Day 110 - Olympic Hurricane Ridge

After eating a delicious but long two course breakfast at Collette's, Roman, Bill and I drove to Hurricane Ridge for our first taste of Olympic Park. Smoke from wildfires in British Columbia blanketed the area with a white smoke which limited the visibility but we hoped skies would clear a bit for our mountain ridge hike.

We drove up the Hurricane Ridge Road to its very end and hiked out to Hurricane Hill. The skies cleared just enough for a view of Mount Olympus in the distance.

Roman showed off his Whip dance moves while Bill expertly pointed out wildflowers and other natural sights. The mountains in the smoke reminded me of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

We had lunch at the visitor center, highlighted by very hot hotdogs, and proceeded down a narrow, winding dirt road to the Grand Valley. This two lane road seemed very one lane most of the way but we survived the journey. We proceeded a half mile to the Deer Valley area and were amazed by the green, deep valley and white lined trails.

We hiked a half mile to a summit for a view of the next valley, had our picture taken by passing hikers, saw some pretty wildflowers and then proceeded back to the van.

With a quick Marmot check of the engine complete, we headed back to town to pick up some sandwiches and wine for dinner, and then proceeded to Collette's B&B for a relaxing evening looking out to the straight.

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Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

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