I drove up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park to snowshoe on this beautiful morning. Today the gate opened at 8:30 and the lot was full by 9:30. There were only a few skiers heading out to Hurricane Hill when I started and a couple of snowshoers. On the way back, I came across many people enjoying this beautiful morning. I decided not to go all the way up Hurricane Hill, but to go out as far as I felt comfortable. I did 4 miles round trip with an overall gain of 500 ft.
View of Mt Olympus and other Olympic Peaks to the southwest, as seen from near the Visitor Center this morning.
The first mile is along the closed Hurricane Hill Road. This section was well packed and I was able to hike it and carried my snowshoes. I made sure to stay to the left and out of the ski tracks.
A short ways down the road is this nice view of Hurricane Hill to the northwest. I made it out along the ridge on the left.
Further down the road, a fabulous view of the Bailey Range to the west,
and Mt Angels to the east.
At the end of the closed road, the skiers go across the steep icy side along the summer "trail" on the west slope, while the snowshoers go up and over the ridge crest several times, making sure to avoid the cornices on the east side. The snow wasn't as well packed down here, so I put on my snowshoes and kept going.
Up on the ridge crest are gorgeous views: Mt Angeles,
and the Bailey Range
About 2 miles from the start, I reached a point where I could no longer stay up on the ridge (the conditions change frequently in the winter),
and I did not feel comfortable to continue along the skier tracks on the icy exposed west slope. I was happy to have enjoyed a gorgeous snowshoe!
View to the south as I snowshoed back along the ridge, soon clouds completely covered this view.
I loved the frosty frozen trees against the blue sky today.
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