Hurricane Hill, Elwha To Hurricane Hill — Friday, Sep. 3, 2010

Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast

We were planning on hiking the Heather Pass trail, but we changed our minds when we realized that it might be the last day in a while when the weather was so clear and we wanted to soak in the views all day rather than spend six miles in the forest. So up we went to Hurricane Ridge--even though it was the start of the Labor Day weekend and we knew it would be packed with people. It didn't matter. The views were simply spectacular everywhere, and we drove to the parking lot for Hurricane Hill and started out with the crowds. It's only 1.5 miles to the top of the Hill and it is a very easy walk on a paved path. We stayed at the summit only briefly, taking in the great views--including Mt. Baker, Victoria, in addition to the great peaks to the West and South. A large group of tourists soon took over all the space and it was a relief to descend and head towards our favorite part of the hike, two tenths of a mile back down the trail to the junction to the trail to the Elwha. We saw two marmots in the meadow there and then took the trail beyond the meadow and down to the ridge, which goes up and down and then finally down to enormous meadows. We only saw two people along the ridge, and then nobody at all for the rest of our time on this trail. We descended to the "lunch rocks" which are about at 4300 feet and enjoyed looking down at Lake Mills and the magnificent panorama of peaks above it. (I think this spot is about two miles from the junction with the Hurricane Summit trail). The last time I was here, in July of 2009, the meadows here were filled with flowers. But now, most of the flowers are gone and the meadows are a sea of beautiful yellow grasses.