Whew, we did it! Beefloaf's mom, Mrs. M., and I, we did it! We accomplished an 8+ mile round-trip hike with a 6400 ft elevation change in the Olympic National Park near Hurricane Ridge. We are planning to take our teen-aged girls on an overnight in a few weeks to the same area, so we went yesterday to scout out the area and the camp. Well, the numbers mentioned above don't look so bad on the map, but boy as we trodged along, it got long and hard!
We park at the Switchback Trailhead which is located along Hurricane Ridge Road just a couple of miles below the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center. The Switchback trail rises at a rate of 1000 ft per mile. At the 0.6 mile mark, it joins with the Hurricane Ridge Trail to traverse another 0.8 miles to the Klahhane Ridge Trail. The trail along this portion is well-maintained, and probably do-able in tennis shoes. From the trailhead to the junction with the KRT, we go from 4400 feet to 5800 feet traversing beautiful mountainside meadows full of the blossoms of daisies, buttercups, and the occasional orangy-red Indian paintbrush. Mixed in with the lush green is a sage-colored plant reminiscent of dusty millers. What a gorgeous array! As we gain elevation, the daisies are replaced by stunted lupins in a cheery purple-blue. The variety of flowering vegetation is astounding and absolutely breathtaking, making the strenuousness of the hike worth the effort. So where are the pictures? What a dope, I didn't bring my camera. I hope that the lupins might still be in bloom when we return.
When we reach the Klahhane Trail, we are rewarded with astounding views of The Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north, and the other peaks of the Olympic Range including Mt. Olympus to the south. The trail continues to rise another two hundred feet along the ridge, and weaves back and forth along the top of Klahhane Ridge. Once again we pass through beautiful alpine meadows filled with lupin and another dark pink flower. It is interesting, I note that on the north side of the ridge the Indian paintbrushes are orange, and on the south side are red. It could be the difference in sunlight, or perhaps soil. The south side is more rocky, with large areas of exposed rock. It is noticeably warmer on that side, also. The north side has more vegetation, and the soil is more sandy. When the trail crosses to that side, we feel relief from the heat. Near the end of the ridge, the trail takes a steep turn upwards and winds itself around an unnamed peak before beginning the descent along the Lake Angeles Trail to the lake, our destination for the afternoon. The map is rather deceiving about the rate of elevation change along this trail. The trail descends about 1200 ft in a little over half a mile. For middle-aged knees, that rate of descent is pretty tough. As we descend into subalpine forest land, we notice some large scat on the trail. I collect some in a plastic bag so I could try to identify it when we get home. Later, my husband is quite amused: of all the things I could have picked up, I bring home a chunk of poop! Anyway, I'm somewhat concerned that it could be bear droppings, but since we see this stuff frequently along the trail, I think that there would have been several reports of bears made at the ranger station. I began to get more and more creeped out that we might encounter a bear, and when my pack brushes a tree branch I nearly jump out of my skin. Shortly after that we encounter a group of hikers going up, and I feel somewhat more at ease. Finally, as we continue our descent, the trees are getting taller, and there are considerably more hardwoods. We encounter vegetation typical of wetlands, a tall lily type plant, blueberries, a flowering azalea-type shrub, ferns, and trillium no longer in bloom. At this point the rate of descent levels out somewhat and is relatively comfortable. This whole portion of the trail from the top of the ridge to the lake definitely requires a good pair of hiking boots and trekking poles.
I hate to say it, but I am somewhat disappointed in the lake. With steep banks and thick vegetation around its shoreline, it is not very accessible. There are also a ton of mosquitos. We do find a nice open flat area for tents, so it will be do-able, but the girls will not be able to play along the lake as I know they would like. We eat our lunch here, and fend off a bold little chipmunk who almost ventures into my pack. It's clear that he is well habituated to being hand-fed people food. I don't feed him--just ask my son Supermonkey about feeding wild animals! Well, we put up the ol' dogs for about 30 minutes before making our trek out. While on the way down, I tried not to think about the hike back up, now it is looming before us. I try to set a steady pace for us as we make our way back up, but it is slow going. Just before we reach the top of Klahhane Ridge, we take a relaxing break with a breathtaking view of the Strait. I'm not too hungry, so I just dine on the cherries I had brought and drink some water--what a feast! I decide that fresh cherries are the most sublime, the most perfect of hiking food. Mostly at that rest we just put up our feet, enjoy a cool breeze, and relish the view.
I didn't mention some of the other wild life we had seen on our adventure. On the Klahhane trail, we saw a couple of bucks with velvet still on their racks quite close to us. They bounded away on an incredibly steep slope. The verse in Psalms in which David wrote, "He will make my feet like the feet of the hind, He will not let my foot slip..." came to my mind. What a promise because those deer surely were not slipping! We also encountered a ruffled grouse. He was quite unafraid of us as he munched on the buttercups. I thought he looked somewhat like a small turkey. And of course, there were cheeky chipmunks everywhere! We did hear the warning whistle of some animal, and we couldn't decided if it was a bird or perhaps a marmot. It sounded just like our smoke alarm, echoed off the mountainsides, and continued for quite awhile.
By time we make our final descent down the Switchback Trail, I am pretty confident that we will make it, even so, my legs are feeling like jelly. I'm so glad to see the parking lot, and the car waiting for us. My husband and I had estimated that the hike would take Mrs. M. and me about 5 hours. In reality it takes us almost 8! By time I am to get reception on my cell phone and call home, my dear husband had already called the Ranger to report us missing. He and Elizabeth's dad were just about ready to leave to come look for us! I guess he was pretty relieved to get my call.
Well, all's well that ends well, and I think it was a hike well-worth doing. When we take the girls we plan on taking the Hurricane Ridge Trail to the Klahhane Trail, which is longer, but without as much elevation gain. We will be spending the night at the lake, and then continuing out the next morning on the Lake Angeles Trail to the Heart o' the Hills Ranger Station. Elizabeth's dad will retrieve us from there. We will still have the steep descent from Klahhane to the Lake, but there it ends for the day. I think it will work out well. Our hike yesterday was quite rigorous, and I'm not quite sure I would do it again too soon--gotta let my knees recover!
