HURRICANE RIDGE WILDFLOWERS AND WILDLIFE - *Sundays with Sunny and Friends!
FULL DAY TOUR

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

Email experience@evergreenescapes.com or call 206-650-5795 for reservations

Tour Length: 12 Hours
Tour Code: ES06
Pick-Up: Downtown Seattle
Departing: 7:30 a.m.
Returns: 7:30 p.m.
Activities: Wildflower and Wildlife Viewing, Photography, Hiking, & Educational Sightseeing
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Carbon Footprint:
Min No of Passengers:

Inclusions:
Downtown Seattle pick up and drop off; highly qualified and knowledgeable naturalist guide; travel in luxury vehicle; excellent casual lunch; selected fruit, energy bars, soda, juice, and tea; all entry and parking fees; and comprehensive commentary.

Description:
Enjoy this Sunday with tour guide Sunny Walter, professional wildlife photographer, nature photo tour leader, and co-author of “Washington Nature Weekends, 52 Adventures in Nature.” Our accompanying naturalist and hike leader is Karen Sykes, hiking columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, author of “Hidden Hikes in Western Washington,” and co-author of “Best Wildflower Hikes, Washington”.

What We Will See
We visit Hurricane Ridge, 19 miles south of Port Angeles in Olympic National Park, to see gorgeous meadows of wildflowers, scenic mountain views, and close-up looks at black-tailed deer fawns and baby marmots.

Directions: From U.S. Highway 101 in Port Angeles, take Race Street 1.5 miles south to the Olympic NP Visitor Center, then 5 miles to the park entrance and 12 more miles to Hurricane Ridge.

Hurricane Ridge offers ample parking, restrooms, picnic areas, a variety of trails, and ranger-led walks. Wildflowers and mountain views are impressive, Black-tailed Deer are everywhere - some with fawns - and Olympic Marmots fill the air with their high-pitched whistles.

As we drive up the Hurricane Ridge Road we will stop to look at views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the rolling foothills of the Olympics spread out before you. We will also see wildflowers and deer along the way (deer at Hurricane Ridge are not tame, but they are accustomed to humans). In this sub-alpine zone we expect to see wildflowers such as Avalanche Lily, Beargrass, Broadleaf Lupine, Paintbrush, Penstemons , Red Mountain Heather, and Violets.

There are 15 species of native conifers in Olympic National Park. The sub-alpine forest of Hurricane Ridge is a transition zone from dense forest below to alpine tundra above treeline. Here we expect to see Alaska yellow-cedar, Douglas-fir , Mountain hemlock, Silver fir, Sitka alder (often in avalanche chutes) and Sub alpine fir.

We will stop at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center (5200’) for a break, and then walk the easy trails of Big Meadow to enjoy scenic vistas, beautiful wildflower meadows, deer and perhaps a black bear in the distance. Signs at intersections show the way; the paved meadow trails are accessible with assistance.

At noon we will set up in the picnic area just west of the visitor center to enjoy our delicious organic lunch platters from “On Safari Foods.” Restrooms are available and scenic mountain vistas abound.

After lunch we will slowly drive the 8-mile gravel road out to Obstruction Point to see wildflowers, deer, and marmots. All along the road are grand vistas of the glaciers on Mount Carrie and the Bailey Range. This road takes us up into the alpine zone, where wiry grasses, sedges and flowers are often arrayed in vertical stripes, due to freezing and thawing of thin mountain soils. Tiny alpine ferns and flowers cling to rocky ledges (Flett’s Violet and Piper’s Bellflower, Scalloped Onion, Smooth Douglasia , and Spreading Phlox), while the meadows below the road are filled with sub-alpine wildflowers.

At one mile from the start of the road, walk over the ridge to the north-facing slope thick with wildflowers. From 4.5 to six miles are many wildflower locations - bright orange Columbia Lilies by the side of the road, a meadow full of Avalanche Lilies to the south, Red Paintbrush around weathered snags, lots of lupine and other wildflowers.

At 6.2 miles is a pullout on the north side with great views in all directions. We will explore the north-facing slope to see marmots and wildflowers. The road ends at a large parking area. Black-tailed Deer (mainly bucks with velvet) seem to hang out on both sides of the road the last two miles. Olympic Marmots make their home on the rocky talus slopes in the meadows the last mile of the road. You can see the adults - and a few babies - near the entrance to their burrows, sometimes munching on flowers. Birds we may see here include Golden Eagle, Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, Horned Lark, and Raven.

For those who want more exercise, the Badger Valley Trail starts from the parking area and drops steeply to a small tarn with wildflowers. The round trip in and climb out is less than three miles. The rest of us will enjoy the meadow wildflowers and wildlife along the road.

We leave for Bainbridge in time to catch the 6:30 p.m. ferry to Seattle.

This tour can be customized as a private tour, call or email for a quote.