In Search of Marmots
Hurricane Hill with the Klahhanes
June 20, 2010
It was ominous. There was light rain when we woke up. To our surprise, everyone in our group of 12 who signed up was there
for a 7:30 am departure from the Park Visitor Center.

By the time we got to Hurricane Hill, the drizzle had ceased but it was very foggy and gloomy. We had pretty much promised
marmots, but there were no marmots to be seen, just fog and a few chipmunks.
Ingrid and Judy
From the top of Hurricane Hill, Suki
could see nothing but fog.











Eftin became impatient demanding his
money back.
Suki and Judy were not used to getting
up five hours after their bed time.

One of the motivations for the marmots
to come out is for them to lie in the
sun. No sun, no marmots, it seemed.


Then just as it seemed hopeless, I
sighted a marmot on the meadow
where the trail leads to the Elwha
Overlook.
Things were getting better. Mount Olympus came into view and we could see some of our group taking pictures of
something--must be another marmot.
To everyone's delight, this marmot was active and moving around chewing on the grass..
The chipmunks were quite active, bolder than we remembered.
Mount Olympus started to show its full glory.
There is still a tenth of a mile of snow to walk across in the trees to return to the parking lot.
The wild flowers are really starting to bloom.
The whole time we on Hurricane Ridge, we never
saw anyone but Klahhanes. As we got close to the
parking lot, we encountered a ranger, another
Klahhane, Rod Norvell.

And just as we got to the parking lot at 10:30 a.m.,
the masses started arriving.