Mount Ellinor Winter Hike Washington

 Another beautiful sunny day in Washington State with little new snow in the mountains. We headed to the Olympic National Forest to hike Mount Ellinor. We had read good reports from 3 days ago stating there were small patches of ice on the way to the summit. There was little snow on the road and we were able to drive to the upper parking lot. From there, the hike is 1.6 miles up with 2,444 ft elevation gain. The photo to the left is Mount Ellinor as seen from FR 24 in the morning.





The photo below is Copper Mt and Mount Ellinor-Mount Washington as seen across Hoods Canal as we drove home in the afternoon.

Such a clear day, we saw Mt Rainier, Mt Adams & Mt St Helens from the upper parking area. 

The trail starts steeply in the woods. About a mile up the trail, it splits into the winter trail to the right and summer trail to the left. We choose the summer trail as there was less than 1" of snow on the trail. There are several ledges in the woods were you can stop and enjoy the views. Here we are above the tree line looking southeast to Mt Rainier across Hood Canal & Puget Sound.

The trail continues up and crosses an avalanche chute. The trail was steep and icy we used Yaktrax and micro-cleats. Unfortunately, there were hikers who chose not to come down the trail, but down the rocky chute, and sent large rocks hurling down, one fairly close to me.  (Please stick to the trails when hiking). Photo on left, looking up the avalanche chute. Photo on right, looking down the trail after crossing the avalanche chute.

The last bit of trail up to the summit of Mount Ellinor was very steep and very icy. Even with micro-cleats and poles, I became uneasy, my legs were tired. We decided to stop 20 ft short of the summit to eat lunch and enjoy the views, which were splendid. On this side of Mount Ellinor, we looked across the saddle to Mount Washinton and to the Cascade Mountains beyond. We saw Mt Baker, Glacier Peak, the smaller peaks near Stevens & Snoqualmie Passes, Mt Rainier, Mt Adams & Mt St Helens, fabulous!!!

 Panoramic photo with my iPhone.

The hike down was steep and icy. But we would frequently stop to enjoy the sun and the gorgeous views.
Photo to right: coming down Mount Ellinor, sun reflected in Lake Cushman.