June 6, Hurricane Hill ONP

With the windshield wipers on high on the drive to Port Angeles, Sidnie and I had low expectations for the day.  But things started looking up when we broke out of the clouds at 4500 ft into bright sunshine.  The road west from the lodge was still closed so we hiked the 3 miles to Hurricane Hill on the paved trail.  Upon arriving at the 5757ft summit we were rewarded with two large bowls full of snow.  The clouds had risen and obscurred all the peaks in the range but we remained in brilliant sunshine above a sea of clouds. The bowl to the northeast of Hurricane Hill was heavily corniced but a ramp led into the steep upper section from the east shoulder. This line descended to a developing tarn and then continued down over several benches through lovely glades for 700 vf. We booted back to the summitt of Hurricane Hill  and did several laps into the bowl and the west ridge separating the east and west bowls. We did a final lap down the west bow where the best snow and steepest line of the day were found before a 90 minute hike back to the visitors center in the rising fog.  A great day of solitude and corn.