Obstruction Point to Dosewallips River, July 23-26, 2013

On Tuesday, Katy and I dropped my car off at the Dosewallips trailhead near Quilcene, then Katy drove me through Port Angeles, up to Hurricane Ridge and dropped me off at the end of the road to Obstruction Point. In the next three days, I hiked thirty miles, crossed three passes with 5,000 feet elevation gain, and ended up back at my car on the Dosewallips.

The weather was perfect, my legs were game, and the scenery was awesome. I felt like I was in the cathedral of the Olympic mountains. As Jacob said when he woke up in the wilderness, "This is none other than the house of God."

(Click on the photos for a larger version)

Katy dropped me off at the PJ Lake trailhead. I had to walk the rest of the four miles out the road to Obstruction Point because it wasn't open for traffic yet. I started hiking at 7:30 pm, but the sun was still shining on the high ridges where I was hiking.

 This marmot was chasing its mate on the road when it saw me and stood stock still. He looks like he's challenging me. "Who dares tread this road?"

The Obstruction Point road winds along the top of one of the highest ridges in the Olympics. As I hiked, I watched the sun go down on the high peaks. I got to the end of the road just as dark was falling, about 9:15 pm.

Alpenglow.

I camped in the middle of the ridge. It was really cold up so high! I wore everything I had and still woke up chilled. In the morning, I sat in my sleeping bag and watched the sun rise on Mount Olympus.

 By 6:45 I was hiking. I dropped down into Grand Valley and passed Moose Lake. This has got to be one of the prettiest lakes I've ever seen. A long meadow coming right down to the lake, all in a beautiful valley with mountains on either side.

Just above Moose Lake.

 Just above Moose Lake, the trail ascends these huge stone steps. I imagined gnarly dwarves wrestling the stones into place, even though I know it was just one tough trail crew. A nice piece of wilderness engineering.

I hiked into the upper basin of Grand Valley where the trail goes over Grand Pass. There were a couple of snow patches to cross. At the top I met a young couple from Switzerland. I asked them if the Alps look like this. "There's a lot more people there," they said. "And on every mountain top there's a restaurant with a tram."

The trail from Grand Pass plunges down the other side in a breakneck fashion. It hurtles down a huge meadow, then screams down an avalanche chute and continues its fall through the timber to Cameron Creek. My thighs were burning when I got to the bottom, but I couldn't rest long because the flies were ferocious.

I continued up Cameron Creek, getting higher and higher until finally reaching this beautiful meadow in Cameron Basin. What a gorgeous place.

I was quite fatigued, so I sat in a breezy place and tried to pretend the bugs weren't eating me alive.

If you look closely, you can see mosquitoes on my hat and my face.

Looking up at Cameron Pass as the sun is going down. The trail goes over the ridge on the skyline.

My camp in Cameron Basin.

I resorted to a headnet to defend myself against the swarms of mosquitoes. Made me wish I had a tent, like the two guys camping nearby. But when the sun went down, it cooled off considerably and the bugs disappeared. I slept well.

In the morning, I was on the way by 7 am. I climbed high into the bowl and looked back down on the beautiful scene below me. The stream of melting snow meandered through the meadow as the sun stretched across the valley.

Near the top of the pass I had no choice but to cross a large snowfield. I wished I had an iceaxe to arrest myself if I fell. Luckily there were footsteps in the snow from those who had gone before, and I slowly made my way to the top.

On top of Cameron Pass!

The view was great as I looked north to Mt. Anderson and Eel Glacier, saw Lost Pass ahead of me, and Lost River at my feet.

Mount Anderson and Eel Glacier.

From there, the trail goes steeply down, then sidehills along until it crosses Lost Pass. Beautiful flowers here.

Then once again the trail plunged downhill to the Dosewallips River. Oh, my aching thighs. Finally reached Dose Meadows. Took a break but the bugs were still thick so I headed for Bear Camp, a mile downstream.

At Bear Camp I found a breezy spot overlooking this meadow. No bugs! I gratefully ate my lunch and took an hour long nap. What a relief.

This recently constructed shelter at Bear Camp was expertly made. Beautiful craftsmanship.

From Bear Camp I made my way downstream to Deception Camp. The Dosewallips Trail is much higher quality and it was like a dream to stroll down its wide, gently sloping tread. I arrived at Deception Camp at 4 pm, where a horse packing team was unloading supplies for twelve noisy young people on a NOLS course. In due time they all left and I had the place to myself. I was weary, so I took care of camp chores, made dinner and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I was off by 7:15, hiking easily down the Dosewallips River Trail. It was smooth hiking, just a delight. Played tag with a young couple who had been up at Thousand Acre Meadows. Just kept walking until I reached the Dosewallips Ranger Station and had lunch. Only five easy miles down the road to the trailhead where my car was waiting. Thirteen miles today, but all downhill.

Waterfall along the Dosewallips trail.

 I love Olympic National Park!

