Tag: Olympic Mountains

Trail Benches

Trail Benches

The trail up Mt Ellinor in the SE corner of the Olympic Mountains (outside of the National Park) is one of the most heavily used in the Olympics. It’s a reasonable hike up to a spectacular view. There are three trailheads … One at the bottom at Big Creek Campground (a 6 mile hike with lots of additional elevation gain), one at the “mid-point” (a 3.1 mile hike) and the upper trailhead (a 1.6 mile hike) — all mileages one way. Those choosing the upper trailhead to shorten the hike miss some wonderful forest, including this bench-rock location. The boulder covered with lichen and moss is worth spending time with … and the matching benches are a nice feature … although when you’re hiking by yourself, they seem excessive.

2

Native Rhododendrons

Native Rhodies 1

We took a trip up to Mt Walker to enjoy the wild rhododendrons. Mt Walker has quite a dense collection and we caught them in full bloom and it’s a very good year. When I say ‘collection’ I don’t mean to imply that they aren’t wild.

The native rhododendron is the official Washington State Flower.

Native Rhodies 2
5

Port Townsend Paper Mill (sunset)

Port Townsend Paper Mill (sunset)

I like the juxtaposition of the industrial/maritime with the distant ridge line of the NE Olympic Mountains in the background. The Port Townsend Paper Mill is the single largest employer in Port Townsend, WA … (the maritime industry is larger, but made up of a lot of smaller businesses).

2

Silver Sentinel Tree

Silver Sentinel Tree

This tree was along the trail from Boulder Camp (in the upper Dungeness River valley) to Marmot Pass. I thought it looked like a sentinel watching over the trail. It is in the Buckhorn Wilderness outside of the Olympic National Park and is very much in the rain shadow section of the Olympic Peninsula… hence the lack of much undergrowth.

1

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