The weather in Western Washington is notoriously cloudy and damp. Some people struggle with the lack of sun. But I am okay with that … I see the trade offs, including mountain ridges with clouds and/or mist. These were taken looking west from Hurricane RIdge in Olympic National Park across the Elwha Valley.
The image above shows the North Fork Skokomish river just above the Staircase area in the Olympic National Park. If you look closely, you can see the bridge that runs across the river … providing access tof the Staircase Loop Trail. This is a very wide angle lens … which causes the curvature distortion. The image below is taken from the bridge looking further downriver.
At the bottom, a section of the North Fork Skokomish trail running through Maple Flats, about 6 miles up from the Staircase area.
I have posted several images of hikes along the Dosewallips River trail in the Olympic National Park. Here are a few more images that I enjoy and thought I would share. The first (above) shows the trail above the old Dosewallips Campground (below) … now isolated by about 6 miles by washout of the road. Hiking the (closed gravel) road is a different experience than the lovely trail shown above. The bottom image shows the river dropping down the steep rapids (falls) just below the campground … the highlight of the road hike.
One of my favorite hikes in the past was to hike up the North Fork Teanaway (Esmerelda Basin) trail and then walk the ridge to the south summit of Ingalls Peak (above, the ridge for approach is on the left). It’s an moderately easy hike and can be made more interesting by continuing down the other side to the Long Pass Trail and returning to the trailhead with only a short double back.
The view from the summit is wonderful, with the south face of Mt Stuart being the highlight. Stuart is the highest non-volcanic peak in Washington … and attracts a host of serious climbers. I prefer the more enjoyable saunter up South Ingalls.
Also from the summit, you have a stunning view north along the spine of the Central Cascades (below), including views of two of the Cascade volcanoes: Glacier Peak (on the right) and Mt Baker (in the distance on the left). Mt Rainier and Mt Adams are visible to the south (weather permitting).
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).
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.
Turning the other direction you have a stunning view of the southern and central Olympics (below).
