[awilsondc]

I spent 4 days up around Port Angeles with my family for a little mini vacation, which naturally involved some hiking! Friday we headed up to Hurricane Ridge to check out the Obstruction Point area. My wife was not at all happy with the road. It has some steep drop offs, especially at the beginning which can be a little unnerving but the road is in great shape and I didn't think it was that bad. After arriving at the trailhead we headed off south on Lillian Ridge. It was overcast and kinda chilly. My daughter was really stoked to hike on some snow she saw! We hiked about a mile and a quarter before finding a sheltered spot for lunch. After lunch we headed back and spent the evening swimming at the hotel pool before dinner. Fun day.

Hiking Lillian Ridge

She just had to hike on the snow!

selfie with my son

Selfie w/ my daughter

Saturday morning I set the alarm for 4:15 and headed up to catch the sunrise from Mount Angeles. I was a little nervous. In my haste to pack for the trip I had forgot a couple of essentials - my camera and my headlamp. Forgetting the camera was a bummer but I had my phone at least, but forgetting my headlamp meant I'd be hiking in the dark. I contemplated buying a cheapo at Walmart that I'd never use again but decided to go without. I figured an hour before sunrise with clear skies forecasted I'd have enough light to make my way up the trail. I pulled into the trailhead at 5 am and there were two hikers or climbers gearing up outside their vehicle. I said a quick hello before ducking off up the trail in the dark, kinda embarassed to be hiking in the dark with no light. I promptly slipped off the trail about 10 steps in. I turned on the flashlight on my phone, which totally did the trick although I'd be concerned about battery life with sustained usage. After about 3-4 minutes I got sick of holding it and just turned it off. Visibility was good enough for me and I had no issues the rest of the way!

Dawn colors and a crescent moon

Bailey Range dawn colors

After a couple turns and about half an hour I found myself at the base of the Mount Angeles. I just scrambled up some rock, route finding as I went. Fun scramble, lots of options and pretty good rock. I saw a group of 6-7 goats and as I got near the summit I could see that there was someone bivied up there! As I topped out, there was a 1 man tent up there as well. They were both still asleep. Not a bad place to spend the night!

Mount Angeles mountain goats

Mount Angeles summit a few minutes before sunrise

Unicorn Peak

Bivy spot at the summit

Sunrise Point w/ Olympus & Bailey Range

Sunrise from Mount Angeles

A reached the summit at 6 am, one hour after leaving my car and 15 minutes before sunrise. The dawn colors were pretty amazing and I took in the views while taking care to be silent as to not disturb the two biviers who were still sleeping. Sunrise was great, always a recharge for me, and about 20 minutes after sunrise the guy (or gal) in the tent started to wake up. I took this as my cue to depart and quietly slipped away. Hopefully they never even knew I was there. I took a different route on descent and took in the views along the way.

Looking down at my car from Mount Angeles

Early sun on Mt. Angeles

Panorama from part way down Mount Angeles

After reaching the base of the scramble section I was treated to some nice dirt / scree boot glissading. I just love that feeling, it was a lot of fun. Once that was over I realized I had a ton of time left so I decided to hit up a few of the Klahhane Ridge high points. I headed south.

The three ridge points I tagged

Klahhane Ridge trail

early morning light

First up was pt. 5350, an easy walk up. Pretty unremarkable. From there I made my way over to Sunrise Ridge pt. 5400+ which had ohhhh, I don't know 50-100 ft of class 3 to reach the summit. It was a fun bit of bonus scrambling which I was not expecting. I liked it. Last I made my way over to pt. 5539 where I would stop for the day. Klahhane Ridge is quite pleasant.

Klahhane Ridge pt 5539 and Sunrise Ridge pt 5400+

Sunrise Ridge pt 5400+ summit block

Klahhane Ridge point 5539 summit view

Klahhane Ridge selfie

After a quick snack I made my way back to the car. Along the way I chatted with a couple who had seen me on the summit of Mount Angeles at sunrise. Soon I was back to my car. I didn't keep a GPS track so I have no idea about stats, but it was 4 hours car to car and 5 hours 30 minutes hotel to hotel. My family was stoked to have me back before 10. We decided to head back up to Hurricane Ridge after breakfast, and hiked up to Sunrise Point. My daughter got tired for a bit and I had to carry her hug style along with my 8 month old on my back in a child carrier backpack. This always draws stares as I'm carrying both kids up the hill. We didn't linger long, but it was a good little hike. Great couple days, I'd love to explore the Obstruction point area more!

Descending from Sunrise Point

[RichP]

Very nice. Hoping to take my wee one up there next week for some hiking.