Tag: Fog

The Skokomish Range from Mt Ellinor

Skokomish Range from Mt Ellinor

This was a late fall hike to the summit of Mt Ellinor and the view northeast to some of the Skokomish Range (the southeast corner of the Olympic Mountains … and outside of Olympic National Park). It was a light snow year … typically by mid-November the snow is deep enough to cut off access. While the weather here looks great, on the way back down (the opposite direction from the view here, and much easier traveling) the clouds moved in and it was socked in with thick fog. Good thing I knew where I was.

Fog on Mt Ellinor

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From Worst to Best

Cat Basin in Fog

These photos are from a long ago hike. One of the toughest days I have had backpacking … the “off trail” traverse from Appleton Pass to Cat Basin in the Olympic National Park. As we struggled across the side hill, the clouds came in and our visibility dropped. While we were on the sidehill, there was no real chance of losing our way, since we could just keep the uphill side to our right, until we ran into the Cat Basin Trail that comes in from the High Divide. We were tired and set up camp in a small flat spot above the trail. We were sorta miserable and thought the spot was one of the worse we had camped in. But in the morning, the cloud was gone and we were looking directly down into Cat Basin and a herd of a hundred or so Olympic Elk. It went from one of the worse camps we had to one of the best … in a few hours.

Elk in Cat Basin
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Fog Coming In

Fog Coming In

This photo was taken on my way up Mt Ellinor (see the previous post) on a day when the weather was deteriorating rapidly. It was a good hike anyway. The funny thing that happened was that when I returned to my car, I found that someone had decorated it with a bagel stuck on my radio antenna. (see below)

And no, I didn’t eat the bagel. (I was a little surprised that it wasn’t attacked by crows or ravens.

Bagel on Antenna

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Mist in the High Country

Mist in the High Country

This is cloud/fog coming up the Hoh River valley and across the High Divide in the Olympic National Park. In the winter the snow cover is extensive … helping to reduce the amount of understory. This is near Cat Basin, close to Heart Lake … and sits about 5000′ (1524 m). It is beautiful country and one of the most heavily visited areas in the park. (unlike the previous post) Reservations are required for backcountry visitors … the loop runs up the Sol Duc river valley, then climbs up to the high country, along a ridge, then drops back down to the valley and the return to the trailhead.

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Clouds Burning Off

Valley Clouds 1

My previous post talked about hiking and having clouds move in … this one covers the other scenario, where you start the hike in clouds and hike up out of them (or have them burn off while you are hiking). This is the same location as the previous post, Mt Ellinor in the Southeast corner of the Olympic Mountains (outside the park).

Valley Clouds 2
SE Corner of the Olympic Mountains Looking North from Mt Ellinor

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