Tag: Hiking

Views from Hurricane Hill

View to the North from the top of Hurricane Hill

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”
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Mt Olympus from the High Divide

Mt Olympus from the High Divide at Sunset

I took this image a few years back while hiking around the High Divide, camping in a spot just off the trail. There wasn’t much water around (1/2 mile + away), but the view made up for it. The High Divide is the most popular backpack in the Olympic National Park … these days you need to make a reservation months in advance … and even then good luck getting one of the limited number.

Below is a view south from the High Divide trail about a mile or so from the camp above. Mt Olympus is the snowy peak on the left of center, Mt Tom is the snow peak just right of center. The Hoh River valley is between the trail and those peaks.

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Floating Reeds

Floating Reeds

I don’t know what kind of reeds these are (hard to tell from the photo) but they sure made an interesting pattern floating on the small pond near the ‘entrance’ to Sol Duc Park. Sol Duc Park is about 7 miles up the Sol Duc Trail, most of the way to Heart Lake and part of the very popular High Divide Loop in the Olympic National Park.

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Mountain Views

Mountain View I

These images were taken looking south and east from the Slab Creek trail that runs from Deer Park to Slab Camp on the Grey Wolf River. The area is in the Olympic National Park, but not all the valleys are fully protected … some may include sections of the Buckhorn Wilderness Area.

Mountain View II
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Autumn Trails

Autumn Trails 1

I know … it’s the wrong time of year for autumn shots. Oh well. I was going through some older shots and saw these two trails. They were both in Montana, near Whitefish. It was middle of September, but you can see a slight dusting of snow just left of center, along the ridge line. We got into snow before we got to the top … and we were cold and tired. Fortunately, we found a ski area at the top and rode the chair lift down to where our car was parked.

Autumn Trails 2

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