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Mt. Ellinor
Mt. Skokomish Wilderness
July 21, 2002
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Lake Ellinor from Mt. Ellinor © Ken James McLeod
The trail was steep, very steep in fact and rose from 3,500 feet to 5,944 feet in a scant 2 miles. And today, the temperature near 90 was one hot son-of-a-gun, especially the upper exposed area of the trail - no shade!
In a few short hours we topped out upon the mountain summit where we met a few other people already there. Conversation was great! Near, on the next little pinnacle were a few mountain goats that offered up their picture for the camera waiting. But not before my son Ken and I glissaded the small snowfield below the summit. The summit is quite airy with vertical hazardous terrain - watch your step, but is an easy scramble for hundreds of people on a given weekend. Heading back down later was no exception. There was however, more dogs accompanying people on the trail than I have ever seen on a hike or climb.
The views are extraordinary to say the least; Mount Washington and Pershing nearby with straight down virtigo views of Lake Cushman at 733 feet, Hood Canal and Puget Sound, as well as Lake Ellinor at 4,000 feet elevation below........
for other photos of this trek see:
KJM
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