Dayhiking Hurricane Hill from Elwha Ranger Station (4-24-11)
What a tough dayhike in the Spring to a high
country (5650 ft) which was full of snow starting at 3800 ft! I wanted to hike
this trail last year but missed the opportunity. A few Peninsular Wilderness
Club (PWC) members (Paul D, Les M, and I) got together and hiked this little
tough trail.
Starting at 3800 ft elevation, the trail was
hidden under the snow. From there, we snowshoed and managed to find the top
(Hurricane Hill). Paul's GPS helped a lot. I think we did like 11-12 miles
roundtrip with 5500-6000ft ft elevation gain. I admit that it was the toughest
dayhike for me. I really struggled with my 30 inch MSR Ascent snowshoes. I was
very lucky that I did not get hurt because I probably fell about 15 times to
keep up with the pace with Les and Paul. They had a lot smaller snowshoes which
worked a lot better and efficient walking on the snow.
For me, the truth of this hike was to get
exercise and test my fitness that I have been working very hard over the winter
(many lowland hiking and cross country skiing) to prepare for the multi-day
backpacking trips
that I am planning for 15-20 miles per day,
mostly in Olymics.
0915 started hiking.
1430 Hurricane Hill. (Due to strong wind, we
immediately stated decending)
1800 back to trailhead.
Weather was cloudy at 40s-50s. 80% rain did not
happen. Not much wind, except for the Hurricane Hill area. All of us did quite
well. I was the least fit in the group. Lots of energy in the group really
helped me a lot. Thanks for the good hike, Paul and Les.
The first two pictures
are from Les Moore.
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