Today we drove into Olympic National Park to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. After collecting our46th Passport Stamp,shopped in the gift store, watched the park film and then we talked with the rangers to figure out the hiking options. 95% of the park is designated as wilderness area so there are limited roads into the park and limited day hikes into the interior. Several of the trails at Hurricane Ridge were closed due to Mountain Goat round up. Mountain Goats were introduced to the area before it was a park and is considered an invasive species. So the park service is rounding them up and moving them to the Cascade Range where they are an endemic species. So we hike up to Sunrise point and then the outer Cirque Loop (1.4 miles, 210 feet of elevation, 430 calories burned). The views of the Olympic Mountains on one side, and Strait of Juan De Fuca on the other were incredible. Mount Olympic is still covered in snow and glaciers and sparkling in the distance. On the road back, we spotted a lot of deer along the road, including some young ones that still had the shadow of spots.
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| Olympic National Park Entrance sign |
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| Mt. Olympic |
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| Looking across the Strait of Juan De Fuca into Canada |
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