Taking advantage of beautiful warm spring weather, we went up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. The views were stunning, but comparing the view (above) with a photo from about the same spot back 5 years ago and three weeks later in May shows that we have a very low snowpack this year.
For another view, this time looking down the Elwha River valley. This one is a little more difficult to compare snowfields, because they are similar and both are a long ways away.
These were taken during the recent trip I made to Hurricane Ridge. The view above is looking south down the Elwha River valley at the heart of the Olympic National Park. I have hiked the valley a number of times, and it’s as lovely from ground level as it looks from this elevation. Below is looking more west towards the south end of the Bailey Range. The close valley is the Elwha and on the other side of the ridge running along the other side of the Elwha is Long Creek … the ridge is Long Ridge.
Just a couple of winter shots from the Hurricane Ridge of the central Olympic Mountains in the National Park. Even on some cloudy days you can get glimpses of ridges and peaks. I actually like clouds in photos of mountains to break up the solid blue sky and provide another layer of subject. The shot below is taken looking to about the same area. It’s got a much different feel, doesn’t it?
The top image is looking across the valley of the Elwha to the north end of the Bailey Range … central section of the Olympic National Park. The image below is looking farther south to the central section of the Bailey Range. Besides the beauty of the clouds and weather with the interplay with the ridges, the unsettled weather keeps the crowds down.
From the top of Hurricane Hill, you can see just the top of Mt Olympus “peaking” above the Bailey Range (which runs down through the middle of Olympic National Park. I thought the dry grasses in the foreground made an interesting contrast.