Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Hurricane Hill Trail

The weather was perfect the day we decided to drive up to Hurricane Ridge , inside Olympic National Park, where there is an excellent view of the Olympic Range, including Mt. Olympus, the highest peak in the park.
We drove past the Visitor's center to the end of the road where the trail head for the Hurricane Hill trail is located. There are lovely flowers and views on this trail.
The more we hike in the summer the better hikers the kids are. This trail is 1.6 miles long with only a 650 feet elevation gain. We took some dried figs, almonds, pecans, and apples along to enjoy when we were ready for lunch. We also remembered our bottles of water.

Once you get hiking the views are spectacular no matter which way you turn. And it wouldn't take long to get to the top, except I had to stop every few feet to take photographs. I just love the beauty and the fresh air.


Forest's favorite part was the snow fields in summer, some of which even crossed the trail.

Every time he could get his hands on snow, he made a miniature snowman to sit in the middle of the trail. I think they melted quickly because we didn't find a single on on the way back down the mountain. Hopefully they brought someone a smile when they saw them.

Emily Rose packed along a book to read while she waited for us to get done with photography or snowman making. At one point when she was very absorbed in a chapter, I ran up to her excited about a "worm" I found in the trail. I told her it was a kind not commonly found way up here in the mountains. She looked around to try to see what I was talking about and then had a good laugh when I told her it was a "book worm" that I had found.
The top was a rocky knoll surrounded by grassy meadows.

It seemed that when I saw Forest running along that I should have seen Julie Andrews too swinging her guitar case and singing, "The hills are alive with the sound of music"

We took photographs at the top, rested, enjoyed the views, and ate our lunch.

Down below the port of Port Angeles was bustling with activity. There were ships coming and going. In the distance you could see Canada , and some snow capped mountains there.

We really enjoyed this hike and know if we can ever return, it is one that we will want to do again.

1 bouquets of wildflowers (Comment here):

Pamela said...

book worm... what a joy.