Thursday, June 19, 2014

Olympic National Park–Hurricane Ridge

Hurrican Ridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We had been waiting all week for a clear day to drive up to Hurricane Ridge to see the mountain peaks.  It seemed like no matter what the sky was like in Port Angeles – clear or cloudy – the peaks were always covered by clouds.  On Saturday, we finally gave up and decided to just make the drive up to the ridge and see what we could see.

We drove through the entrance station (we remembered our National Parks pass today!!), and started up the mountain road.  At the first overlook, we stopped and looked back, and could barely see Port Angeles!

Port Angeles

As we continued up, the clouds got thicker and the visibility got lower!

Into the clouds

Low visibility!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove through three tunnels and were surprised to see that even the tunnels had clouds in them!

It was even cloudy in the tunnels!

Nicolas was driving, and he had to be extremely careful . . . we could barely see the front of the car! 

Had to watch out for deer on the road!

We constantly had to be on the lookout for deer, too.

More deer

With all the low clouds, we weren’t feeling too confident that we were going to be able see much on the ridge, but as we got closer to the top we started to break through the clouds.

Driving OUT of the clouds!

We didn’t see too much snow on the ground, but we did pass some really big snow removal equipment!

BIG snow equipment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above the clouds now, we could start to see the peaks of the mountains.

Nearing the mountaintop

We arrived at the Visitor Center, which is also a ski lodge during the winter months, and admired the view of the mountain peaks.

Checking out the mountains

 

We can see the mountain peaks!

 

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There are a few hikes at the ridge that we could have checked out, but it was REALLY cold up there . . . and our feet and hands were freezing!  So, after looking around for a few minutes, we went back to the car, where we noticed this deer on the top of the hill.

Deer on the hill

People were following him along the edge of the parking lot, but he wasn’t bothered by them at all!

Deer coming for a visit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started back down the mountain, and back into the clouds!

Back into the clouds!

Just before reaching the bottom, we spotted another deer on the side of the road – this one had her fawn with her!  So cute!

Mama and Baby

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