Go to the Olympic Games – The Trek

My bus wouldn’t leave Port Angeles until 3:15 pm, so after leaving my motel, I had over four hours to kill. My first stop was Safeway, next stop was Shirley’s Cafe, then I walked to the pier to eat more and people watch. The bus left on time and dropped me off at Discovery Bay about an hour later. Instead of taking the Pacific Northwest Trail south on Highway 101, I took the alternative. I hiked until dusk and completed about nine miles before stopping at a small roadside clearing in the Olympic National Forest.

When I woke up the next morning, it wasn’t raining on my tent, but I could hear the rain in the surrounding forest. When I ventured outside, I discovered that a dense fog was condensing on the trees around me. Back at the PNT, climbing the east side of Mount Zion, I slowly emerged from the fog into the dappled sun. The rest of the day was sunny, but the air remained pleasantly cool. In mid-afternoon, at the Tubal Cain trailhead, a group of about ten people was returning from a Labor Day campground. When they found out I was doing the PNT, they gave me an apple, a plum, and a large cookie. Your generosity was the highlight of my day.

Change of plans

Getting a backcountry permit while hiking can be difficult: Talking to a ranger on the phone is a challenge, but getting to a ranger station is even more challenging. For Olympic National ParkGetting a permit is as easy as it sounds. TO “PNT through permission” The application form is available online and dispersed camping is permitted in most locations. There are only two minor restrictions.

• Two toll areas are effectively off-limits to camping.
• The remaining PNT is divided into seven zones to “enhance search and rescue efforts in the event of an emergency.” Hikers select the area where they will camp each night and there is a “stopover” option for nights outside the park.

Before applying, I calculated the dates and kilometers for the last two weeks of my walk and checked the tides for the last three days. That was five days ago and since then I noticed a coastal headland with a 2 foot tidal restriction. The low tide the morning I would be there would be 1.2 feet and I couldn’t shake the feeling that might be a problem. A westerly wind, ocean swell or even a low pressure system could make the headland impassable.

My permit had been approved the day before, but at the Tubal Cain trailhead I decided to deviate from my plan. I originally intended to camp nearby, but I kept moving. If I could get to shore a day earlier, the low tide would be almost a foot lower. (By the way, this is the best explanation of tides I’ve found.)

Moving forward

I camped a few kilometers later and completed the ascent in the morning. On the ridge approaching Marmot Pass, I enjoyed my first real views of the Olympic Mountains. About three miles after that, I entered Olympic National Park and soon began my second climb of the day. When I arrived at the Constance Pass, I discovered that the “pass” is actually just a saddle. There is no trail to the other side and in fact the PNT gains another 600 feet of elevation. The view from the top was stunning, but also quite blurry. I later discovered that the Bear Gulch Fire was burning about 15 miles to the south.

Around noon, I passed the campsite I had originally planned to stay at and continued the slow, steep descent. I turned right at the Dosewallips River and enjoyed a good trail and gradual ascent for the rest of the afternoon. By the time I pulled into the Deception Creek campground, I was already ahead of my allowable zone.

The highlight of the next day was Hayden Pass. The white-topped Mount Olympus stood out from its surroundings about 15 miles to the west and remained in view for an hour. That’s how long it took to traverse the mountainside scarred by a wildfire in 2016. It was the worst PNT section of the park: washed out in some places, swampy in others, blown down everywhere. I finally camped along the Elwha River, relatively early in the afternoon, but still earlier than planned.

Scale

All of my miles the next day were on the east bank of the Elwha, or not far from it. The trail descended downhill, through dense forest, to the Whiskey Bend trailhead. There I started walking down a dirt road that obviously hadn’t been used in a long time. The reason became clear about five kilometers later, as he looked at the remains of the Glines Canyon dam. Removal of the dam was completed in 2014 and the river washed out the road leading to the national park the following year. It was repaired, washed again in 2017 and has been closed since then. A mile beyond the dam, the ranger station and other buildings had an eerie, post-apocalyptic feel. I left the PNT and headed towards civilization.

The remains of the Glines Canyon dam.

There is a steep trail around the landslide and the trailhead parking lot on the other side was full. It was early afternoon and no one was driving back to town, so I kept walking. A couple of miles later, I reached Highway 101 with enough time to catch the bus to Port Angeles.

With my second to last resupply in the bear bin, I returned the next morning by bus. The two-mile hike to the trailhead didn’t take long, and two miles later, I was back at the haunted ranger station. I was also a day ahead of schedule. After crossing the Elwha, I began the climb, turned right, and left the river behind. The disused road became a newly maintained trail and the climb continued until reaching the Appleton Pass campsite.

Cat Toilet Alternative

Appleton Pass is just outside the northern boundary of the Seven Lakes Basin, one of the toll areas I mentioned earlier. Three of the sites were occupied, making it the busiest campground I stayed at within the park. It got a little busier at 11pm when two guys arrived, loudly discussing the merits of the latest iPhone as they looked for a spot. They were greeted with a chorus of disapproval as their headlight beams stopped at each store.

One of the latecomers snored for most of the night and showed no signs of stopping when I left. Instead of descending into the Seven Lakes Basin, I took an alternative ridge line that curves around the east side of the basin. Walking through a meadow about 20 minutes later, I saw two bear cubs less than 50 meters away. The furthest pup was the first to see me and ran for cover. The nearest puppy was resting, not quite reclining, with his back to me. He was worried about his hind legs, but when the first bear ran, bear number two stopped playing and looked around. He saw me, quickly turned around and chased after his brother.

FarOut’s comments had not exaggerated opinions. Mount Olympus, less than ten miles away, was a constant distraction. Meanwhile, most of the trail was rough and slow, which might explain why I only encountered one hiker. Once I met up with the PNT, the trail got pretty crowded for about five miles, but completely emptied once I left the toll area.

I camped a few kilometers further on, after descending to the Bogachiel River. There would be no more mountains. It was time to head to the coast.

Haigs Lake Peak, during the Cat Basin alternation. Mount Olympus in the background.