Klahhane Ridge, High Ridge Trail & Sunrise Point Trail — Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020

We got to the station at 10:15 and waited in line for half an hour to get into the park. The station is 12 miles away from the Hurricane Ridge parking lot, so don't panic when you see the line. Starting from the junction with Sunrise Point, I made it to the steep switchback section of the Klahhane Ridge trail before turning back. We left around 3, and the line to get in was, ah, terrifying. Maybe 40 cars or so.

There were lots of people on the trail, as expected for a sunny weekend. The Klahhane Ridge trail is narrow and thus difficult to let people pass on, but people were courteous. The views and wildflowers were spectacular, with Klahhane Ridge the best of all; I like to think this is what heaven looks like, or possibly Switzerland.

PSA: stay on the trail. There were a few people stepping in the meadows and refusing to return to the trail when asked. I gotta say, if you're destroying fragile, slow-growing plants in a protected national park (despite signs posted every 50 feet telling you precisely not to do that) all just to take that perfect picture for Instagram, you've got your priorities screwed up.

Flowers in bloom were mountain owl's clover, leafy aster, magenta indian paintbrush, Columbia lily, American bistort, Oregon sunshine, broadleaf arnica, harebell, fleabane, scarlet Indian paintbrush, giant red Indian paintbrush, broadleaf lupine (at the end of its season), purple peavine, arrowleaf senecio, sickletop lousewort, Parry's catchfly, fireweed, pussytoes, edible thistle, pearly everlasting, yarrow, field milkwort, orange agoseris, thread-leafed sandwort, partridgefoot, Olympic mountain aster, and Drummond's cinquefoil.

Note: all photos below are from Klahhane Ridge