Mt Olympus from Obstruction Point – Olympic National Park

The weather has been gorgeous. I don’t remember a better September. It almost makes up for the cold unpredictable summer. We realized we had not been over to Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National park in ages. Good weather – off during the week – no reason not to make a trip.

We decided on Wednesday to go to Obstruction Point. This is a dirt road that run below Grand Ridge from Hurricane Ridge back east. All along the drive are stunning vista back over the Olympic Mountains. And once at Obstruction Point, you can hike either along Lillian Ridge to Grand Lake or towards Deer Park. There was once plans to create a road all long the ridge from Hurricane Ridge to Deer Park but those were scraped.

We caught the 7:50 ferry and made it to Pt Angeles by about 10am. I forgot to check the park website and we were delayed by construction. I’m glad we decided to go last week. I’ve found out that the road is closed totally during the week while they finish paving.

We made it to Obstruction Point about 11am. The road is in good condition but one lane gravel. There are a couple of places where I wouldn’t want to meet another car but fortunately we didn’t.

We decided to hike towards Deer Park. It is over 7 miles to Deer Park which was too much for us so we decided just to go to Elk Mountain, the highest point on the trail, which is about 2 miles. Brilliant sun contrasted with the gray slate. The grass had started to turn golden and there were meadows of red leaved blueberries. I completely forgot how narrow the trail was. There were one or two spots that were a little narrower than I like. A little bit of vertigo but I made it.

We went as far as the second junction to Badger Lake and then climbed up to the top of Elk Mountain where Port Angeles, Sequim and the Strait was laid out at our feet. It was clear enough to see Victoria and even Mt. Baker in the far distance.

The shadows were lengthening and it was a quick trip back to the car. We headed back to Pt Angeles. We were starved so we stopped for pizza and a cold beer. Yum.

Here are some pictures.

Obstruction Point Trailhead

View of the Olympic Range from Obstruction Point

Beginning of trail to Deer Park

Click for more pictures….