Hike up Mount Ellinor

A couple of weeks ago Tiffany and I decided to take the camper for a night up in the Olympic National Forest.  Had done a little research and decided on the hike up Mount Ellinor which is west of Hoodsport on the sound.  It's a nice hike with great views but has a substantial amount of elevation gain. From the upper trail-head, the round-trip is just over 3 miles.  A short hike distance wise on the map but, there is a 2500 foot elevation gain in a little over 1.5 miles.  It starts off steep, gets steeper, then gets steeper/rockier again and remains that way until reaching the summit.  Every step for 1.5 miles is up! Rather than spend money for an overpriced, crowded campsite we opted to do a little exploring on some remote forest service roads where we found a spot with a view. Fired up the BBQ for the evening meal and watched the sunset prior to turning in.  Following morning located the trail-head and headed up.

 Mount Ellinor in the background

Had heard that most of the time hikers encounter mountain goats once up top so decided to pack the camera gear and glad I did.  One can get some good shots up top with a little patience and the right lens. The goats are very accustomed to human presence but can become aggressive.  A few years ago a hiker was gored and bled to death on this trail before they could get him off the mountain.  In the fall, many times the park service has to close this trail down due to their aggressive behavior during the rutting season.  Ran into a couple of photographers who were carrying bear spray just in case.  They stated that they'd had problems in the past while in the area and it was recommended to them by a ranger to carry it.  Park service requests that no one urinate on the trail as they are attracted to the salt and will defend the spot.  We had one in the trail going up and he was in no hurry to move.  We waited him out until he decided he had something better to do.  They don't seem to have much concern or fear of hikers on the trail.  Having hiked around them in the past over the years, I had no idea that they were this aggressive nor that a death had been caused by one.  I know now.

View from the summit looking west towards Mount Olympus.

The hike up has many large boulders to get over and I was having to lift Petey over many of these.  I knew coming down it was going to be much of the same.  Had I knew how difficult a trail this is I would probably not have brought Petey and saved the hike for another time.  With 4 inch legs, this is not an easy trail!  With help, he made it up but simply gave out on the hike down so I placed him in my backpack and hiked him out.  He seemed to enjoy the hike out as he just rode along back there enjoying the view.  My back.....not so much.

Headed out late that evening and shot the sunset over the sound looking west towards the Olympics.  We plan to get back over this way as often as we can.