{"id":8067,"date":"2019-12-12T17:41:49","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T01:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/larryeifert.com\/?page_id=8067"},"modified":"2021-07-06T09:41:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T16:41:43","slug":"2018-grand-valley-olympic-national-park","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/hiking-journals\/2018-grand-valley-olympic-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 Grand Valley Olympic National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Solo backpack to Grand Valley and Grand Pass<\/h4>\n

July 17, 2018<\/p>\n

Backpacking solo, not Nancy’s favorite activity for me, but its certainly mine. 70 years ago, I first spent a night in my own tent and slept in jammies with the owls overhead. It stuck.<\/p>\n

This hike started high, 6125′ at the Obstruction Point Trailhead, north side of Olympic National Park. Directions to trailhead: from Port Angeles, drive 17 miles to Hurricane Ridge, then turn left and drive 8 miles east to Obstruction Point trailhead. You enter Olympic National Park at mile 5 on the Hurricane Ridge Road. From the trailhead, it’s a glorious ridge walk , and then the trail plunges down into Grand Valley where it passes a chain of lakes. I pitched my tent at Moose Lake, 5045′, the middle of three stairstep lakes. I had been here a decade before with Nancy, but this time I endured trail- loneliness without her, but a heightened sense of awareness I only find with solitude, a spiritual pleasure unmatched when other hikers are with me.<\/p>\n

Mouse over photos for captions. Click for slideshow.<\/em><\/p>\n