Did a loop hike from Whiskey Bend trailhead up the Gray Wolf Creek trail to Hurricane Ridge, then to Hurricane Hill, then back down to the Elwha.

Wolf Creek trail is in its usual shape - a little eroded, some overgrown salal thickets, but generally a pleasant, and easy, walk. Snow started just above 3500' on either side of the lowest creek crossing, then ended again. When the trail returned close to the creek, I bushwacked up the slope to rejoin it directly above, as I figured the snow would be extensive on that stretch, and the dry sunny slope above seemed much nicer. Just when I got back to the trail at about 4400', it became snow covered the rest of the way up. There were 3 trees down - 2 on the first long traverse (maybe at 1500' and 2000'?), and one just after the first creek crossing. Nothing difficult.

  In general, this whole day, and on another hike earlier in the week, the snow was quite good for walking on. Firm underneath, with only the top layer soft enough to get a decent foothold - no ice and no postholing. I brought snowshoes, but the snow was good enough that I only wore them a couple short times, and they were definitely not needed.

  The Hurricane hill road was fine, of course, and surprisingly no people. For the most part I followed the "real" trail out to Hurricane Hill, which was no problem. The one steep stretch is, well, steep, and completely snow covered still, so don't try it if it's icy or you don't like long slippery slopes below you. Some spots the trail had melted out, but for the most part, there is still complete snow cover all the way. Most people seemed to be following the ridge crest and trampling assorted plants on the way.

  I then proceeded back down to the Elwha. Going down that ridge in soft snow proved a LOT easier than my last time there going up it on icy snow! The trail is snow covered down to about 5000', and except for a few small patches, and one or two stretches just on the north side of the crest, is snow free from there on down. That south slope at about 5000' is really green and nice now with lots of different plants coming up, and the trail footbed is full of onions. The last rocks above the trail at about 5000' have a nice view down to the upper 1/3 or so of what used to be Lake Mills. The bit of trail just above treeline is a bit of a mess, as usual, with lots of rodent burrows and flattened shrubs, and some down tree parts, but it's dry for the most part and easily traversable. Then there's a messy tree across the trail perhaps around 4000'. I cleared most of the small stuff, but you need to go several feet downhill to get over one trunk and under the other. From there on the trail is fine, although the higher elevations got showered in small branches (which I didn't see on the Wolf Creek trail at all).

Flowers - there are Erythronium lilies, Trillia, and false solomon's seal blooming along the Whiskey Bend road, and one little slope covered in very inconspicuous tiny blue-eyed mary and draba. The hike had nothing I noticed except a number of scattered Calypso orchids. On the way down there was lots more. I'm always amazed at how different the vegetation is on these two trails so close together. Anyway, on the way down there were some sort of alpine buttercups blooming ins spots on the open ridgecrest, then Erythronium lilies in the 2000-3000' elevations, Calypso orchids, and as you got lower, Salmonberries, miner's lettuce, yellow violets, some kind of Cardamine (I think), and fairy bells. Quite nice to see all those for the first time this year. I was surprised by the Erythronium lilies at 3000' - that's awfully high for them, and somehow I'd never even noticed the leaves there before.

Birds - saw a couple grouse on the lower Wolf Creek trail, and some juncos and such. On Hurricane Hill there were some pairs of larks singing, and I think a whole flock of them, as well. Saw some gray jays on the hike down, and a group of nighthawks flying high overhead as I slogged back up the Whiskey Bend Road in the evening.

No other interesting animals. A number of deer in various places, some squirrels, that's about it.

Whiskey Bend Road could use a grading...

I really like all these trails, and when I'm energetic enough, combining them really shows you quite a variety of environments in a one day hike.

  Went for a nice little day hike up the Little River trail to Hurricane Ridge. I hadn't done this trail before, but figured it would not be crowded (I saw no one on it, although there were fresh footprints in the one small snowpatch up high) and would be a nice change. It was. Some nice flowers, an interesting old wooden pipeline near the beginning, fairly varied from big old growth trees near the bottom to lily meadows and glades near the top. The fairly level stretch around 3400' was really nice, and unexpected. There were areas from the 2005 (?) burn just above the trail, and pleasant open woods with easy walking. And a nice rest after a bit of steep climbing up from the 3rd footbridge (as marked on the Custom Correct map).

