, lake crescent, snowshoeing

View From The Snowshoeing Trail - Hurricane Hill

11/26/05 - Hurricane Ridge Is Open

Last winter, we didn't get up to Hurricane Ridge very much. Either it was snowing, or it had stopped snowing, but the plow was broken, or all the snow had melted. This year, things we hope for better, and the season is already showing some promise. Today, the road was open, there was a nice coating of snow, and everyone seemed to be heading up to the Ridge to work off some Thanksgiving turkey.

We put on our snowshoes and hiked from the Hurricane Ridge lodge to the Hurricane Hill trailhead. We ran into others on snowshoes, cross country skiers, and a number of people just tromping along in boots. The sky was bright blue, with just a hint of cloud, and the air was wonderfully clear. This latter was an especial relief since we had been enduring a bit of fog and bad air of late.

The ski lift wasn't open yet, but there were lots of people with sleds, snowboards and even skis. Of course, they had to climb Sunrise Peak by foot without the lift. As for us, we came for the exercise.

Keywords: high country, winter, hurricane ridge, hurricane hill, snowshoeing, kale

Snow is coming in on the Lake Angeles Trail

11/06/05 - Winter Calling: A Report En Route to Lake Angeles

It seems like only yesterday that we were wandering the high country of Olympic National Park, but the snows have been coming in and Hurricane Ridge Road has been closed early. Rumor has it that the park will be plowing, but for now we've retreated from Hurricane Hill and the Switchback Trail to one of our winter standbys, the Lake Angeles Trail which starts at 1870' above sea level, right near the entrance to the park.

There was no snow in the parking lot, but about 600' apl (that's above parking lot) we started seeing a thin crusting along the trail. The traction was great, so we kept on going. The wooden bridge over the stream was covered with perhaps a quarter inch of snow, but even we managed to cross it. It wasn't until about 1200' apl that the trail started to seem snowy. From here on up we could definitely feel that we were walking on snow, and as we ascended, the snow got deeper. We turned around about 1600' apl, and as you can see in the picture, there was an inch or two of snow.

We didn't go any farther, but there were a good number of people heading up and down the trail. They were all wearing boots, and most of them had made it all the way up to the lake. The snow there, around 2350' apl is over a foot deep, maybe a foot and a half. It sounds like rough going, but everyone we met said it had been worth it. Maybe next time.

Keywords: winter, high country, lake angeles, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge

10/20/05 - Obstruction Point Road Before Winter

The road to Obstruction Point from Hurricane Ridge is still open.The trails are still clear, and the views are stunning. We didn't go very far, but Mount Olympus and its glaciers dominated our journey, and there was just a bit of left over snow from the previous season. We found these ice crystals (lower left) on the ground, shaded by one of the firs.

In a month or two, the ground will be covered with snow. On our drive, we saw a coyote hustling about, but the marmots have taken cover. There was one other car in the parking lot when we set off, and ours was the only car in the lot when we returned. We were quite relieved when the car started. It's a rough 7.5 mile hike back to Hurricane Ridge

No Snow On The Trails at Obstruction Point

Keywords: winter, obstruction point, hurricane ridge, marmots, trails

10/11/05 - Early Frost in the High Country

There is already frost up in the hills. We were up on the Hurricane Hill Trail this morning, and there it was alongside the trail in the shaded areas. The lingering snows vanished months ago, but now we are getting our first glimpse of winter as the temperatures drop at night.

Obstruction Point Road is still open, but they close it at night. The snow poles are up around the Hurricane Ridge Lodge. This is still autumn, but we are seeing signs of winter, and a mile above sea level winter starts a fair bit earlier than down by the sea.

Keywords: winter, high country, autumn, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, obstruction point

10/01/05 - Early Autumn on the Switchback Trail

We were up at Klahane Ridge the other day and the scenery wa spectacular, both on the climb up the Switchback Trail, and at Hurricane Ridge as well. There was no great panorama, but more of a dance of the seven veils, with the clouds revealing and concealing. It was tricky weather for a photographer with great shots appearing and disappearing as we climbed.

