Hurricane Ridge July 1st 2017

[Stéphane Tran]

On July 1st, about 80 cyclists will be making their annual pilgrimage to Port Angeles and up Hurricane Ridge.
For those who have never done this before, this is a long alpine climb on the Olympic pensinsula (see "stats" below). If you ride regularly with Tripleshot and you are asking yourself "can I do this?", the answer is YES! It's not an easy ride, but it always seems to take less time and be more pleasant when riding with friends. BONUS: The sense of accomplishment/relief when you reach the summit is awesome, regardless of how long it took to get you there.

We take the 6:10 AM Coho Ferry leaving from the Belleville Street terminal, and most return on the 12:45 PM departure out of Port Angeles. The round-trip cost for 1 person and a bicycle is now $68.50 CDN.


Stats
Distance from the ferry terminal to the summit: 30km
Average grade: 5%
Highest elevation: 1603 metres
Time to complete: between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 hours for most experienced cyclists (sea level to summit).

Tips and recommendations:
There is a $10US fee to enter Olympic National Park.
Be at the terminal at least 30 minutes prior to departure.
I recommend buying a ticket beforehand if possible, there can be quite a line-up the day of.
The first 1/3 of the climb up to the park entrance is the steepest part.
I strongly recommend travel medical insurance. An uninsured trip to a clinic or hospital in the US can cost an arm and leg.
There are bathrooms and hot food at the summit.
There may be a car going up to the summit than can carry your extra stuff, but don't count on it.
You will need a valid passport to enter the US.
There is a burger joint by the Port Angeles ferry terminal. The food is pretty good, but the service can be slow.

[Greg F]

Thanks for the info Stephane! I'll see you there (for the first 100m anyway).

For info of all, you can reserve tickets online too.

Greg