Switchback, Klahhane Ridge — Wednesday, Jun. 19, 2013

Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast

This was my first time hiking in this part of the Olympics and I was pretty impressed on how relatively snow-free the trail was this time of the season! My normal stomping grounds in the Cascades are still under tons of snow, so it was nice finding dry ground up here. We started out from the Hurricane Ridge parking lot and headed up to our overnight camping spot at Klahhane Ridge via the Sunrise Ridge and Switchback trails. Being the middle of the week with rain in the forecast, we only saw four other people the whole time we were out. Saw lots of critters though: marmots, deer, ravens, chipmunks, and even a black bear! No goats on this trip. There are a few patches of snow here and there, but all are easy to cross in just boots. Along the Sunrise Ridge trail there was only one big snowfield that we had to cross (actually we glissaded since it was downhill). There were larger snow patches to cross once we got to Klahhane Ridge, but they were all easy to get by. The rain held off for most of the day, with showers off and on throughout the afternoon. It did get foggy at times, but we still were treated with some great views. It was pretty neat watching the clouds drift over the grassy meadows and craggy peaks. For more photos and a more detailed description of the hike, check out my blog! http://salvarado24.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/backpacking-in-olympic-national-park-klahhane-ridge/