The Road to Obstruction Point
Sep. 8th, 2021 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOlympic Peninsula Travelog #11
Olympic National Park, WA - Sat, 4 Sep 2021. 3pm.
We wrapped up our hike to Hurricane Hill (previous blog) by 2pm today. We knew when we planned the hike that it would be only a part-day activity, that it'd be the first part of a two-fer... possibly even a three-fer! We weren't sure, though, what to do next. Or rather, which to do next. We had lots of ideas!
We chose the newest idea, one that was only introduced to us this morning when we talked to a ranger at the visitors center. "Drive out Obstruction Point Road," he suggested. "There are trails going left and right from there with lots of stuff to see."
Obstruction Point Road hadn't even been on my radar until that conversation. I don't think I'd even seen it on maps. Possibly that's because it's a dirt road, 8 miles long, is clear only a few months a year, and can quickly get treacherous in poor weather. But today it would be mostly dry... if also mostly gloomy.
The main selling point for us turned out to be that it's a drive. We were tired and achy from hiking 5+ miles along Hurricane Ridge. We weren't ready to commit to more hiking yet. Letting our car do most of the work for a while was a good idea.
The Obstruction Point Road winds around ridges and knobs heading southeast from the visitor center atop Hurricane Ridge. A few minutes out we stopped at a wide spot on the road (it's generally tight for two vehicles to pass) for a few pictures. In the photo above you can see Hurricane Hill on the left; it's the tallest brown hill on the left. The rugged brown peak on the right (I think it's volcanic, geologically) is Mt. Angeles.
What about our "constant companion", Mt. Olympus?
It's still there. Somewhere. The cloud cover has gotten a bit worse as the day's gone on, so the 7.980' (2,432m) peak is hard to spot.
At another wide spot on the road a new kind of vista opened up. This one's a view to the east:
Looking down through this valley from over a mile above the water level below you see the Hood River Canal and, beyond it, the Puget Sound. If this were a clear day you could probably see Mt. Baker, one of Washington's highest peaks, far off in the distance.
After 8 miles, as promised, the road came to an end at Obstruction Point.
Since this is America we need signs reminding people guns are not allowed.
Up next: a ridge so enticing we have to hike it!
Olympic National Park, WA - Sat, 4 Sep 2021. 3pm.
We wrapped up our hike to Hurricane Hill (previous blog) by 2pm today. We knew when we planned the hike that it would be only a part-day activity, that it'd be the first part of a two-fer... possibly even a three-fer! We weren't sure, though, what to do next. Or rather, which to do next. We had lots of ideas!
We chose the newest idea, one that was only introduced to us this morning when we talked to a ranger at the visitors center. "Drive out Obstruction Point Road," he suggested. "There are trails going left and right from there with lots of stuff to see."
Obstruction Point Road hadn't even been on my radar until that conversation. I don't think I'd even seen it on maps. Possibly that's because it's a dirt road, 8 miles long, is clear only a few months a year, and can quickly get treacherous in poor weather. But today it would be mostly dry... if also mostly gloomy.
The main selling point for us turned out to be that it's a drive. We were tired and achy from hiking 5+ miles along Hurricane Ridge. We weren't ready to commit to more hiking yet. Letting our car do most of the work for a while was a good idea.
The Obstruction Point Road winds around ridges and knobs heading southeast from the visitor center atop Hurricane Ridge. A few minutes out we stopped at a wide spot on the road (it's generally tight for two vehicles to pass) for a few pictures. In the photo above you can see Hurricane Hill on the left; it's the tallest brown hill on the left. The rugged brown peak on the right (I think it's volcanic, geologically) is Mt. Angeles.
What about our "constant companion", Mt. Olympus?
It's still there. Somewhere. The cloud cover has gotten a bit worse as the day's gone on, so the 7.980' (2,432m) peak is hard to spot.
At another wide spot on the road a new kind of vista opened up. This one's a view to the east:
Looking down through this valley from over a mile above the water level below you see the Hood River Canal and, beyond it, the Puget Sound. If this were a clear day you could probably see Mt. Baker, one of Washington's highest peaks, far off in the distance.
After 8 miles, as promised, the road came to an end at Obstruction Point.
Since this is America we need signs reminding people guns are not allowed.
Up next: a ridge so enticing we have to hike it!
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Date: 2021-09-09 02:38 am (UTC)