We recently took a hike to the top of Hurricane Hill in the Olympic National Park. It’s fairly short (1.8 miles one way) and not too steep … but it’s a very popular hike and crowded. I call it a hike, but it is paved all the way to the top. One of the nicest wheelchair accessible hikes that I know of. Once on top, there is a great 360 degree panorama. To the north, there is a nice view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island (and Victoria), plus the San Juan Islands and Mt Baker.
To the south, the mountains and valleys of the central Olympics stretch out before you.
View to the south from near the top of Hurricane Hill, showing the “trail”
I like stormy weather (as long as there’s no damage and as long as I’m inside … or at least dry). These two images are of frontal systems coming in and both brought high winds … and both blew over and there wasn’t any damage. And both provided a good photo op.
Mt Ellinor and Mt Washington provide the south end of the view of the Olympics from the Seattle area. There is a trail that runs to the top of Ellinor, while Mt Washington is an ‘easy’ more technical climb. The stunning views from the summit of Ellinor provide an attraction that draws thousands of hikers each summer. (Hint: avoid summer weekends. Don’t expect solitude.) There are several different trailheads, letting the hiker choose the length and strenuousness of the hike. A dusty gravel logging road provides access to the higher trailheads. The view from the top of Ellinor includes a view of Lake Cushman (below).
Lake Cushman and the Ellinor/Washington complex.
From the summit of Elinor, you can see Mt Washington and the Puget Sound basin, including Mt Baker (on the far left skyline, below) and Mt Rainier.
Mt Ellinor – Mt Washington Ridge
Turning the other direction you have a stunning view of the southern and central Olympics (below).
View to the Northwest from the summit of Mt Ellinor
These images were all taken within a few minutes of each other from Constance Pass in the Olympics. (outside of the Olympic National Park … in the Buckhorn Wilderness) The one above is looking northeast and shows the west side of Mt Constance (on the right). Constance is the tallest peak you can see from Seattle’s view to the west.
This hike used to be a long one day hike from the Dosewallips trailhead … but the road being washed out now for 20 years or so has added an additional 6+ miles each way to the distance. The valley to the left of the image above is the upper Dungeness.
Constance Pass View 2
The view in the second image (above) is looking southwards … across the valley of the Dosewallips. The image below shows the view looking west towards Mt Mystery and into the Olympic National Park.
Constance Pass VIew 3
These were taken years ago, but I just found them and assembled them into panoramas. I didn’t have a lot of experience with panoramas at that time and there was no easy software fix to assemble them. That is the reason why the images are not ‘taller’. They were a little crooked … and to crop them to keep from having lots of empty space meant that they were wide and short.
The Holga cameras are a fun diversion. They are inexpensive to purchase, shoot 120 film and have a single lens similar to the Kodak Brownies of old. Since the lens has just one element, you get a very soft focus. The panorama version of the Holgas uses two frames of the 120 film … so you get 6 shots per roll. Developing is where things start costing money … well, after the $10 per roll of film, that is. There is an extra charge for processing the panoramas … so it you get high res scans, the cost comes in about $40 per roll for the processing … which brings the total to close to $10 per shot. Almost enough to make me want to start processing the film myself. Almost.
The above view is of the lighthouse at Point Wilson on Fort Worden from the dock of the Marine Science Center. Below is the view in the opposite direction showing the driftwood that has accumulated along the beach.
