Mount Walker Loop

Drove up to Quilcene to hike up Mount Walker. We decided to make it a loop by hiking up the trail and coming back down the closed forest road. About 7 miles with 2,000 ft gain.  We saw 2 other hikers on the trail and 7 skiers as we hiked down the road. The gate was closed by Hwy 101. There were several inches of snow from the highway. 

Enjoyed seeing the fresh snow covering everything.

some icicles along the trail

The snow increased in depth as we continued up the trail.

Cloudy up on top of Mount Walker, not much view from the North Viewpoint.

We had some occasional glimpses of the outline of Olympic Peaks to the northeast.

From the North Viewpoint we walked down the closed road towards the South Viewpoint.

The sun tried to break through the clouds.

Snow laden branches low down over the trail right before the South Viewpoint.

The clouds obstructed the view at the South Viewpoint.

But the trees were so beautiful in this winter wonderland!

We met a skier coming up to the top of Mount Walker as we were headed down. He told us to walk in his tracks as it would help pack it down, he would be returning several times this week to keep working on it.

Viewpoint about halfway down the road. we could see the north end of Quilcene Bay,

and at the other end the Big Quilcene River below.

Some snowy trees towering above us on some rocky cliffs.

small icicles and dripping water in a mossy niche

 

Hurricane Hill Road Snowshoe

We drove up to Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park to snowshoe today. There weren't very many people for a nice partially sunny Sunday. We decided to snowshoe along Hurricane Hill Road as the avalanche risk was considerable today. There were nice tracks along the closed road to follow.

View towards Hurricane Hill

Lots of fresh snow the "smaller" trees are almost covered in snow.

View towards the west and the Bailey Range

Icicle covered trees and Mount Angeles to the east

Our views changed with the clouds moving around.

From the end of the Hurricane Hill Road we continued up the first hill on the ridge.

Mount Angeles from the hill on the ridge.

zoom of Mount Angeles and Klahhanne Ridge

We had a lovely lunch break up on the ridge with very little wind and a raven watching us.

zoom of the raven

some distant peaks to the west

zoom of those peaks

Heading back down toward Hurricane Road, some peaks to the south 

icicles

We decided to go off "trail" and enjoy the fresh snow in the forest, being careful of potential tree wells and steep slopes.

View to the southwest

Looking back towards Hurricane Hill

We did not come down through these covered trees, but worked our way back around to a safe route to Hurricane Hill Road

We enjoyed snowshoeing in this winter wonderland today!

View back at the main parking area.

 

Tronsen and Swauk Loops Snowshoe

We drove up to Blewett Pass and parked off of FSR 7245 to go snowshoeing, and explore some of the routes and create our own. We started up the Tronsen Loop Trail and about 0.5 mile up the closed road, we crossed over to the Swauk Discovery Trail and did a large loop, came back to the Tronsen Loop and took the Tronsen Meadow route down to FSR 7240. We were hoping to join the loop back to our car through the woods, but the trees and brush seemed to thick, so we did the 0.1 mile walk between to the two forest roads along the highway. Overall we did 5.75 miles with 700 ft of gain. We didn't see anyone else out here today. This map only shows the routes on the Tronsen side.

There was some fresh snow from last night, partially covering some older ski tracks.

View towards the other side of highway 970, hoping for blue sky.

Love seeing the trees covered with fresh powdery snow.

Along the loop of the Swauk Discovery Trail, we watched the sun break out of the clouds over Diamond Head.

On the highpoint of the Swauk Discovery Trail, view towards the north,

Diamond Head to the east, 

and a snowy ridge line to the west.

This area is mostly forested, but there are some open meadows.

Crossing Tronsen Creek on a bridge near the bottom of the Tronsen Meadow Route.

 

Mount Walker

Drove up to Quilcene to hike up Mount Walker before the storm hit today. There was lots of blue sky above Mount Walker when I started at 8.30 this morning. The lower gate is now closed for the winter, overall hike was 5.5 miles with 2,000 ft gain.

Found some nice hair frost along the side of the road walk.

Consistent ice/snow started about 1,600 ft.

zoom of a snowy Olympic Peak seen between the trees

About halfway up the trail, I put on my micro spikes as the trail was getting slippery. Further up the trail, the snow was getting a bit deeper.

A nice wintery trail as fall nears the end of its season.

Beautiful up at the North Viewpoint on Mount Walker. 

Happy to see some Olympic Peaks to the northwest.

Some lovely blue sky as the clouds were moving in. Quilcene below

There was some nice fresh snow on the closed road between the north and south viewpoints. A snowshoer ahead of me broke trail this morning.

It was cloudier at the South Viewpoint. Could see Quilcene Bay down below.