Day 2 of the second week of the PNW vacation. A drive south from Port Angeles to visit Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. An early start got me past construction on the road in the park with minimal slow downs. And after climbing into a cloud/mist bank it turned out that the ridge itself was above the clouds and clear. And the overcast sky itself cleared for a while later in the day.
Given I had a rental car I just stuck to the main visitor center and did not risk any of the secondary sites on steeper roads. And there were sufficient trails anyways for me to do a 7+ mile hike. Said hike, however, was cut short by encountering a place where a thick snow bank cut the trail and I did not have the equipment to cross that. Oh well, but still interesting to encounter snow in late June!
Part 1 is view and wildlife. I am saving the plant and flower pictures for Part 2.
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Noticed some black-tailed deer right off grazing in the meadow near the parking lot.
From an overlook spot on the trail you could look north and see the cloud bank lying in the valley towards Port Angeles
The Olympic Mountains to the southwest
Ski Patrol Station with “Ice Station Zebra” sign. :)
More below the break!
Trail near the visitor center still blocked by snow.
Outcrop on the ridge — sandstones and shales
Another outcrop photo showing the flowers and plants trying to eke out an existence in the crevices
The ridge to the north with the trail had more soil, but was still quite a steep slope
One section had enough soil that Olympic Marmots were dug in there. You could here them whistling alarm calls as the different hikers came along
Townsend’s Chipmunk
Wasp (unknown species) about 1” long hunting among some scree
Hover fly
A ground bee lurking among some finer grains of stone and sand
Unidentified moth on a pine
Bee fly among the blooming flowers
Fly getting nectar on a blooming Cow Parsnip near the visitor center
Crab spider waiting amidst the blooms
Warbler — Yellow-rumped I believe
Dark-eyed Junco
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
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Now It's Your Turn
What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.