Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 4: Hurricane Ridge

We had enjoyed Seattle but it was time to move on. We rented a car and drove on the ferry to Bainbridge Island. It was nice to see Seattle from the water.

We again got to see Mount Rainier. I have been to Japan several times and have rarely seen Mount Fuji, but we saw Rainier every day we were in Seattle.

Our destination was Olympic National Park, a two and a half hour drive after getting off the ferry.

Olympic is a very interesting national park that has several very different areas. On this day, we went to Hurricane Ridge which is high in the Olympic Mountains.

My objective was to do the Hurricane Hill Trail which is a little over three miles up and back. The 'up' part of the hike was the big challenge. The total elevation climb over the course of the trail is 650 feet, which is about the equivalent of climbing a 65 story building. In the photo below, we are about to get to a steeper section of the hike. The hill in the background is our destination.

Some parts of the trail still had snow on it.

Kai has a long history of complaining on strenuous hikes, and this one was no different. As the hike went on, Kai grumbled more and more. At one point he exclaimed "I can't believe there are so many old people who are hiking this!" Unfortunately, he said it very loudly within hearing distance of an older couple. Fortunately, they laughed at his comment. But all of these old people (and young kids as well) had more energy than Kai did. With only a little ways to go, he said "I've had it. I'm not going any further."

I went the rest of the way by myself. The view from the top was spectacular, but really it was quite spectacular all the way up. My wife and I both thought this was one of the best scenery we've ever had on a hike.

Along the trail, especially on the way down, we saw several deer.

After completing the hike, we drove to Lake Crescent.

It looked like a great place to canoe but that will have to be on another trip. It was getting late and we had to get to our cabin for the next two nights.

We had a lot of good food in Seattle but the choices in the small town we stayed in near the national park were pretty limited. My steak was really tough but Kai enjoyed his as he loves any kind of beef and we hadn't had any on the trip before.

Tomorrow we will continue to explore Olympic.