[Karen]

Yikes, this was quite an intense two days. While these are all easy hikes, each one was different and special in its own way though I felt like I was just skimming the surface. But time constraints rule ..... and it was the best I could manage. Hurricane Hill is, of course, on Hurricane Ridge and from the ridge isn't much of a hike. The REAL way to do that hike is from the Elwha Trail and climb UP --- which I have done several times in the past when I was ...uh, younger. But given time constraints and a crammed itinerary we took the softer, easier way. 3 miles round-trip to the summit. Beautiful day. Meadows turning golden. Lots of people on the trail, including a very pleasant off-duty park ranger who was hiking with a young child (his grand son?) with his first camera. The little boy was so intensely focused on taking photographs. It was fun to watch him. Flowers are mostly gone, no surprise. But on the summit there is an unsigned loop that goes off to the right for clumps of subalpine trees and more views. We went over there for lunch and shared the space with a gorgeous buck (a huge rack). He allowed us to stay pretty close to him and we watched him with pity as his hide rippled from the irritation of biting bugs. He was truly beautiful. Those deer can climb pretty good too. Eventually he climbed down a small rock outcropping and vanished into a small meadow. Then we roared off to Forks where we were staying and then off to Rialto Beach to re-visit Hole In The Wall, everyone's favorite. Again, this was a very short trip -- I'm used to going much further. Ellen Creek is almost dry -- in all my years of hiking there I've never seen it so dry. Tide was low and it was fun to prowl the tide pools. We hiked back as the sun was setting. Short, sweet and gorgeous. Next morning (Saturday) we went up the Hoh and again, given the time problem, could only do a short hike so we opted for Hall of the Mosses. I spent a long time at the creek crossing just outside of the ranger station pondering and trying to photograph the billowing aquatic plants and sedges. We were there early enough that we missed the worst of the crowds but jeepers, those mosses are so dry they crackle when you run your fingers over them. Kind of scary. I wish it would rain. Last, we stopped at Marymere Falls but I don't have much to say about that. There were a lot of us clustered around the overlook until a handsome young man stepped over the railing to get a better look at the falls and yeah, you guessed it. Some of us followed. Even at that I could not get a decent picture of the falls. I've been trying for years to get a decent photo of Marymere Falls and never had any luck. There were a lot of people on THAT trail as it was later in the day. Karen

[sarbar]

I was also shocked by the creek too when I was out there 2 weeks ago-I actually didn't realize we had passed it due to it running under the sand! And I too saw the dryness out there in the Hoh. I really, really hope there are no fires It will be bad if there is one!