It is tempting to avoid Hurricane Ridge on cloudy days, but the clouds and fog offer a special kind of beauty. The mists accent the mountains and make everything more real and less abstract. The recent rain made for better hiking too. The trail is made of dirt again, rather than dust.

View from Hurricane Ridge, with clouds - The Blue Glacier on a cloudy day
Not quite a panorama from Hurricane Ridge

Keywords: high country, klahane ridge, hurricane ridge

07/02/05 - Mountain Goat at Klahane Ridge

The Switchback Trail to Klahane Ridge is one of our favorite high country hikes. If nothing else, the trailhead is right off Hurricane Ridge Road a bit shy of the ranger station on Hurricane Ridge, so it is an easy drive. We got an early start today to avoid the Fourth of July crowds, and we fairly tore up the 1450' from the Switchback Trail trailhead to the ridge, but just as we got to the overlook, where one can see Port Angeles, Sequim, Dungeness, the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island spread out below, we stopped short. There, by the sign post, was a mountain goat, chowing down on the foliage.

There are mountain goats, actually a type of sheep, in Olympic National Park, but they are rarely seen in this part of the park. This one was shaggy, still shedding its winter coat, but more than willing to cooperate with a photographer.

Keywords: klahane ridge, animals, high country, dungeness, hurricane ridge, port angeles, winter, mountain goats

06/16/05 - First Fawns of the Year

We spotted the first fawn of the season along Hurricane Ridge Road on our way up to the flower show along the Hurricane Hill Trail. It was hard to get a better shot since there is no shoulder along the road. Usually, one doesn't see fawns until they are much older. This one was wobbling as it walked, so it must still be pretty new to the world.

Keywords: animals, high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge

05/26/05 - Hurricane Ridge Webcam Movies

Here are some movies we made from the Hurricane Ridge web camera images. Click on either image to see a short movie of the moon setting or the snow melting. For more info, or to bookmark this, click here.

Keywords: atmosphere, movies, hurricane ridge

05/25/05 - Signs of Spring

We were up at Hurricane Ridge today and were pleased to see that the road to Hurricane Hill was open, despite the snow on the ground which was rapidly melting. The high country wild flower seasson is starting early this year. We have already missed the glacier lilies, but the avalanche lilies are out and the scent of the phlox was everywhere. It looks as if the lupines are getting ready.

This is typical of the high country. The season is short and the flowers are in a hurry.

If you plan on seeing the wildflowers in the Olympic Mountains this year, this is a good time to get up to Hurricane Ridge.

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

05/12/05 - Hurricane Ridge Web Camera

Wow, there is a new Hurricane Ridge web camera! We can't remember how many times it has been cloudy and gray at sea level, but a mile up at Hurricane Ridge the sky is blue and the air is clear. Now, we can check things out from ground level.

UPDATE 05/13 - It has not taken us long to put together a short Quicktime movie from the webcam imagery. We apologize for the color balance and some of the blockiness, but this is a webcam on top of a mile high mountain. You will need to load Quicktime to view this movie, or the bigger version of it.

Keywords: movies, atmosphere, high country, hurricane ridge

02/15/05 - Snowshoe Report From Hurricane Ridge, snowshoeing

We went snowshoeing on Hurricane Ridge a few days back, and we were rather amazed at the lack of snow. There was snow, but not all that much as you can see in these two photos. Just as a reminder, these were taken in February, not June.

The road to the Hurricane Hill trailhead did have snow, but the thick section near the start was deceptive. There were portions of the trail where it was easy to bottom out and poke at the asphalt of the road with our sticks. Still, the snow was white, and the scenery spectacular. If you don't have snowshoes or cross country skis, you can just hike if you have a good pair of shoes.

The picture on the right is of Hurricane Hill. Most of the snow seems to have melted! There are usually bits of snow hanging around until August. Unless the heavens open up, it looks like it will all be gone by May.

The picture on the left is of the Switchback Trail to Klahane Ridge as seen from the road to Hurricane Ridge. It looks like most o fhte snow has melted, but you can see the snow on the trail as the criss cross of white lines just above the center of the picture. Judging from the trailhead, it looks like you can just walk up to the ridge if you don't mind the occasional snow drift.

