Backpackin4ever: 42 MILES 4 PASSES in 3 DAYS: Day 4

Looking southwest from Hurricane Ridge at Mt Olympus

Day 3, I slept in an extra hour as I was sleeping well!! Which I'm not always able to do while backpacking. With already 26 tiring miles behind my belt sleep came alot easier!
Last night at bedtime it rained. It was the only time on the trip it rainded. I was under cover for the night so the rain didn't dampen the night! The weather for the whole trip was lovely, partly cloudy with temps in the high seventies in the mountains!!
Breakfast was quick with no stove. Only three energy bars. After sleeping in I was an hour past my scheduled trail start time.
Leaving camp the skies were clear again and my camp friends, the retired couple, had already left. I had my longest mile trek in front of me, 16 miles!!!

South basin of Grand Pass

Once again my first task in front of me was hiking up a pass. 6,400 ft tall Grand Pass, with 2,300 feet to gain from camp. I didn't plan this as I planned a 4 day trip but was excited it workout this way! My first post, Day One, talks about why 4 days turned into 3 days. Gaining elevation the first part of the day is key, if you can, to long milage days.
Grand pass is mostly straight up with a small amount of switchbacks. Once up in the south basin wildflowers dominated with what seemed like a large marmot community. Piles of freshly cut herbaceous plants were nicely placed at the entrance of almost every marmot hole. Winter is coming!! No laziness here!!! I could definitely take some pointers!
Once on top of Grand Pass I passed my first fellow hikers of the day with many to come! 20 plus hikers were scene on my last day. 15 of them in Grand Valley alone which is not surprising.

Grand Pass looking north

Grand valley is popular for several reasons. Its not far from Port Angeles, only 3.5 miles from the trailhead to the valley and hosts three lakes. I enjoyed the area so much on only a hike through that a month after this trek a friend and I spent a night in the valley. Which will be the topic of my next post!
The valley is almost pristine with Human activity evident throughout. Hence the reason why special wilderness permits are needed for overnight stay. Three lakes lay within the valley. Lake Gladys, Moose Lake and Grand Lake. If your staying the night them pick Lake Gladys for solitude.
I quickly hiked through the area! I finally saw my first large mammal, a deer. I was hoping for some bear or elk but nothing on this trip.
From the top of Grand Pass the trail was all downhill until I met up with Badger valley. No badgers either!! The upper section of badger valley boasts of beautiful meadows and like most of the Olympics, marmots can be seen.
At this point of the day I was starting to get very tired from my feet to my shoulders. My right shoulder which I had strained the day before was aching and my feet were very painful when I was off my feet. This made me push harder as hiking actually was less painful compared to resting on my hinnie or on foot!
I veered off Badger Valley trail to the cutoff trail that connects to the Hurricane Ridge trail. Again this was almost straight up. I felt like I could count the number of total switchbacks on two pair of hands for the whole trip!!

Looking down into Grand Valley with its lakes

After reaching the top of Hurricane Ridge it was all worth it!! With the Strait of Juan de Fuca straight to my north and the entire Olympic national park to the south. Snack time!! My favorite, green sour apple gummies!!
There's absolutely nothing like ridge hiking. The views always end up slowing me down and that's not a bad thing.
The sun was setting as low clouds were rising up through grand valley. The Strait and Port Angeles were already covered. Every 10 minutes the clouds moved higher as I hiked lower. At a moments notice we crossed paths as I suddenly laide in its misty swath! Soon I would be at my car, hoping and praying it would start!
The trek was over! It seemed so long and too short at the same time. My car started up and soon enough I was singing to the same song I on the drive up to the trailhead two days ago!!