all images © James Tung, 2001-2008
Mt. Olympus
Wolf and I spent nearly two weeks in the Olympic Peninsula during the beginning of August, 2004. It was a fairly dry year according to the charts at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center, and the trails were in pretty good condition. We mostly dayhiked, but did manage to make a four-day backpacking trip around the Seven Lakes Basin.
The park encloses the interior of the Olympic Peninsula, and also contains a long strip of shoreline along the Pacific Ocean. We divided up our time there between the interior and the coastal parts of the park, trying to get a variety of scenaries. Here are links to the homepage of the park and some maps.
We began our trip with a 12 mile loop going up to the Klahhane Ridge via Lake Angeles, and then descending through the fields of wild flowers of Heather Park. It turned out to be a climb over 4000 ft. overall, with the same amount of descent. We began at the Heart O'the Hills campground, and it was a steady climb up to the lake through dense forests. After the lake the trail became steep and the terrain more barren. On the ridge we got a nice view of the Vancouver Islands and the Cascades, including Mt. Baker. The descent on the Heather Park side was rocky and and sometimes pebbly. Once we were below the treeline we were able to speed our way back to camp.
forest |
Lake Angeles |
Lake Angeles with Mt. Baker |
road to Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center |
Heather Park |
Heather Park |
From Heart O'the Hills we drove up to the Hurrican Ridge Visitor Center, and then went on the dirt road to Obstruction Peak, which is a pretty scary drive. From the trailhead we hiked on a ridge with magnificant view before going down the valley. We visited Moose Lake first, and turned back as the trail opened into Grand Valley near the lake. On the way back a side trail led down to Grand Lake, where we stopped by briefly.
view on road to Obstruction Peak |
on the ridge |
descent to Grand Valley |
Moose Lake |
Grand Lake |
on the ridge |
on the ridge |
on the ridge |
snow near trailhead |
In the morning it was cloudy and foggy, so we decided to drive up to Hurricane Ridge again to check out the view. Then it was a long drive to the coastal Ozette area. On the way there we stopped at Lake Crescent and did a short hike to Marymere Falls, at which point it started drizzling lightly.
The rain stopped as we approached the coast. We started the 9 mile loop at the Ozette camp at 4 pm, and still managed to get back to the campground around sunset, mainly because 6 of the miles consist of long boardwalks. The beach was littered with seaweed and driftwood. The tide was low; the exposed rockbeds and foggy weather made the scenary a little eerie. We stopped at Wedding Rocks and found some petroglyphs.
near visitor center |
Marymere Falls |
foggy forest |
big seaweed |
petroglyph |
low tide |
We took a short stroll along Rialto Beach and turned back at Hole-in-the-Wall. The tide was just coming in as we reached the Hole. I managed to climb around the rocky headlands without using the overland trail, and without getting too wet.
driftwood |
Rialto Beach |
rock formation |
Hole-in-the-Wall |
Hole from the other side |
climbing around |
We met up with Douglas and Jeremy in the morning. It was a hot, sunny day, and we decided to hit the beach. We found many starfish and anemones along the shore. There were ropes to help navagating the steep overland trails.
Third Beach |
Third Beach |
going overland |
Third Beach; view from waterfall |
starfish |
near Taylor Point |
We made a short hike into the Hoh Rain Forest, along the Hoh River. This is the part of the peninsula that gets the most rain, and there are many giant Sitka spruce and Douglas fir.
giant Sitka spruce |
Hoh Rain Forest |
Hoh River |
downed tree on the trail |
Ruby Beach |
driftwood on the beach |
We ended our trip by going back to Obstruction Peak for some mountain view. I chose a different trail from the others on the way back and went down to Badger Valley, where the terrain went from barren rocks to meadows with wild flowers in a very short distance.
shades of mountain |
Jeremy, Douglas and Wolf |
near Obstruction Peak |
Badger Valley |
Obstruction Peak |
in the valley |
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all images © James Tung, 2001-2008