Keywords: winter, high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, klahane ridge, snowshoeing

01/09/05 - Snow on the Lake Angeles Trail

Not only did it snow big time in town, but it also snowed big time in the Olympic National Park, and wonder of wonders, Hurricane Ridge road is open to the ski area at the top. There is a bit of snow on the road, but they've cut and hauled all the downed trees, plowed the snow, removed the rocks and sanded the pavement, so it is a pretty easy drive as these things go.

If you don't feel like going to the top, there is great snow shoeing on the Lake Angeles Trail. The trailhead is down the road on the right just before the entrance station on Hurricane Ridge Road. If you do go, check out the snowman in the picture on the right. He's near the start of the trail.

Then check out the snow.

Keywords: winter, lake angeles, hurricane ridge

12/03/04 - Hurricane Ridge in the Winter

Hurricane Ridge is once again open for cross country skiing and snow shoeing. This morning the road was open and there were five inches of snow at the "snow post" so we headed up to the ridge and checked things out. The road was open and well plowed. The scenery was spectacular with an amazing lemon sky. We had to blaze our own trail, but with so little snow it wasn't much of a problem. It was the true glory of the Northwest with white mountains and green trees. A great start for the winter season.

NOTE (for disbelievers): No, we did not Photoshop in that yellow. That is what you see. That is what our camera recorded. The sky really is yellow with notes of pink. This is a lemon sky. A buttermilk sky is similar, but the yellow is tinged with blue.

Keywords: high country, atmosphere, food, hurricane ridge, winter, oysters

08/15/04 - Blue Grouse Chicks

We were up at Hurricane Ridge today. The temperature was in the 80s, but the air was dry. Most of the flowers have passed. There was one bunch of lupines, but the rest were harebells, yarrow and a few other late season bloomers.

We did see a number of blue grouse (or is it grice)? We even got a picture of a grouse and chick. You have to look carefully to spot them. They hide easily in the grass.

We thought we had seen a marmot, but it was just an ochre rock.

As for the snow. There is still a bit, sort of southwest of the Hurricane Hill summit. Don't expect to do much skiing.

The hike is still well worth taking. The plants are still green and loaded with seed pods including the white fluffy ones, the pea pods on the lupines, and the brown prickly ones.

Keywords: birds, high country, flowers, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, grouse

The High Country at Obstruction Point - Lupines

07/29/04 - Obstruction Point Open for the Season

The road to Obstruction Point has been open for some time now, but we finally made it up there ourselves. If you don't know Obstruction Point, it is in the high country about 7 or 8 miles down an unpaved from Hurricane Ridge. The road has some scary moments, but the real terror is the left turn you take getting onto it or off of it, since most of the folks on the main road are gawking at the view from Hurricane Ridge.

As you can see, the fields are FULL of wildflowers. Most of what you see in the picture to the left are lupines and dirty sock plant with some pink paintbrush for emphasis. Most paintbrush is orange, but you often see the pink variant up in the high country.

There were quite a few people up there at the end of the road. We were walking on the trail and rather openly admiring the scenery when two hikers walked by and, in passing, reminded us, "Don't forget to vote!"

Keywords: high country, obstruction point, flowers, hurricane ridge

06/03/04 - The Snows Are Melting

The snows are melting! The wildflower season is upon us!

We had heard that Hurricane Hill Road was open. In the winter, this is the cross country skiing trail that runs from the Hurricane Ridge Visitors' Center to the Hurricane Hill Trailhead. It sometimes doesn't melt out until July, but this year it was open in early May, despite 374" of snow on the Ridge. We tried driving up last week, but it was foggy and rainy and a bit unprepossessing.

Today was sunny, and you could see well into the mountains, so off we drove. Most of the snow is already melted and the wildflowers are already coming out. They were vacuuming out the parking lot at the Hurricane Hill Trailhead when we arrived for our hike. The trail was open, with just a few snowy patches. There were no glacier lilies or dirty sock plant yet, but the lupines, phlox, Indian paintbrush, and a host of other flowers were in bloom.

Don't way for July, the alpine flower season has already started at Hurricane Ridge.

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

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