HURRICANE
Sunday’s weather forecast
actually looked pleasant, so Brian and I decided to take advantage of it with a
trip to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. Since Kaitlyn had worked hard all weekend to finish her school
projects, we decided to bring her along for some sledding. Unfortunately, our planned early start was
unrealized. We didn’t leave Bainbridge
until after 10am, and we still had a 2-hour drive ahead of us.
Before this trip, I had no
idea that Hurricane Ridge was even open at this time of year. After all, they typically get 10’ or more of
snow up there in the winter. The Park
keeps the road plowed though, and it is usually open from Friday through Sunday
during the off-season. As we headed up
the road, the clouds surrounding the high peaks to the south began breaking
up. The sun made an appearance, and an
overlook allowed us a fine view back down to Port Angeles, the Strait of Juan
De Fuca, and Vancouver Island in the distance.
We reached the main parking
area near the lodge a few minutes later.
There were a fair number of cars there, and lots of folks were skiing
and snowboarding at the Hurricane Ridge “Ski Resort”. The “Resort” consists of a trailer adjacent to the Park’s
visitor’s center. There are a couple of
short runs there, served by tow ropes.
I wasn’t there to ski
though. My plan was to rent snowshoes
for an afternoon hike. Brian thought
that my plan would be too much for Kaitlyn, so they headed off for some sledding. I rented snowshoes for the ½ day price of
$12 (a full day is $15), picked up a winter trail map, and headed towards
Hurricane Hill.
The route follows the auto
road to the end of Hurricane Ridge. The
Park stops plowing the road at the Visitor’s Center though, so this part of it
is buried under several feet of snow.
At one point, I passed the top of a speed limit sign just barely
protruding from the powder. Later, I
saw a small building, with the tops of its windows just barely visible. At the end of the road, I thought I saw a
picnic bench. The “bench” turned out to
be the roof on a trailhead kiosk. Those
kiosks are around 8’ tall, and the top of this one was even with the snow.
There was a lot of snow, but
it seemed to be well packed. Judging
from the tracks, this route gets a lot of use from skiers and snowshoers. In fact, I probably could’ve hiked the first
mile and a half to the end of the road without the snowshoes. I put them on at the beginning of the trek though,
and didn’t feel like taking them off en-route.
The sky was mostly blue when
I set off, although the summits of Olympus and some of the other high peaks
were still lost in the clouds. I wasn’t
complaining though. The sun felt great,
and the views were fantastic. There
sure were a lot of people out enjoying them.
I passed dozens of others before I reached the end of the road.
Beyond the end of the road,
I followed the ridge towards Hurricane Hill.
At the top of the first bump I was treated to nearly 360-degree
views. I stopped there for a quick late
lunch before resuming the climb.
Unfortunately, I had some time constraints to deal with. I had to return the snowshoes by 4:30, and I
hadn’t started until after 1pm. I knew
it would be tough to complete the 6-mile round trip in less than 4 hours in
that much snow.
I reached the base of a
steep climb, and met a guy coming down.
He suggested climbing straight up the ridge, but that approach didn’t
look appealing. The summer trail skirts
the side of the ridge here, but steep snow slopes make that route tricky in the
winter. I decided to try it, but
quickly found myself on the edge of a steep slope, with a long and nearly sheer
drop below me. There were no tracks
beyond that point, and I wasn’t about to go first. Instead, I doubled-back and headed up the ridge. The climb was steep, but brief. I reached the top a few minutes later, and
was greeted with even better views. I
followed the tracks along the ridge, taking care to avoid the treacherous snow
cornices. Before long, the tracks
disappeared. Apparently, nobody had been
beyond this point since the last snowstorm.
I surveyed the ridge ahead
of me. Continuing would require a quick
descent, followed by another climb along a narrow ridge. At the top of that ascent, a swing to the
north would lead to one final climb to the summit of Hurricane Hill. The ridge ahead, with many prominent
cornices, looked tricky. Without tracks
to follow, progress would be slow.
Unfortunately, I had no more than 30 minutes left before I’d have to
turn back. I was certain I’d never
cover that last mile in that amount of time.
I abandoned my quest, deciding to make a more leisurely trek on my
return.
The hike back was pleasant,
although clouds rolled in to obscure the view.
I returned to the visitor’s center around 4pm, and dropped off the
snowshoes. I ran into Brian and Kaitlyn
there, who had just finished a short ranger-led snowshoeing excursion of their
own. I had missed the earlier sledding
expedition, and Kaitlyn was ready for more.
Somehow we were able to talk her Dad into letting us have just a few
more runs.
We drove down the road to
the Sunrise snowplay area. There are
several relatively safe areas to sled, although you have to be careful not to
end up in the road. I selected the
first one, which was big, steep, and icy.
I went first, and nearly crushed a few vertebrae on the bone-jarring
slope. We abandoned that run for the
official one, which was a bit less exciting but also much less painful. Unfortunately the snow adjacent to the run
was soft, and Brian and I did quite a bit of tedious postholing climbing back
up to the top. Kaitlyn defied the laws
of physics by scampering across the top of the snow without ever sinking.
We tried out a few more
runs, had a couple of “races”, and I even managed a few photos of Brian and
Kaitlyn before we headed for home. Jill
greeted us with homemade vegetable soup that evening, which was a fine way to
end a day playing in the snow.
The next morning, Kaitlyn
was off to school, and Brian and I had to work. We commuted into Seattle on the ferry together. It was a nice morning, and I was delighted
to see the massive summit of Mount Rainier across Puget (or is it Pungent?)
Sound. We had surprisingly good weather
that week, and I actually saw Rainier on several occasions. No matter how many times you see it though,
you never really get used to it. It
just doesn’t look real. If someone told
me that it was actually a giant alien spaceship that had landed on the
outskirts of Seattle, it would almost be more believable.
We could also see the
Olympic Mountains, where we’d spent the previous day, from the ferry. In the other direction, Mount Baker made a
brief appearance. This was exciting, as
I’m planning on spending some time in the Mount Baker area this summer.
Later that week, I met Brian
for lunch downtown at McCrourys. It’s a
nice place, located near the new football stadium. It’s a bit pricey, but their $10 cheeseburger was the best one
I’ve had in a long time. On Friday
night I met Brian for dinner at my favorite Thai restaurant, Typhoon. Typhoon is located near Pikes Market. No trip to Seattle is complete without
dinner at Typhoon.
Seeing Brian and the family
was wonderful, and the hiking was outstanding, but my job that week was
brutal. By the end of the week, I was
looking forward to returning to Charlotte.
I missed my wife and dog, but mostly I was just glad to be done with
that week’s job. The immortal words of
South Park’s Eric Cartman come to mind.
“Screw you guys, I’m going home”.
I flew home early the next
morning. It was cloudy, but after
takeoff, I was startled to see the top 1000’ or so of Mount Rainier looming
above the clouds. The mountain was
quite a sight, bathed in the eerie blue pre-dawn light. Beyond, it seemed like we spent hours flying
above the snowy Rockies.
I can’t wait for my next
trip to Washington. There won’t be any
work involved with that one though.
Christy and I are flying to Seattle in August. We’ll be spending the weekend with Brian and Jill before driving
to Glacier National Park in Montana.
After two weeks there, Christy will be heading home. I plan to stay another two weeks though and
explore the North Cascades.
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!