LoopHikes.com is your gateway to the first book that is dedicated exclusively to loop hiking in the Olympic Mountains. The book details 27 loops, 21 of which haven’t been published including one that may never have been hiked. LoopHikes.com will not only keep you informed regarding its publishing date, but it will also provide back-stories for numerous elements within the book.
Books are Static, but the Wilderness is forever Dynamic
“Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” is a work that is static, as are all books. Once written and published a book can’t rewrite itself. Republishing the book annually would be impractical.
The Olympic Mountains are constantly changing. For the most part environmental changes are small and most of those don’t affect the accuracy of the Book. Managers for Olympic National Park and the Olympic National Forest from time to time implement changes for various reasons, many of which affect the accessibility of the Olympic Mountains. Here are some examples:
The Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center burned to the ground May 7, 2023. I knew I was writing about a dynamic wilderness, but the fires I was concerned about didn’t include a building fire. No one was hurt, but access to Hurricane Ridge is unknown: what days, what hours and when will access begin? Several hikes in the Book start from Obstruction Point, but the Obstruction Point Road is and will be closed.
Loops in the Book that originate from Obstruction Point will, for the next two hiking seasons, have to start at the Blue Mountain Trailhead and hike across Grand Ridge to get to Obstruction Point, a little over 7 miles. Once arriving at Obstruction Point, the nearest camp sites are at Grand Lake, 3.5 miles southeast and about 1,500 feet lower than the Point.
Wildfires occur in the Olympic Mountains due to lightning strikes or sometimes smoldering underground fires from the previous year. The Book can’t tell you when and where but the Book’s introduction gives you some lifesaving strategies that may help you avoid a wildfire.
Winter is a very tough season. Extreme accumulations of snow are often followed by avalanches. The avalanches can create problems for you later during the hiking season. Even if it’s not an avalanche, it can be snow-melt runoff in the spring washing out trails, roads, bridges, campsites, foot logs or anything else that got in its way. Often avalanches roar down avalanche chutes. There are thousands of these chutes along any of the trails.
The picture above is an avalanche weighing 6,720 tons traveling at a speed of 30-40 mph. It can destroy anything in its path: things you might want to see or use during the hiking season. There are very few trails that don’t cross avalanche chutes in the forever restless Olympic Wilderness. The Book can’t keep up with the dynamic wilderness, but Loophikes.com will direct you to trail conditions in Olympic National Park via https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/wilderness-trail-conditions.htm. All the conditions are those recorded in the previous fall of each year.
Weather is a vacillating rascal. It’s always around, but in what configuration? Blistering heat on a long south or west-facing ridge is weather you might not need. About as bothersome as are three straight days of cold, fog and constant rain. Let’s not forget lightning storms.
Extended rainfall can make it difficult to cross creeks and even more so with fording rivers. “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” has numerous loop hikes that involve fording. Within the text, where fording is required, you’ll be cautioned about the danger at hand, resources for how to ford, the degree of stream flow and a common sense reminder that turning back from a fording always provides another chance to try it again when the weather-cards you’re dealt look a whole lot better.
The Book mentions what might happen and within that context it provides you information that may help you make the right choice. The Book can’t possibly keep up with the forever dynamic wilderness or at the same time managerial changes regarding access within the wilderness.
The Book lends the opening pages to introducing you to the Olympic Wilderness and the resources—mental and physical that, if attended to, give you a reasonable chance of success. Remember to match your abilities, best you can, to the challenges you’ll face.
All of the past articles beginning with March are accessible. Click here to visit the Archive page. Additionally, if you’re interested in what’s coming next, here they are:
July 15: “How Difficult are the Loop Hikes?”
August 1: “The Advantages of Fall Hiking”
August 15: “The Last of Summer Hikes”
Visit LoopHikes.com frequently. Photos, information and stories change periodically, but sharing information with you comes first. Questions? Contact me at LoopHikes@olympus.net. Your curiosity is the foundation of building a better understanding. Tell your friends.
The book is coming in August 2023
Many of you have questions about the book, and about the bi-monthly elements of the website. Many people have written to me @ LoopHikes@olympus.net. If you have any questions; please share them with me. If you haven’t shared “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” with your family and friends; please do so.