Val-Di-Ree: 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.