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We drove to the end of Obstruction Point Road in Olympic National Park to hike down to Grand Valley and Gladys Basin, about 9.8 miles round trip with 2,500 ft loss/gain. View of the Olympic Mountains from the parking area.
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zoom of Mt Olympus
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We were happy to see these paintbrush in bloom up on the ridge.
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We found harebells blooming along many portions of our route today.
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This rabbit was not shy.
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Both pink and white heather were still in bloom.
Gorgeous views on a "cloudy" day! Looking south-southwest from the ridge.
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A field brighten with bistort
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Bright blue tarns to the northeast from the ridge
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More tarns on the east side of the ridge
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View looking down into Grand Valley with either Grand Lake or Moose Lake far below.
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Hiking down the switchbacks we went through a couple of meadows. Here there were many harebells and yarrow in bloom.
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We saw hundreds of gentian blooming in Grand Valley.
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Near the stream were grass of parnassus (also bog orchids, monkey flowers, willow-herb and more).
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Meadow full of pearly everlasting and orange paintbrush
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Grand Lake below, we continued on the trail up to Moose Lake.
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Butterfly on arnica, the butterflies were very busy, it was difficult to get any photos of them today.
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We took a break near the south end of Moose Lake.
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A field full of small goldenrod and yarrow as we look back down on Moose Lake
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One of the small streams that crossed the trail
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Another field full of yellow blooms
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Looking over towards Gladys Lake
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We enjoyed the many areas of wildflowers throughout the trail.
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Grand Creek flowing through Gladys Basin
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A beautiful tarn in Gladys Basin
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We found this lovely spot on rocks off the trail to take our lunch break and enjoy this view.
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Enjoying the views of Moose Lake as we returned down Grand Valley.
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After hiking back up out of Grand Valley to the ridge, we saw rain falling over Mt Olympus in the distance.
some of the wildflowers seen along the trail today:
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