After Marmot Pass, Mount Ellinor is the best hike in the Olympics. It's sadistic, sure, rising over two thousand feet in 1.6 miles, but the view is worth the torture....
This Saturday, my younger sister, her friend, my wife, and I braved threatening weather to hike from the upper trailhead to the summit.
A third of the way up, what is generously called the "Summer Trail" breaks out of the forest, offering glimpses of the scenery to come.
Inaccessible for most of the year due to snow, the trail makes its way up a dry creek bed through a rock slide.
Once you're high enough, you can see Lake Cushman...
... and the end of Forest Service Road 2419, where you left your car over an hour ago, likely oblivious to the arduous climb ahead.
As the sign near the trail entrance warns, "Do not provoke the wildlife." Especially when the wildlife looks like it's gotten the worse end of a few bar brawls.
At the summit, we were fortunate to see the interior of the Olympics for about a half hour, until the clouds rolled in.
I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Your pictures are wonderful, and I appreciate your humor in the captions. Thanks for sharing.
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