PORT ANGELES — Stranded Hurricane Ridge visitors were led out of Olympic National Park on Friday after an avalanche was cleared from Hurricane Ridge Road.
Olympic National Park closed Hurricane Ridge Road at the Heart o’ the Hills entrance station as of 12:40 p.m. Friday for the avalanche, which park officials said covered the roadway.
At 3:45 p.m., crews reported that they had enough of the roadway open to allow vehicles to come down from Hurricane Ridge.
Park spokesman Jared Low said crews estimated the avalanche at milepost 13 to be about 40 feet wide across the roadway and 20 feet deep.
Milepost 13, said Low, is above the treeline and the tunnels going to Hurricane Ridge.
He said the park estimated 38 cars were at Hurricane Ridge before the avalanche.
The park’s lodge building was open and stranded visitors had access to water, warm shelter and bathrooms.
