Since Hurricane Ridge, part of the Olympic National Park, was so close to us, we had decided to put off going there and try to make it to all the other ONP things first. Our stay here is running out and if we didn't get there soon, we would miss out. Yesterday's plans were to first go to Hurricane Ridge and see/do what was needed to do - even possibly taking in a hike if feasible. Then go on to Deer Park, a sign that is clearly displayed not far from us, that points to Deer Park, Olympic National Park.
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| Watch out Deerie! |
As every morning is here, you wake up to heavy dense fog, barely able to see to the roadway, and you wait until it burns off. By 9am things were looking good and we packed snacks to take and off we went. Once you pass the entrance point of the park it is a pretty 16 miles to Hurricane Ridge, elevation at 5242 feet. Lots and lots and lots of people. The park had closed down Hurricane Ridge on Sunday for a bike run and I think everyone including us, came up yesterday. Lined up at the entrance 15 cars deep to pay to come into the park.
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| Olympic Mountains - looking south |
Still some snow at the top of the Ridge and a lovely 75 degrees. I really thought we could see the Pacific Ocean from there but no - only could see north down to Port Angeles, across the Strait of Juan De Fuca, Friday Harbor, and Victoria, British Columbia. That is...if there wasn't fog over the Strait. Could barely make out Canada. That's okay - we have seen it from the whale watch tour we did.
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| Snow Still at Hurricane Ridge |
We are spoiled, while the views of the Olympic Mountains and corresponding glaciers were pretty, we have been to double the height and much more cragginess of mountains, and therefore, was nice, not the WOW. Having said that, had we not been to other mountain ranges, this would have been WOW. No smell of vanilla, but clearly smell of evergreen/pine trees. The wildflowers were limited - we were about three weeks beyond the full on slot. Learned alot by watching their information movie - did not know that these mountains are not volcanos like Mt. St. Helens, Rainier, Baker, Hood. The ocean plate pushed up the mountains from below. While they do get taller from the plate tectonic movement, the normal erosion keeps it in check. Saw pretty wildflowers, desecrated firs from the hurricane-force winds, saw deer that were a bit too tame - right by the visitor's center, and lovely views of the mountains.
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| Tame Deer |
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| Desecrated Trees from Winds |
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| Pretty Wildflowers |
After spending about two hours there and kind of disgusted with the swarms of people - even the little walk we did was people, people, people, we drove back down and went to the Deer Park area and drove to that. Sorta, kinda. It is a dirt road leading up to Blue Mountain which is at 6087 feet. Only we did not go all the way there. The road got narrower and narrower. I kept thinking of my sister - she would have freaked out with the steep drop offs. We drove probably 5 miles on this windy, dusty, narrow road and found a place to turn around. Carefully. And the 5 miles took us about 45 minutes one way! Had maybe another 8 miles to go - and probably been rewarded with magnificent views, but oh well. The foliage was wonderful, deep forest, lots of downed trees, moss, the smell of pine. Lovely. And now that we know what vanilla leaf is - saw lots of it along the dirt road.
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| A Narrow Dirt Road to Deer Park - one lane |
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| Trees Down Alongside Dirt Road |
Coming back down we passed a small compact car - barely. Glad we were hugging the cliff side and not the drop off side. And got a truck that came zipping up behind us and we managed to move over enough for him to pass. Supposedly there is a campground and hiking trails at the end of this road but we will only guess as to how pretty it could have been. And from what I saw on the internet - lots of deer and Roosevelt Elk.
Olympic National Park is known for their Roosevelt Elk and guess what? We only saw them in our campground in Packwood. We did manage to stop the car quickly before hitting deer - they are abundant on that road to Deer Park.
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