The Lake Angeles and Heather Park trails form an 11.7 mile loop across Klahhane Ridge in Olympic National Park. This challenging route climbs over 4100' in just 4.9 miles to the ridge, where it undulates along the spine with spectacular views that stretch across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, northern Cascades and Olympic Mountains.

Differentials in weathering resistance of the rocks comprising Mount Angeles have produced distinct flutes and ribs of volcanic breccia and red shale, which give the massif its unique color and texture

The trail clears treeline and levels across the vertical headwall of Lake Angeles with a great look at its distinguished island (4,282')

Olympic rocks began thrust-faulting and folding about 45M years ago, and continue to rise at about the same rate at which they're eroded

Mount Baker (10,781'), which stands out prominently from many points on the loop, set a US snowfall record in the '98-'99 season with 1140 inches

Basalts of the Crescent Formation form a horseshoe-shaped series of ridges and peaks along the northern, eastern and southern peripheries of the Olympics

The Heather Park Trail scales a steep chute to a saddle (5,838') between Mount Angeles and Second Top with a great look over the South For Little River Valley

Large snowfields often linger on Klahhane Ridge and sheltered segments of the Heather Park Trail well into July

Habituated mountain goats are common along Klahhane Ridge, and with little room to maneuver around them, you may just have to wait until they pass

During the last ice age the westernmost ice sheet hit the Olympic Mountains and split, with one lobe flowing out the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the other through the Puget Sound

Graded beds in Mount Angeles indicate that lava fields on the massif have been tilted and tipped over from their original horizontal position

Plants of the alpine tundra have adapted to this extreme environment by growing low to the ground, having small waxy or hairy leaves to conserve energy, and growing comparatively large bulbs or tap roots to store energy

Mountain goats are not considered true goats; instead they're more accurately classified as goat-antelopes

One final push above the headwall of Lake Angeles levels across alpine meadows up to Klahhane Ridge

Approximately 20 - 10 M years ago the sedimentary seafloor thrust upward, creating an eastward plunging arch which contributed to the uplift of the Olympic Mountains

The loop runs 1.1 miles along the ridge spine with intervals of steep undulations and mild grades across alpine slopes and meadows

A 2009 study of Olympic National Park glaciers counted 184 glaciers, compared to 266 in 1982

Narrow, exposed sections of the Heather Park Trail can be impassable with snow cover

Panoramic views stretch across the Morse Creek Valley with a clear look at Mount Olympus

The Heather Park Trail runs directly below the fluted summit of Mount Angeles (6,454')

The meadows of Heather Park are well know for prolific July blooms