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Eagle Point, Olympic National Park

3/15/10
WA Olympics
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Posted by TonyM on 3/8/10 4:54am
Nick and I toured out to Eagle Point on Hurricane Ridge.  There were a couple very short bare spots on the road leading to Obstruction Point, but otherwise we skinned/skied to the 4 mile mark and dropped the tent and gear near the emergency shelter.  Continued up to Eagle Point had a nice ski back to the summer trail.  Travel time to Hurricane Ridge from Seattle via Bainbridge ferry was about 3 hours.  Nice area, leisurely trip.
Nice pictures.  I'm  curious about the first picture.  What direction are we looking? Looking S. would be the Baileys/ Olympus, looking east would be the Needles/Greywolf, looking west would be mt Angeles and Appelton pass and looking N. would be the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  Interesting perspective.

I'm fairly certain it was almost due east, but didn't take the compass out to check for sure.  We were on top of Eagle Point and I think those are the north and south brothers.  I'd like to ski the south brother, so I took that shot, but the north brother looks doable too.

Took the photo with a 300x Nikon lens.  Thx,

We were thinking of heading out that way in a couple of weeks - what did the north sides look like?

author=unclebo link=topic=15902.msg66524#msg66524 date=1268239621]
We were thinking of heading out that way in a couple of weeks - what did the north sides look like?


Very un-tracked to be sure, but you'd want to check stability as normal.  There was about 6 inches of wind affected consolidated powder that was not well bonded.  But in a week, my guess is it would all be good depending on what happens between now and then.

nice turns up there .. cool pix too

Nice pics!


The "Needles" of which Mount Deception (peak on the left) is considered a part,  are the highest collective group of peaks and spires in Olympic National Park.  Mount Deception (7788) is the second highest peak next to Mount Olympus.  Mount Mystery is on the right. This region offers some good climbing and turns if you're willing to hike for it!

The zoom photo from Eagle Peak makes it look like Deception is just a stones throw away!

Too bad the Olympics are too far from Vancouver, BC for a weekend trip.
The mountains looks quite cool in your pictures. Any experience with skiing Mt. Olympus in the spring?

author=runningclouds link=topic=15902.msg66597#msg66597 date=1268356665]
Any experience with skiing Mt. Olympus in the spring?


There's a Mt. Olympus TR from July '08 at http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=10726.0

Even if you're strong (or crazy?) enough to do it in 24 hours the way Dan did, I suggest spending a few days on it. The Hoh valley is a beautiful place.

Thanks Jeff. I have seen that report. July seems a bit too late, too much hiking. I was thinking about skiing it in April. Any idea where the snow line might be at that time of the year? What kind of snowpack are you having this year? Is it lower that average? Thanks

author=runningclouds link=topic=15902.msg66610#msg66610 date=1268382964]
Thanks Jeff. I have seen that report. July seems a bit too late, too much hiking. I was thinking about skiing it in April. Any idea where the snow line might be at that time of the year? What kind of snowpack are you having this year? Is it lower that average? Thanks


First of all Tony, great TR and nice pictures, Eagle Pt is one of our favorite day trips. There are some challenging lines off of this peak. I was working at the ski area that day, wishing we were out touring.

Regarding your snowpack question Runningclouds, surprisingly, it is 70% to 80% of normal at 5000 ft., unfortunately, at least until yesterday, the snowline was a little below 4,000 ft in the Hurricane Ridge area. The recent storm has brought it down to around 2,000 ft (who knows for how long). The majority of the approach up the Hoh to Olympus is at low elevation, so even under the best of conditions, you can plan on about a dozen miles of carrying your skis. There is a nasty gully between Elk Lake and Glacier Meadows that deserves cautious passage.

Hope this helps,

Gary

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TonyM
2010-03-08 12:54:27