Elevation Gain: Approximately 5100 ft. (with 5300 ft down)
Time: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm
Weather: Cool, windy, mostly cloudy. A glorious sun-break in the meadows to the west of Hurricane Hill around 3:30 pm.
So I was back on Hurricane Hill this week (for avid blog readers, I have now been here 3 times in 2011). There is no particular reason for my affinity for this place, but I do have some important history here. Sixty-four weeks ago, two weeks before I started my 52 hikes, I was here for the first time. I was learning how to use a GPS and look for marmots. I was going into the backcountry to help the Olympic National Park collect data on the Olympic Marmot. I was dealing with some personal, emotional issues at the time (the same issues that sparked the hiking commitment a few weeks later). My friend who teaches biology needed a partner for a marmot study he had signed up for earlier that spring. A buddy of his couldn't make it, and we had talked about hiking together for a while. I knew the wilderness would help with what I was dealing with. I was not able to commit until last minute, so the park had planned to send us along with a park employee. After we met her in the front-country and gave her the chance to back out, she declined. Instead she wanted to go, since this was the last job she was going to do for the park. She was leaving for the east coast that next weekend. A friend of hers, who was free, worked in the park, and who was obviously going to miss her friend, also came along.
So there we were, a group of four, brought together by friendship, marmots, and a love of the woods. The four of us became good friends on our way to Dodger Point. And as cool people tend to meander in and out of your life, I knew these two women were the kind of people I wanted to keep in touch with. We have chatted via Facebook and met up as people have been passing through, but this last Thursday was the first time all four of us got together. Sitting around chatting, we tried to plan a reunion hike for this weekend. My friend and colleague was already busy with cross-country and previous plans, and the east coast park employee was heading back east on Sunday. So that left me and the other park employee, Erin. She lives in Port Angeles, and there was a hike up to Hurricane Hill I have been wanting to do since I saw it on the map in July. There is a trail that goes up 5300 ft over 6 miles from the Elwha river to the top of Hurricane Hill. One section gains 4900 ft in 4.5 miles. That hurts my thighs just thinking about it. She said she was down, and she had ideas for making the hike more interesting.
We knew we had to get an early start, since I had a two hour drive, and "falling back" was going to bring darkness in earlier. I was up and out the door at 6 am. I was in PA (Port Angeles) at 8:15. I needed groceries, and we had planned to meet at 9 am. Thankfully, my sister called and I was able to catch up with her and buy groceries. I was at my friends around 9:15am. She thought it might be a better hike to go up the Little River valley to Hurricane Hill and come down the trail to the Elwha. Excited to be out with my friend and to cover some big distance and elevation change, I was easily convinced. We stashed a car near the Elwha Ranger Station, off the Whiskey Bend Road. We then drove back to her place, where a friend of hers (and now mine) took us to the trailhead on the Little River.
We started walking at approximately 10:30 am. By 10:50, we were 1.1 miles along the trail, hitting the National Park boundary. The trail along the river was a nice stroll, gaining elevation slowly. The trail hugged the Little River and crossed over several times. We had to do a little trail finding and rock jumping, but it wasn't too difficult. After about an hour and a half, the trail started gaining elevation quickly. As we climbed, the treetops above started showing little dustings of snow. We kept moving up, and more snow was visible on the surrounding trees and the ferns near the trail. Soon even the trail was covered in snow, nothing that required snowshoes, but snow none-the-less. We took a little break on our way up. It was lightly snowing, and we were hitting deeper, more consistent snow.
We started walking up, and the animal tracks started to reveal themselves. I saw deer and possibly elk tracks then snowshoe hare tracks. And shortly after we came across a real treat, some big cat prints. It was either a cougar, or it was the biggest bobcat ever. The trail was snowed over and we were the only human prints, but we were following the cougar up the trail for about an hour. When the cougar tracks finally went off the trail we were only a few minutes from getting to Hurricane Ridge. As we got to the ridge, I recognized the hill to the south, the hill I first went to the top of during a whiteout on snowshoes in January, returned to on snowshoes in April, and now hiking to in snow in November. I love returning to a place I've been to before, especially with different friends and at different times of the year.
We had a nice, long break at the trail junction near the top of the hill. The wind was howling, and my hands were freezing by the time we left. We started hiking down at 3:15 pm. As we began walking west along a ridge, the clouds began lifting, and the sun came out. We hit the meadows to the west at the perfect time. The sunshine was a rich, warm color, and the valleys below were hidden with low clouds. The peaks were shining with fresh snow and the sky above was soft, brilliant blue. We disturbed a few deer grazing in the meadow, and we were greeted by a Clark's Nutcracker too. Apparently this is a rare bird in this area with an awful call. We were graced with his presence, and he kept his silence.
Soon we were in the forest, and it felt like we would be at the car shortly. We walked and walked as the sun faded to the west. It was dark around 5 pm, and by 5:30 pm I could no longer see. We took our last break to find our headlamps and to hydrate. We were at the car by 6.
Orchid: Big distance, big elevation gain, great pace, wonderful friend.
Onion: Cold hands.
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