Views from atop Hurricane Hill

Olympic Peninsula Travelog #10
Olympic National Park, WA - Sat, 4 Sep 2021. 1pm.

The weird thing about climbing a mountain is that one you get to the top the views are all missing something.... You can't see the mountain. You're accustomed to seeing it dominate the skyline, and all of a sudden... nope. It's under your feet now. Fortunately the flip side of being on top of a mountain is you can see everything else.



Looking north from Hurricane Hill I see down across the twin spires of Unicorn Peak and Unicorn Horn to the Straight of Juan de Fuca. With Hurricane Hill at elev. 5,757' this is more than a vertical mile. The town on the near shore is Port Angeles, where we're staying for 3 nights. Across the straight, on the left, is Vancouver Island. The city on its shore is Victoria, Canada, the capital of the province of British Columbia. The large island on the right farther away is San Juan Island, part of Washington, US. The dead trees on the near ridge are left from a fire that burned in 2008.



Turning slightly to the right I see Mt. Angeles. It's been there, over my right shoulder, pretty much the whole hike up to this point.

From the top of Hurricane Hill we explored out a bit further on the ridge. It descends gently for a bit before dropping off steeply. We went to the edge of the steep area to take a look around.



Here the trail back to the west shows the summit of Hurricane Hill. Beyond it is the Elwha Valley, a steep drop of more than a vertical mile. Beyond the ridges on the far side of Elwha Valley is the Pacific Ocean.

So, having show view to the north, east, and west, what's left is... the south. And you know what's there. Right? It's been there the whole time. Mt. Olympus.



And speaking of things that have been here the whole time, fellow Homo Sapiens have been constant companions on this trek, as well. Some outdoors writers I've had the misfortune of buying books from consider people a pest and bad-mouth any hiking trail that's too popular. Many hikes are popular precisely because they are so beautiful. I don't begrudge my fellow hikers the beauty in which we walk. Plus, it's fun seeing other people enjoy themselves, like the hikers checking their watch to learn "It's Mountain Time!" or these folks, above, posing for their own picture. In beauty we walk. Together.

Update: This hike is over but the adventure continues! Read about Obstruction Point in my next blog.

The Road to Obstruction Point

Olympic 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!

Hiking Lillian Ridge

Olympic Peninsula Travelog #12
Olympic National Park, WA - Sat, 4 Sep 2021. 5pm.

After hiking Hurricane Ridge today we were pretty beat. We made the scenic drive out to Obstruction Point afterward because a ranger had recommended it and because the only commitment it entailed was driving— not more hiking. When we got to Obstruction Point, though, we suddenly wanted to hike. It was Lillian Ridge rising above us that piqued our interest.



Lillian Ridge was just one of three directions we could've gone from Obstruction Point. All looked interesting, but Lillian was the one that went up. Why choose up when we're tired? For one, the trails that start out going down would require coming back up later when we're even more tired. Two, by starting with the ascent we could turn around at any point we needed and basically just roll back to the car. Three, we wagered there was an awesome view from the top of that ridge.

We were not wrong.

BTW, Lillian Ridge looks intimidating from the trailhead. It looks like it could be 500' of ascent or more. I figured that was a trick of perspective caused by the stark landscape here, mostly above the treeline. I wasn't wrong on that, either. Lillian Ridge was only about a 250' climb.



At a starting elevation of 6,100' the 250' climb was not trivial. Or at least it shouldn't have been. But it seemed like it was. Great views in all directions distracted us from our aching muscles and shortness of breath.

Among the views was the look back at where we'd come from. The photo above shows Obstruction Peak (right of center). In the center of the frame you can see the parking area at the Obstruction Point. Winding left from there and then off into the distance is the Obstruction Point Road. Why they call this Obstruction Peak and Obstruction Point, when there are three trails and a dirt road meeting there, I don't know. It just doesn't seem very... obstructive.



Atop Lillian Ridge the stark beauty continued.

"How far should we go?" was a question on our minds. "To the far edge," I suggested. "Anywhere we don't have to go down and then come back up."



We followed the path across the top of Lillian Ridge until it started to drop down the far side. And drop it did! Lillian River is in a valley over 4,000' deep! The topo map says the trail doesn't go all the way down there; it skirts a hanging canyon on the side. But either way we weren't going to find out.

On the way back I took a slight detour. "I'd like to see the view over the other edge of the ridge top," I said. Hawk was tired and wanted to go straight back. I'm glad I insisted.



Over the eastern edge of the ridge I spotted this hidden pocket lake. It's in a small glacial cirque that hides it from being seen from almost any other spot than right here. Even walking 200m to the side along the ridge top causes it to disappear.