Mt Ellinor

 Got up early and decided to hike up Mt Ellinor in the south Olympics on a cloudy morning. The forest service road has lots of potholes and some washboarding. From the upper trailhead, the trail gains 2,444 ft in 1.6 miles. It was possible to reach the top without hiking in snow.

 This is a beautiful, but steep hike. In some sections, there are log "steps"

 I did see a few wildflowers in bloom, but it is a bit early here for the wildflowers.

 About 1/2 mile up the trail, I saw a mother and baby mountain goat on the trail. I waited for them to move off the trail before continuing.

 Some sections have rocky "steps"

 and more steps


















A group of mountain goats up on the cliff
















including another mom and baby goat (very zoomed in photo)

 a short ways further up the trail, I could look out over the clouds covering the Puget Sound area. Far in the distance, is a hazy Mt Rainier.
The trail skirted this snow field on the right side of the photo

 A stream from snow melt, crossing the trail

 I'm glad this is how the mountain goats go up Mt Ellinor and is not the summer trail.

 The trail continues up, crossing this upper slope.

















I saw a couple of marmots in this field as they ran across the rocks.

After turning the corner, the trail continues up in a series of steep short switchbacks. There was some heather in bloom here.

After getting around the narrow rocky section on the edge of Eleanor and reaching the saddle between Ellinor and Mt Washington, I looked down and saw a couple of mountain goats below.

Heading up the last bit to the top of Mt Ellinor, I had to wait for this mountain goat to move out of the way.

I didn't want to cross the snow on this steep section, so

 I looked up t find the scramble up. I worked my way up and around, staying away form the two mountain goats up high

 opted not to go this way

 and as I neared the big flat area before the summit rocks, decided I wasn't going this way either. I let the goats be the "king of the mountain" and found another spot to enjoy the views.

 Looking north to Olympic Peaks













To the west: MT Washington and far in the distance above the clouds: Mt Rainier

 another mountain goat
I think the orange tag is left over from marking the winter route. It is not the summer trail, which is to the right over the rocky cliff.

I was as slow going down this steep section with loose rocks as I was going up, not a good place to slip.

Here the trail appears to go off the edge of the world

another group of mountain goats, there are twin kids!!! (very zoomed in photo)

Hiking in the clouds as I neared the trailhead

mountain goat safety information

There were a few wildflowers blooming along the trail today: