Grand Valley and Gladys Basin

We drove out to the end of Obstruction Point Road in Olympic National Park to hike out to Gladys Basin via Lillian Ridge and Grand Valley. This was an 11.5 mile round trip hike with an overall elevation gain of 3,000 ft. The mountain views and wildflowers were outstanding today! We took the Grand Pass trail across Lillian Ridge.The heather was in bloom and there were only a few small snowfields to cross.

zoom of Mt Olympus

There were many variety of wildflowers in bloom.

Looking down on one of the turquoise tarns on Lillian Ridge.

purple fleabane brightens the meadow

The trail goes 1.7 miles up and down over Lillian Ridge up to 6,400 ft.

Lillian Ridge gives excellent views of many Olympic Peaks

There are rocky ledges where wildflowers manage to grow and bloom.

From 6,400 ft, the trail descends 2.5 miles down to the junction of the Grand Lake Trail at 4,800 ft. Grand Lake down below in Grand Valley.

About 1/3-1/2  down the switchbacks, meadows are dispersed among the trees.

The meadows were dotted with a variety of colors from an assortment of wildflowers,

Each meadow was a joy to see.

This is one of my favorite wildflower hikes!

Although this section of the trail is downhill, I go slowly taking in the wonder of this short season in the mountains.

View of Grand Lake from the junction of the Grand Valley Trail with the trail down to Grand Lake and the Badger Valley Trail.

0.3 miles from the junction lies Moose Lake. View of Moose Lake near the north shore.

Although we saw quite a few backpackers in the campground and at the lake shore, we came across very few hikers on the trail today.

View looking to the south end of Moose Lake.

Less than a mile from Moose Lake, is Gladys Lake, that short trail section is filled with meadows full of bright blooms.

So beautiful!

We hikes around Gladys Lake, stopping on the eastern shore for a lunch break and to cool off in the cold water.

We saw lots of frogs at the lake shore, in the streams and the tarns in upper Gladys Basin.

View of Gladys Lake from the trail on the western shore.

Grand Creek coming down from the snow melt off of Grand Peak.

Gorgeous field of phlox.

A vibrant meadow as we head to the upper area of Gladys Basin

The hillside below Moose Mtn was also covered in wildflowers.

wildflower heaven!

We walked around the tarns in the upper part of Gladys Basin, we were the only ones there.

a cloud on top of Grand Peak

Retuning back through the tarns, Moose Mtn on the right.

There is still snow by the tarns.

In the afternoon, between the tarns and the parking area, we would only pass 4 other hikers on the trail. View of Moose Lake as we retuned down the trail.

It was fabulous to walk through all the meadows again our our hike out.

some of the wildflowers we saw along the trail today: