HIKING HURRICANE HILL

We got out and made the most of the great weather today! As soon as the morning clouds cleared, we packed up a picnic lunch and took off for Olympic National Park. It is about an hour from here to the main visitor center near Port Angeles, then another 30 minutes up the twisting, turning road that climbs from sea level to around 5,000 ft.

The wildflowers were beautiful! I took this shot alongside the Hurricane Hill trail, heading up to the top of a ridge for a 360 degree view: Port Angeles, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island in one direction, the snow capped Olympic range in the other.

In this photo, you can see the gravelled ridge (to the right of the patch of snow) and a bit of the trail we had traversed. The only "fly in the ointment" was just that - HUGE flies, and tiny mosquitos. There weren't enough to cancel the hike, but they were sufficiently annoying that we didn't pause to eat our picnic lunch - and many of the photos I took were snapped on the go.

We were hungry by the time we got back to the car. Here is our recipe for an Ambrosia Sandwich:

Spread peanut butter and apricot jam between two slices of "Fig and Anise Bread" from the bakery stand at the Port Townsend Farmer's Market. Put the sandwiches in a baggie and carry them around in a backpack in warm sunshine for 3 hours, or long enough for the juice from the jam to be absorbed into the fig and anise bread. Eat with plenty of napkins on hand. These sandwiches are particularly delicious served in 62 sunny degrees at 5,000 ft.