HK_Olympic_NP_Final-59

Difficulty: Strenuous.

Trail type: Foot.

Best season: Early July to mid-October.

Elevation gain: 2,424 feet.

Maximum elevation: 5,944 feet.

Topo maps: Mount Washington, Mount Steel; Custom Correct Mount Skokomish–Lake Cushman.

Finding the trailhead: From Eldon, drive south on U.S. Highway 101 to mile 321.3. Turn west onto Jorsted Creek Road. Drive 7.5 miles, following signs for Forest Road 24, to a junction with Forest Road 2419. Take FR 2419 past the first trail sign for Mount Ellinor to an unmarked junction with Forest Road 2419-014 (the first road on the left). Turn left and drive to the upper trailhead at road’s end.

The Hike

This steep trail seems much longer than its 1.7 miles but rewards those who reach the summit with the finest views to be had in the southeastern Olympics. The trail begins in a clear-cut but soon climbs onto a wooded finger ridge, which it ascends via a natural staircase of tree roots. The path from the lower trailhead soon joins it, and thus bolstered the trail continues up the ridgetop beneath an open canopy of Douglas fir.

Within a mile an open subalpine forest dominates the landscape, and a mat of heather provides splashes of color in midsummer. The first views are of Mount Ellinor itself. Later the trail passes rocky knobs that command an unimpaired vista of Lake Cushman and the southern end of Puget Sound, with Mount Rainier looming ghostlike beyond it. The forest falls away altogether as the trail picks a rocky path up through the outcrops. A dazzling display of wildflowers greets the traveler from chinks and swards among the boulders. Anemones are prominently displayed, and harebells bloom everywhere.

An unmarked spur path soon runs east to a tent site, while the main trail shoots steeply across a slope of loose scree to reach the ridgeline. The view from this spot is dominated by Sawtooth Ridge, with Mount Lincoln at its south end and Mount Cruiser rearing its vertical spires to the north. The trail turns north and switchbacks up a meadowy slope, then winds onto the rocky eastern face of Mount Ellinor. The ragged tooth of Mount Washington rises boldly beyond a rocky saddle in the ridge, and Mount Constance and The Brothers can be seen beyond it. The trail then doglegs back and picks its way to the summit for even finer vistas. Mount Pershing rises above a nameless lake to the north, and the spires of Mount Stone loom just beyond it. Mount Skokomish hulks to the west of Stone on the same ridgeline, and Mount Anderson peeks out behind its summit. Mount Olympus is now visible above Sawtooth Ridge, completing a splendid panorama of rocky upheaval.