Hurricane Hill

Drove up to Hurricane Ridge to hike the Hurricane Hill Trail, overall 4 miles round trip with 640 ft of elevation gain. It was a beautiful day with gorgeous views. Lots of deer were seen along with marmots and rabbits. The wildflowers seem to be just beginning to bloom. View of the Olympic Peaks to the south from the main parking area near the Visitor Center.

zoom of Mount Olympu

The trail to Hurricane Hill begins at the end of the Hurricane Hill Road. The first mountain views are to the west and south west.

view looking towards Hurricane Hill to the north

lupine beside the trail

douglasia and phlox

Olympic Peaks to the west across the Elwah Valley

There were 2 places along the paved trail that still had snow.

deer on the slope below the trail

rabbit near the trail

view looking south from further up the trail

deer in the meadow below the trail

marmot in the meadow below the trail

more mountain views

paintbrush alongside the trail

blue-eyed Marys

marmot in the meadow above the trail

The last bit up to the top of Hurricane Hill is on a dirt trail

From the top of Hurricane Hill looking north across the Strait of Juan de Fuca

pano looking south

pano to the west including Mt Angeles and a distant Mt Baker

views form Hurricane Hill to the south

I walked on the snow to the east side of Hurricane Hill and did not find the views and better

I then went west along the upper part of the Elwah Trail up on Hurricane Hill. This buck was near the trail.

The snow was well consolidated and easy to walk on.

view to the northwest from the west end of Hurricane Hill, lots of snow on the north side.

I saw this doe on my way back to the main Hurricane Hill trail.

a buck below the top of Hurricane Hill

glacier lilies and spring beauty in the upper meadow

As I was returning down the Hurricane Hill trail, this doe walked past me right next to the trail.

view Mount Angels to the east

some of the wildflowers seen along the trail today:

  

 

  

Mount Townsend

 We drove to the Upper Mount Townsend Trailhead to hike up to Mount Townsend today, 8.8 miles round trip with 3,000 ft of gain. The wildflowers look as if they are just beginning to bloom. The first few miles are in the forest. Here we stepped over a small stream.

We could see a waterfall to the south of the trail.

 

At one of the open areas along the trail, we could see Glacier Peak across Hood Canal and Puget Sound.

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

zoom of Mt Rainier and Mt Adams

As we continued up the switchbacks, we saw Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan to the northeast.

zoom of Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan

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

Almost to the top of Mount Townsend

To the north is Port Angels, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island.

There were a few snow patches along the trail that were all easily traversed.

view from the summit of Mount Townsend looking north:

The squirrels are very aggressive at the summit.

pano from the summit to the west, we could see all 5 volcanos today

After lunch, we hiked from the south summit to the north summit, looking back towards the south summit, with Mt Rainier and Mt Adams in the distance.

douglasia in bloom

view to the southwest

panos to the west

another pano to the east

alpine smelowskia in bloom

some of the wildflowers and fungi we saw along the trail today: