HIKE WITH THE
MARMOTS OF MARMOT PASS CRAIG ROMANO | GUEST WRITER
One of the most popular hikes in the Olympic Mountains, it’s not difficult to see why. The trail to Marmot Pass traverses stately primeval forest; follows alongside a tumbling pristine river; meanders through resplendent alpine meadows; and crests a high mountain pass providing horizon-spanning views from Puget Sound to some of the Olympic Mountain’s craggiest and most aspiring peaks. And the pass is home to Olympic marmots, Washington’s state endemic animal and one of nature’s most whimsical and adorable critters.
Perhaps it’s the name "marmot" that first gets people interested in this high pass in the northeastern corner of the Olympic Mountains. A cat-sized rodent in the squirrel family, these social animals are adorable and fun to watch. There are 15 species of marmots in the world with the woodchuck thanks to his Groundhog holiday being the most famous of them. Here in the Pacific Northwest there are no woodchucks, but we have four other species of marmots that call the region home. Two of them, the Vancouver Island marmot and the Olympic marmot are found nowhere else in the world. They originated after the recession of the last Ice age becoming isolated populations on Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula. Aside from their geographical stomping grounds, there are some differences between the Olympic marmot and the hoary marmot which populates Washington’s Cascades and British Columbia and Alaska’s mountain ranges. The Olympic marmot is the largest of North America’s six marmot species. They also differ in fur coat color, vocalization patterns and chromosome numbers (having 40 instead of 42) from their relatives on Vancouver Island and the mainland mountains. In 2009 Washington declared the Olympic Marmot the state’s official endemic animal. If you hike in the Olympics and see a marmot, it’s the Olympic marmot as it’s the only marmot species occupying these mountains. Marmot Pass however is not the best place to see marmots in the Olympics as the population there is small and more reclusive. Hurricane Ridge and Grand Ridge tend to deliver solid marmot observations. But if you get to Marmot Pass early in the morning or later in the evening on a day devoid of crowds (think weekdays and overcast days) you just might get to watch a few of these whimsical rodents.
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