  The first part of the trail is quite level, with some horse use (abuse), and trailbed that seems kind of clayey and might be slippery when wet. And it appears it might be pretty wet, in the wet season. Lots of indian pipes blooming down here. Some big trees start just past the park boundary.

  There is a place to get lost (I did) where the trail comes right to the river bank about 2 miles in. There is a trail on the far side, but it just goes to a couple (illegal) campsites. The trail must have either forked before that (with real trail going up and left) and I missed it completely, or it might be washed out by the river going around a rock. I ended up a little upstream on the wrong side of the river, crossed it again, and bushwacked back up to the trail on the east bank.

  There are a number (10? 15?) of blowdowns from the first footbridge to the top, but none are too difficult to cross. And some soggy mudholes, mostly in the level stretch around 3400', and the upper bit of trail on the east side fo the river (3600').

  The first un-bridged "river" crossing might require getting wet, although I barely managed to get across dry. After that, on the east side of the river, there is some brushy, overgrown muddy, burrowed trail for a while before re-entering forest.
 
  There is another easy place to lose the trail at the 5th stream crossing (second un-bridged one, 3700'). The trail comes out of the forest into an open valley bottom with alder thickets, and wet, lush meadow with irregular burrowed soil underneath. Several vague areas of trampled vegetation continue up-valley, but the trail takes a 90 degree turn to the right and crosses the stream right after entering the open area.

  From there to the top, the trail is easy enough to find, although it's a streambed (dry when I was there) in many places. Nice glades and dense lily meadows (many blooming) up there. There are a few snow patches, one of which crosses the trail. But it will probably be gone by the time you read this.

  There are quite a few flowers blooming all along the trail - from saprophytes and orchids down low to lilies up high. Up on Hurricane Ridge there are quite a few, and varied flowers blooming. I think it is finally summer up there, although in places things like phlox are still blooming. Lots of people up there, of course, too.

  It was a nice, quiet hike with plenty to see along the way.

  Seeing an earlier WTA trip report discussing the mileage (and claiming 10.9 miles from GPS), I remember only the sign at the top of the trail saying that it is 8.1 miles to the bottom trailhead. And the Custom Correct map claims 7.9. The trip took me a little over 5 hours, and I at least started out going pretty fast, so I'd not be surprised if the trail is really longer than those claim. Or maybe I was just even slower than I thought...

We headed up to Hurricane Hill. In spite of this being a weekday, the trail was very crowded. The wildflowers are at their peak. There is no snow on this trail - and the majority of it is paved. On the way back down, we took the first trail to Elwa - and the crowds quickly dissappeared. The ranger had told us that their were a whole new set of wildflowers to see on this section. The first part of the Elwa trail has some significant snow patches on it. The trail follows the ridge - and drops some, but not alot in elevation. We reached a section of the trail which was rather steep - and almost turned around. However, a party of 3 ladies appeared and informed us that the wild flowers ahead were quite stunning. After descending this steep section, the trail flatted (relatively) out again - and the wild flowers were out in wild abundance. Very very nice! We turned around before the switchbacks going down into the valley. On the way back to Hurrican Hill trail, we only ran into one other party.

We did not have problems with bugs, but suggest being prepared!

This is a nice place to stop if you are in the area. Just a reminder, you will need to pay $15 a car to go up, but worth it as the views are great. We were able to get some nice views, but started to get socked in with clouds. We never got to the top of hurricane hill as the clouds did roll in but what we saw was great. Saw a few deer too. Snow is on the trail but it's easily crossed.

Enjoy some pics on our blog...you will also see some reviews for second and third beach if you choose home after viewing hurricane :) lots of nice photos if you have the time!

http://triplehhikers.blogspot.com/[…]/hurricane-hill.html