04/18/11
John
Check this out for snow depth across from the lodge.
Thirteen goats met at Poulsbo and proceeded to Hurricane Ridge. It was a nice day with lots of snow. The Ranger said it was the second largest snow pack ever experienced at the ridge.
The duration of the hike was about 3 hrs 45 minutes including stops. The distance was a little less than 5 miles and total elevation loss and gain was about 1,000 feet.
Neil provided this note and the following photos of his and Frank’s overnight experience.
The ranger had me park my truck 3 miles down the road near where they park the snowplow. He then drove down, picked me up and took me back to where we had unloaded our gear. (When we got back to the visitor center Tuesday afternoon there was no ranger available so I had to hitchhike 3 miles down to get the truck. Fortunately, the visitor center was open and there were a number of tourists coming and going and a retired couple from Purdy gave me a ride down in the back of their pickup.)
We arrived at the little cabin around 2:15. There was a well tramped trail all the way so we had no problem finding it. (Frank had made note of its supposed coordinates and when we checked the GPS it was right on the money—it could be hard to find if you didn’t know where to look. We did a short snow shoe hike after a short rest. We followed a previous track up into the woods which ended on a ridge with a view up a treeless hillside to a peak beyond which might have been Obstruction Peak. There is a fairly elaborate weather station powered by several solar panels just up the hill from the cabin. The cabin is just a little “A” frame maybe 8’ high, 8’ Wide and 12’ long. It has a “dutch” door entry and there is a storm door that you fit against the door frame when you leave. There is still a stove pipe in place at the rear of the cabin but no stove. It sure beats sleeping in a tent. (There were no critters calling the cabin home as far as we could tell.)
We checked the temperature at breakfast and it was 15 degrees. Had a mostly sunny hike back to the lodge but ran into a snow storm about halfway down the road to PA—a couple of inches on the ground for a mile or so. It was an enjoyable experience, no surprises, but we were glad to get back and wasted no time making our way to Sunny Farms for an espresso and a cookie.
Neil
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- Check this out for snow depth across from the lodge.
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- The view from the back deck of the lodge was great. Note the snow depth even with the deck.
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- Then down the road to the blue stake marking the spot for going over the bank and down to the Obstruction Point road.
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- Then down the road to the blue stake marking the spot for going over the bank and down to the Obstruction Point road.
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- The way down to the road is quite steep, but avoids a dangerous section of the road that is currently filled in by snow creating a steep side hill.
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- The track was quite firm, but most of us put on our snowshoes, primarily for better traction.
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- The track was quite firm, but most of us put on our snowshoes, primarily for better traction.
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- The walk down the road was quite pleasant with sun and little wind. Note the snowdrifts.
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- The walk down the road was quite pleasant with sun and little wind. Note the snowdrifts.
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- Some of us hiked a little beyond Steeple Rock (about 2.4 miles).
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- There were some natural snowballs.
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- We then returned to the lunch spot and joined some of the others
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- We then returned to the lunch spot and joined some of the others
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- During lunch we were passed by Neil and Frank. They were doing an overnight adventure and had to do a vehicle shuttle with the ranger.
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- There were some gathering clouds and a little snowfall on the return hike.
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- There were some gathering clouds and a little snowfall on the return hike.
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- Back up the bank.
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- And post-hike smiles.
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- Waterhole cabin
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- Steeple Rock
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- Open air kitchen
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- Goodbye little cabin
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- View
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- Heading home
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- Devil in the detail
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