Alpine Scramble - Little River, Hurricane Hill, Elwha River Traverse

Trip Report

Our day began early, especially for those not driving over the night before.  Yet even with the car shuttle setup (the Madison Falls parking area on the Elwha River) we found ourselves headed up the lush and verdant Little River Valley trail just after 8am (elevation ~1000’).   

With a steady pace we made good time (in spite of various blowdowns and stream crossings, none troublesome).  We enjoyed a beautiful meadow break at 3.5 hours (3700’ elevation, 8 miles).  Our staff naturalist (Kanna N.) captured this gorgeous photo of Marsh marigolds (Caltha biflora).

Kana Goulding-Hotta

Moving along, the snow is largely gone from the upper Little River Valley, with continuous snow starting at ~4700’ (300’ below the Little River Trail intersection with Hurricane Ridge, elevation 5073’).  We enjoyed an ‘alpine finish’ just moments before encountering the asphalt Hurricane Hill path (quite the contrast after ~10 miles and just under  6 hours of pristine wilderness ;).

A mile later we enjoyed a lengthy (and well deserved) lunch at the summit of Hurricane Hill (elevation 5757’).  A tightening of shoelaces was appropriate for our upcoming steep descent to the Elwha River.

Of more than passing interest was the state of the snowfields just west of the summit (visible above Nathan’s shoulder in the photo above).  This half mile of relatively flat terrain could have presented substantial post-holing difficulties (did not bring the snowshoes) and was uppermost in our minds as we ambled towards the Elwha River Trail junction (along with stunning views).

Kana Goulding-Hotta

Yes, there are still substantial snowfields present (at least for another few weeks), but the post-holing was relatively minor and we were soon back to a sunny, dry, ‘need to pay attention/sometimes hard to find’ trail on the south side of the ridge.

Once into timber the flavor of the trail becomes dramatically different from that of the Little River.  Open understory with very little brush, much drier, and more akin to a cathedral with huge trees towering high above.

Kana Goulding-Hotta

The Elwha River - Hurricane Hill trail does not dilly dally, losing 5500’ in 6 miles, and 3 hours after leaving the summit we gained the bottom land (as well as a workout of the knees ;).

Kana Goulding-Hotta

A final challenge were the 2 miles to our cars which included a bypass trail circumventing the Olympic Springs Road washout (providing an extra 200’ of elevation gain at the end of a long day, yikes ;).  Not to worry, at its current water level the fisherman’s trail immediately adjacent to the Elwha works just fine (you know, bypass the bypass ;), and we soon arrived at the cars.

Kana Goulding-Hotta

An absolutely stunning day in the mountains at a greatly underutilized setting (ok, Hurricane Hill is pretty utilized), but everywhere else we saw no one else (might have something to do with the miles and elevation gain ;).  For this 19 mile, 5300’ elevation gain trip our total time, car to car was 11 hours (6 hours up, 4 hours down, and an hour for the flat 2 miles back to the cars).  Photos from this trip can be seen here (thanks Kana!), as well as here (this one includes photos from this as well as other outings at different times of the year.

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