Fwd: [New post] Olympic NP: Hurricane Ridge Blows Me Away

Christina's 3rd post on our Olympic NP trip is below.  If reading on the web page, you may need to scroll to the right to see her post. 

 

We had a great visit and I feel that we have come full circle.  My father's family was originally from Greece, home to the first Olympics and Mount Olympus.  We left home at the beginning of the Olympics to travel all the way across the country to see Olympic National Park and the west coast's Mount Olympus, the highest mountain on Hurricane Ridge.

From Crissy's Blog: www.packedsuitcase.com:

Olympic NP: Hurricane Ridge Blows Me Away
 

After driving over 5 hours yesterday to visit Olympic's beaches and the Hoh Rainforest, we stuck closer to our campsite for our third and final day. But in Olympic, we didn't need to drive far to experience some magnificent scenery.

We started by taking the 17 mile road from Port Angeles up, up, up! to the Hurricane Ridge visitor's center. Hurricane Ridge has an elevation of about 5,200 feet. Since it's located along the top of a mountain, if the weather is clear there has the potential to be really incredible views of the Olympic Mountains, the nearby Straight of Juan de Fuca, and the city of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

The catch is that it often is foggy and decidedly not clear. Luckily, we couldn't have had better weather during our visit. It was clear without a cloud in the sky! We did a few small hikes and I was so impressed with the views, the alpine mountains and the meadows filled with wildflowers. And, despite the name, it wasn't breezy in the slightest!


A view of peak after peak of mountains... and the slightly scary road to the summit!




Dad and I posing with an alpine backdrop.



Wildflowers on the way back to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor's Center.




Dad had a "Sound of Music" moment...  



After we visited Hurricane Ridge, we drove back down to Port Angeles for lunch along the waterfront. It was a beautiful city, with so many colorful flowers in planters scattered throughout!


A park in Port Angeles, with vibrant and colorful planters. Love!


After lunch, it was time for one final trek into Olympic. Our destination? Soleduck Falls.

 

 
The stunning view from Soleduck Falls.