The lower Dosewallips River, at the washout just before the trailhead.

Lake Constance July 13, 2103

On my day off, I hiked to Lake Constance. Make that scrambled to Lake Constance. The guidebook says, "The elevation gain is insane: 3300 feet in 2 miles. To those prepared and skilled, this hike can be rewarding; to others it can be dangerous."

Notice the sign doesn't say "Trail" -- instead it says, "Route." That's because there's no way you can call this a trail. It just goes straight up the mountainside, over roots and rocks without mercy. In order to get to this sign, I had to walk 4 miles on the Dosewallips Road -- an additional 600 feet elevation. So I did about 12 miles and 4,000 vertical feet

At the start of the hike.

 

I left home at 6:15 and got to the trailhead by 7:30. I whipped out the first four miles by 9:00, arriving at the trailhead just in time to see three hikers looking up at a spotted owl.

Spotted owl

 

 

The lower part of the trail was burned over last year. Only the largest trees survived, because of their thick bark.

You call this a trail??

The trail went straight up the mountain. Mu pattern was to hike for thirty minutes and rest for ten. In the upper sections, there were several sections where it was necessary to climb up using roots for handholds.

Finally at 12:45 I was rewarded with this view of the Lake. It's a deep emerald green, just beautiful. The clouds were blowing around the cliffs above. I collapsed and sat against a tree to eat lunch.

Lake Constance

 I had Landjaeger sausage, Jarlesberg swiss cheese, Ritz crackers, and trail mix.

Just as I finished lunch, it began to rain. Rain!! I had no idea is was going to rain. I started down the mountain, slipping and sliding over the wet rocks.

I left the lake at 1:15, got down to the road at 3:00. By this time I was pretty well soaked, so I just kept walking until I got back to the car. Arrived at the car at 4:15.

 

Soaked from sweat inside and rain outside.

Dosewallips Hike July 2-4, 2013

Taking advantage of the Fourth of July holiday, I hiked up the Dosewallips River to Anderson Pass, a total of 32 miles round trip with an elevation gain of nearly 4000 feet.

(Click on the photos to see a larger version)

Looking back down the Dosewallips watershed from Anderson Pass

I started Tuesday night after work, driving to the end of the road on Dosewallips River. This road used to go 5.5 miles further, to the Dosewallips Campground, but after the river eroded the bank and washed out the road, it's been necessary to hike the 5.5 miles.

I brought my son's mountain bike, thinking it would make the downhill section of the trip on the old road grade much faster. I ended up pushing it up the road the entire way! I briefly tried to ride it, but my left knee experienced sharp pains, so I gave that up. I humped right up the road as darkness fell, and arrived at the old campground at 9 pm, just in time to set up camp and make dinner.

After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal I stashed the bike behind a big log and started hiking. There was considerable elevation gain, and the trail just kept going up and up. It was quite fatiguing, and I rested frequently. The trail goes through some beautiful stands of huge firs that are a pleasure to walk beneath. At Diamond Meadows Camp, I took an hour long lunch break and dozed a bit.

Crossing the river above Diamond Meadows

The last section up to Honeymoon meadows was steep and rough, with awesome views of avalanche chutes coming off Mt. Anderson. I kept at it and arrived at Honeymoon Meadows Camp at 2:30 and promptly crashed under a tree. I was exhausted. After a while I got the energy to poke around a bit. I found a way to cross the river (the foot log had disappeared), and walked up to the junction with the LaCrosse Pass Trail.There was a lot of snow and I couldn't find the trail. Maybe another time.

Resting at camp

I was so tired I fell asleep about 8 pm. Woke up at 5:30 am and had breakfast. A buck deer startled me by walking into my camp while I was making coffee on my Trangia alcohol stove. Started hiking up to Anderson Pass at 6:50.

In Honeymoon Meadows I saw two bears feeding high above me. I could only get one in the photo.

The upper section of the trail was steep but spectacular. I passed an old shelter and made it to the upper meadows at Anderson Pass at 8:00. A beautiful morning in the high country.

Anderson Pass Shelter

Mt. LaCrosse

The trail coming up to Anderson Pass

By 9 I was back at Honeymoon Meadows Camp. I took a break and started down the trail. It's a lot easier hiking downhill! 

Flowers beside the trail

These strange but beautiful rhyzomes were sprouting out of the earth.

At the Dose Forks bridge. Looking Tired.

By 3 pm I was back at Dosewallips Campground. I retrieved the bicycle and started down the hill. Surprisingly, some portions of the road were uphill and I had to push the bike UP them! One section descended so steeply I had to dismount and walk the bike down. 

Just below the campground are some amazing waterfalls. The whole Dosewallips river crashes over boulders right beside the old road.

I coasted merrily down the old road, greeting hikers with a breezy wave. By 4:15 I was back at the car, quite tired and glad to guzzle a bottle of water I'd stashed there.

End of the trip self-portrait. A happy hiker!

Here's a link to a Google Map of my trip.