This weekend was a spectacular time for backpacking! The weather was perfect, and I had reserved two campsites on the Lake Angeles-Klahhane Ridge-Heather Park Loop in Olympic National Park. I somehow missed doing this hike in the past, and now I cannot believe it. What a mistake! We started Friday after work, arriving at the trailhead at about 6:00pm. We decided to go clockwise since we had backpacks. I’ll explain later.

The lake is beautiful with an amazing ridge in the background and a special treat as the sun settled in the west. The setting sun lit up the east ridge with bright orange light!

We found a great campsite up on a little knoll in the woods and settled down for a good rest with our frequent visitors: a duo of deer.

The next day was epic. After a hearty breakfast, we filled our water supply out of the lake with our gravity filters, and the trail basically went straight up, gaining another 2000 feet in two miles, making it a difficult trail in all the guide books. If you are backpacking this trail, make sure you are in good shape, otherwise you will be suffering…

Higher and higher you climb and then you make it up to Klahhane Ridge, and the views are stunning. To the south, as you cross the divide, you look across an expansive green valley with the snow capped high peaks of the Olympics rising to the west up to Mt Olympus. Turn around to the north and you can see Port Angeles below with the Straight of Juan de Fuca from west to east with Vancouver Island, Canada in the distance with its mountains rising on the horizon. The San Juan Islands and Mt Baker are in the distance to the right. This 360 degree panoramic view is certainly one of the best! This is why Hurricane Ridge is always in the top two places to visit in the park.

My favorite view is this one: Mt Baker sitting on top of this giant rock above the clouds, with the sea level salt water and shoreline below. So much to see! This is the highest point of the trail at 6046 feet. Don’t think the elevation gain is over though! The trail heads west along the ridge going up and down through lots of small rock, slippery and hot in the sun. Put on some sun screen and use your hiking poles! I avoided falling quite a few times with my extra support. Finally, you leave Klahhane Ridge near the connection with the switchback trail from the road below and head north and you descend into a beautiful bowl, but don’t be fooled. What goes down must come up! A 300 foot climb up multiple switchbacks in a rock/sand mix brought on some serious heavy breathing and lots of water stops. Reaching the top is a mix of relief and then awe as more views open up to the west at this pass.

Down, down you go through some high islands of noble fir, but then up you go again in an exhausting rhythm buoyed by the amazing beauty all around. I hit two liters of water in at this point. I also need to mention the flowers: We missed most of the bloom which happened a few weeks ago, but on the west side of this little pass, the flowers were amazing!

So, the final stretch again goes up but this time to Heather Park over a little pass with awesome views. It’s a bit of a scramble with a sandy trail… two steps forward, one step back, and then they just give up on the switchbacks and go straight up the ridge…

At the top, you are greeted with more amazing views which make it more palatable.

We saw no water in the first camp area at the top of Heather Park so descended down to the next old camp area, where a hiking club had built a cool shelter with a rock fireplace decades ago. All that is left is the rock rim and fireplace, which is still impressive, so we put our tents right inside! I hung my hammock and chilled.

The hike down Sunday morning was easy on the lungs but hard on the knees as you drop to the trail head. It took us about two hours with some stops. The trail pokes out quite often for views looking north and was great in the morning light. The final stretch heads into the forest, which was dark and cool in the morning.

I am reminded that backpacking is a tough workout so be prepared. Prepare yourself with smaller hikes, and work your way up to a hike like this. In August, think about water before you go: where will I find it and how will I filter it. You don’t want to run out and you don’t want to get sick!

This is a spectacular means to stay in shape, hang out in nature, and be at peace. I think there is no better way to live a healthy life! Hike on!