Glacier Vista

This morning we drove up to Paradise at Mt Rainier National Park and hiked up to Glacier Vista in the snow, 2.8 miles round trip with 1,035 ft gain. The views were fabulous and we saw several marmots and two mountain goats in the distance.

We only saw a few people on our hike up, we would see many more on our way back down. Behind us is a fabulous view of the Tatoosh Peaks and behind them, Mt Adams and Mt St Helens

A douglas squirrel and chipmunk sharing a rock

some of the marmots we saw this morning

View of Mt Rainier from the end of Glacier Vista, we were at 6,550 ft of altitude

This is my favorite "short" hike, hiking up with Mt Rainier in sight, then hiking down with these marvelous views of the Tatoosh Peaks and beyond.

zoom of the Goat Rocks behind the Tatoosh

zoom of Mt Hood behind Pinnacle Peak in the Tatoosh

zoom of Mt Adams behind the Tatoosh

zoom of Mt St Helens behind the Tatoosh

Hurricane Hill

We drove to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park to hike up to Hurricane Hill. The Hurricane Hill Road still has lots of snow on it, so we hiked from the Hurricane Ridge parking area up Hurricane Hill Road and trail and back. 6 miles round trip with 960 ft of overall gain. View from the parking area at Hurricane Ridge.

Looking towards Mount Olympus

zoom of Mt Olympus

Across the other side of the parking area, we saw deer in the meadow.

The first part of Hurricane Hill Road was completely covered with compact snow.

View towards the Bailey Range

After this the road would alternate between bare and snow covered.

View towards Mount Angeles

Some parts of the trail were completely snow free, some partially covered with snow and other areas completely snow covered.

View looking back to the south

We saw some douglasia in bloom on the rocky hillside part way up the trail.

Heading up Hurricane Hill, with a view towards Mount Angeles 

Panoramic view to the south:

views from a bit further up the hill

The last part of the trail to the top of Hurricane Hill was snow free, 

with snow on either side of the trail/top. View towards Mount Angels and a very distant Mt Baker.

zoom of Mt Baker

Views looking across the Strait of Juan de Fuca:

View to the west:

a large raven

Views from another area of Hurricane Hill looking southward and buttercups in bloom:

Heading back down the trail, lovely to hike into the views.

Back at the parking area, great views of the peaks, even with the increasing clouds.

We saw this deer on the side of the road as we we driving down from Hurricane Ridge.

 

Mount Townsend

We drove up to the Upper Mt Townsend Trailhead in the northeast Olympics to hike up to Mount Townsend today, overall we hiked 9 miles round trip with 3.000 ft of gain. The trail enters the Buckhorn Wilderness about 0.8 mile. We started hiking in snow about 1/2 way up the trail.

Snowy peak seen through the trees.

As we gained elevation, we could see Glacier Peak to the east across Hood Canal and Puget Sound.

zoom of Glacier Peak

Wider view a short way up the trail.

Further up the trail we could see Mt Rainier to the southeast.

zoom of Mt Rainier

And further up the switchbacks, we could see Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan to the northeast.

zoom of Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan

Olympic Peaks to the west from the saddle of Mount Townsend.

Wind sculpted snow above the saddle.

Some of the trail going up to and along the top of Mount Townsend was bare of snow. Mount Townsend peak in the distance.

View to the southeast

view to the west

Final stretch to the top of Mount Townsend 

Looking south towards Mount Constance and other Olympic Peaks

Views from the summit looking eastward:

View to the north and the peak on the northland of Mount Townsend

distant view of Mt Rainier along the top of Mount Townsend

distant view of Mt Baker and Glacier Peak

view to the west

view to the southwest

From the north peak, looking northeast towards the Canadian mountain peaks and

to the northwest towards Vancouver Island.

Looking back to the peak of Mount Townsend to the south. We took the trail along the west below the summit on our way back.

For a while, we were only following deer tracks.

Another look to the south from above the saddle. including The Brothers and Mount Constance in the distance.

Views to the east

some lovely lichen on a tree as we continue down the trail in the woods

Welsh Peak