Klahhane Ridge — Friday, Jul. 16, 2010

Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast

I thought this hike would be all about the wildflowers and the expansive views to the straits of Juan de Fuca on the left and the snow capped Olymics on the right. And it was; there were countless varieties of wildflowers inundating the high meadows, and perambulating the ridge, surrounded by some of the most jaw-dropping scenery this side of anywhere, was transcendantly sumblime. That's right, transcendantly sublime. Little did I know, however, I was in for more than wildflowers and views. More on that later. I started out at the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center. You can also get to Klahhane Ridge via the switchback trail a few miles before the Visitors Center. Taking the Switchback Trail propels you up an endless series of switchbacks, straight to Klahhane Ridge. This may seem like the sensible thing to do...get to your destination as quickly as possible...right? Wrong. For one thing, you miss out on the spectaular area surrounding the Visitors Center (yes, there are huge crowds, but you'll get to savor their looks of envy when you turn away from the "superhighway" trail and leave them behind as you drop off toward more rugged and wild land). More importantly, taking the Switchback Trail means that you miss out on 2.5 miles of blissful ridge-top rambling along Sunrise Ridge. So, take your pick: merciless switchbacks or hiking valhalla. Starting from the wildflower show begins immediately after turning onto the Klahhane Ridge trail. I ran into five different flowers in the first five steps. I proceded along Sunrise Ridge, soaking in the views. I encountered a squirrel along the ridge...my wildlife for the trip, I thought. This is one of the better ridge walks around. The one thing that keeps this from being the best-of-the-best-of-the-best ridge walks is that the requisite feeling of isolation and solitude is robbed by the presence of the Hurricane Ridge Road, hundreds of feet below. It doesn't ruin the hike, not by a long shot, but it just anchors it to civilisation just a little. I encountered a little lingering snow field that must be crossed on the NE side of Sunrise Ridge, maybe 1.5 miles from the car, right where the trail should be switchbacking down the ridge. I just worked my way straight down the snowfield. The trail resumes on the left, in the trees, just as the slope begins to moderate. It wasn't too tricky, though it could take a little scouting around if you haven't hiked here before. Just remember, the trail is on teh south (left) side of the ridge, so if you get to the bottom of the snowfield and haven't found the trial, look just over the ridge (maybe 10 paces) to the south. I continued on, probing a little ways up the sidetrail to Mount Angeles, and then on to the junction with the Switchback Trail. Just past the junction, I stopped to snap some more pictures, and then started to resume my way up the trail, when I looked ahead of me and there was a black bear, about 20 yards off the trail, and about 30 yards from me. He was happily munching on some local plant life. I stopped and slowly started to back of, with the idea to sneaking baqck out of sight and then making some noise to alert him of my presence. But as I was moving off, he looked up, rolled a disinterested eye my way, and resumed munching. I put a little more distance between me and Mr. Bear. I was a little perplexed...black bears are supposed to be shy and usually run off when they hear a "Hey Mr. Bear!" in the distance. Not this guy. He was just a laid back as could be, and totally focused on snacking. He would graze a little, amble a little, graze a little, etc. I struck up quite a conversation with him from a distance, hoping he'd amble off so I could head up the trail. But, no. So I wandered back and forth...take a few pictures hear and there, come back to check on Mr. Bear, wander some more. Pretty soon, a group of hikers came down the trail. I asked about the bear, but they hadn't seen him. So, I went back to see if maybe Mr. Bear had run off. Alas, no. There he was, still eating. Those folks walked right by him and never even noticed! Eventually, the bear worked his way away from the trail, I was able to move on. I kept up the trial, ascending to Klahhane Ridge. Klahhane is more rugged and proportionately more beautiful than Sunrise Ridge, a hard thing to achieve indeed. Here, I met more wildlife, this time a mountain goat. This particular goat is apparentely known here, and is somewhat cantankerous. He has been known to be somewhat aggresive towards hikers, bullying them out of his territory. Fortunately, I caught him an a good day. He was in a pretty laid back mood, and even posed for a few pictures. Further up the trail I spotted a log and thought, wow, that log looks like a marmot. Then the log turned and winked at me. Sure enough it was a marmot. I got a picture right before he took off. I don't think I've ever run into so much wildlife on a hike. There is still quite a bit of snow on the slopes that lead down toward lake Angeles, so here I turned around. On the way back down, I ran into a young buck deer. His antlers where just coming in and still covered with velvet. Like all the other animals (except the more uptight marmot), he was pretty relaxed and let me take several pictures of him. There was no sign of the bear on the way back, and the rest of the return trip went pretty quickly. I got back to the Visitors Center parking lot, where there was a whole heard of deer grazing, including a fawn still with her spots. Endless views, endless flowers, wildlife extravaganza, great day.