Pyramid Mountain Winter Hike

 We headed up to the north shore road in Olympic National Park today, to hike up Pyramid Mountain on the north shore of Lake Crescent.
This is a great winter hike giving us 2,400 ft in elevation gain in 3.5 miles (and then returning for a 7 mile round trip hike). It is a beautiful diverse forest. I loved this old tree that looks like a teepee near the trailhead.

 There are lots of ferns, moss, and nurse logs.

 Trees towering over moss covered rocks and boulders

 The trail winds along the side of the mountain in the forest.

 Lots of plants to admire along the trail,

 and many interesting trees.

 So many things to catch my eye.

 Lots of water flowing down the steams today.

 We had a few peak-a-boo views of Lake Crescent and the Olympic Mountains to the south as the trail climbed. But the view opened up when we reached a steep, exposed slide area about 1.8 miles.

 There is a very narrow footpath across this exposed area. Although we were hiking in a light rain, this area seemed firm and stable. We took our time hiking across.

 Then the trail continued along a nice forested path, as we continued upward.


















As we reached the saddle and crossed over to the north side of the ridge, we found the area covered in low lying bushes.

 The trail then opens up to a ridge, where the wind was fierce, just before

 a short steep section leading to an old abandoned WWII plane spotter cabin. This was a nice place to take shelter from the wind and sideways blowing snow and rain while we ate lunch.
















Views from atop Pyramid Mountain as the fog and clouds moved around today.