The Deer Ridge Trail Head starts in the Olympic National Forest near Sequim.
We hike 13+ miles with an elevation gain of almost 3500 ft.
The trail starts in the forest with lots of rhododendrons in the first mile.
After about 2.5 miles of hiking, you climb into an open area looking back East,
we could see Puget Sound and the Cascade mountains in the distance
After entering Olympic National Park, the hike takes you along the south side of Deer Ridge
with great views of the Olympic mountains.
Deer at Deer Park
In the summer, when the snow has melted off the road, you can drive up here from the west side.
From the campground at Deer Park there is a short 1/2 mile hike up Blue Mountain
In the distance to the North, lie the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island in Canada
Beautiful views from the summit. Mt Baker across Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands
a little further south, the North Cascades
On our return trip, the trail yielded even more spectacular views of the Olympic mountains
We saw lots of wildflowers
We drove to the Blue Mountain Recreation Area south of Missoula. Montana and did a 5 mile loop with 1,000 ft of gain out of the many trails on Blue Mountain. We hiked through the tall pine trees, and 
enjoyed seeing fall colors.
So many beautiful trails here.
More fall colors.
Views towards Missoula and the Clark Fork and the Bitterroot Rivers
A few of the larches were starting to turn golden.
a golden larch
