WINDWARD OLYMPICS

The western and southern slopes of the Olympic Mountains 
constitute the windward side because the prevailing winds 
at this latitude in the northern hemisphere come from the 
west and southwest. Accordingly, the windward side stands 
as a barrier, which receives the full effect of the storms 
that sweep inland from the North Pacific. Most of the 
storms occur during the winter and spring, and when they 
travel inland the marine air masses become unstable, 
because they are warmer than the land over which they move. 
The result is raininess, overcast skies, and high humidity. 
As a consequence, the western and southern slopes of the 
Olympics are deluged by the heaviest precipitation in the 
conterminous United States—estimated to vary from 140 to 
200 inches annually, with still greater amounts occurring 
in the wettest years. However, on the fringes of the 
windward belt, where this district blends into the leeward 
zone, the precipitation is, of course, lighter, although it 
probably exceeds 100 inches.

At the lower elevations most of the moisture falls in the 
form of rain, and this has led to the development of the 
famous rain forests in the lowland valleys; but at the 
higher altitudes, the bulk of the precipitation occurs as 
snow, which piles up to great depths. On the loftier peaks, 
such as Mount Olympus, more snow falls than can melt during 
the succeeding summer, and this has resulted in the 
formation of glaciers at an exceptionally low elevation for 
this latitude.

The trails in the Windward Olympics are located farther 
from the centers of population; therefore they are not so 
readily accessible or so well known as the ones in the 
Leeward Olympics—at least to most residents of western 
Washington. They also suffer from the stormier, poorer 
weather, which makes them less attractive—from that 
standpoint—than the trails in the Leeward Olympics. The 
bulk of the trails are in the national park. The few that 
are located in the national forest are chiefly fragments of 
a once extensive network that has been greatly diminished 
by the heavy emphasis on logging during the past quarter 
century.

Because the southern and western slopes of the Olympics are 
less precipitous than the northern and eastern sides, the 
Windward Olympics comprise approximately 60 percent of the 
area covered by the mountains. However, they have fewer 
trails and less trail mileage. With the exception of Mount 
Olympus, the Windward Olympics are also lower than the 
Leeward; thus the bulk of the high country is to be found 
in the latter section.