Tag: Mt Ellinor

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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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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Mt Ellinor and Mt Washington

Mt Ellinor and Mt Washington

Mt Ellinor and Mt Washington are the two southernmost prominent peaks in the Olympics visible on the Seattle western skyline. Mt Ellinor was named after Ellinor Fauntleroy, a member of a pioneering Seattle settler family. Ellinor has a trail to the summit and is one of the most heavily hiked trails in the Olympics. The view is spectacular. Mt Washington has some technical climbing in order to access the summit.

Below is a closer view of Ellinor.

Mt Ellinor

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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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Clouds Moving In

Southeast Olympics Looking North from Mt Ellinor

One of the facts of hiking in the Olympic Mountains is that the weather can change very quickly due to its proximity to the Pacific. I was climbing (more of a hike than a climb, really) Mt Ellinor in November one year and it started out as a beautiful fall day. When I started my descent, I realized that clouds were coming in. I wasn’t worried since the trail was clearly marked with lots of footprints in the snow, and I had climbed Ellinor several times. But the clouds moving in certainly made it more interesting photographically.

Fog in the chute on Mt Ellinor
Fog on Mt Ellinor
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