On Sunday my dad and I ambled around the Olympics, taking time to hike the Church Creek Trail #871 to Upper Satsop Lake and beyond. The trailhead can be accessed two ways, via Montesano (Lake Wynoochee) or Mohrweis, WA (South Fork of the Skokomish River). We struck trail on the Skokomish side, off of FR 2361-600 and the following directions will detail this route to the trailhead. Directions: From Hoodsport, travel US Highway 101 south to a bridge crossing the Skokomish River. At 0.6 mile beyond the bridge, turn right ono West Skokomish Valley Road. Follow West Skokomish Valley Road to the town of Mohrweis and at 5.5 miles, branch uphill to the right onto FR 23. Follow FR 23 as it winds through a recent clear-cut. The road alternates between being paved and gravel. Travel 13.2 miles on FR 23 to a fork. Keep right onto FR 2361 marked by a small sign on the right near the beginning of the road. Follow FR 2361, a smooth gravel road for 3.5 miles where FR 2361-600 branches uphill to the left. Follow FR 2361-600, also graveled, 2.0 miles to a sharp switch-back in the road and the signed trailhead at 1,500 feet elevation. The Hike: The scenery along the first part of the trail is, for the most part, comprised of old-growth hemlock with periodic views of Church Creek splashing through a canyon below. The trail has recently been worked on by the Olympia Mountaineers and is in good condition, following multiple switch-backs and crossing minor tributary streams, to a junction with a destroyed logging road. Stay right and hike the abandoned road as it rounds a rocky outcropping and passes a small tarn on the right. Look for the continuation of the trail after about a quarter of a mile on the left just before a large mound of dirt across the road. From here, the path continues to parallel the old road before again turning uphill in a series of switch-backs. Reach an unnamed pass at an elevation of 3,150 feet at 2.0 miles. Just beyond the pass we encountered snow covering the trail which seemed to be a foot or two in depth. This snowy section perhaps only lasted a hundred feet or so, for soon we were back on the path as it traversed the opposite side of the divide and descended downhill. Large old-growth fir becomes prominent as the path drops beside a creek which cascades into the valley below. The trail is a bit overgrown in places from the pass to Upper Satsop Lake at 3.2 miles, elevation 2,195 feet, but route finding proved not that big of a challenge. The lake is a fraction of its previous size according to a local rancher who hiked in from the other trailhead along with his three dogs to fish and who has been visiting the lake for over 10 years. It is evident where the water level once stood as the old lakeshore has been taken over with low lying shrubbery and grass. The trail will deposit you along the northern side of the lake where we spotted various creatures including frogs, salamanders and snakes. Travel along the lakeshore and pick up the path further along in the grass above the lake near a gravel bar. From here the well used path travels a mere 0.3 mile to its terminus at FR 2372, elevation 2,300 feet. Notes: The weather held for the entire hike remaining cloudy with periodic sun breaks. I was able to complete the hike wearing a t-shirt and gore-tex pants with the occasional application of a cotton sweatshirt. The trail, primarily the portion extending from the pass to the lake, needs work, as it was a little overgrown in places especially near the lake itself. There were numerous large blow downs which also needed to be negotiated. Making the route more distinguishable and erecting signs at the old road crossing would also be helpful. There were no other vehicles at the trailhead upon arrival and one other vehicle upon departure belonging to writer Craig Romano, co-author of ""Best Wildflower Hikes Washington"" and ""Best Hikes With Dogs: Inland Northwest,"" who took photographs of me and my dad at the lake to possibly use in his next book slated for release in February. For trail maps, check out the Green Trails Maps numbers 198 and 199.

A small group of us decided to explore a couple of the more obscure trails in the Olympics this past weekend. One of those was Church Creek, which traverses a portion of the Chapel Peak Unroaded Area. Alas, this area has not been inventoried by the Forest Service like the neighboring Upper Skokomish Roadless Area, and consequently will not be protected after the President's current roadless plan is completed. By all means then, come visit this place and advocate for it. We set forth at the eastern trailhead in the Skokomish watershed. The 600 spur of road 2361 that leads to this trailhead looks as if it has not been maintained in several years. The left turn-off is easy to miss. If you see the Church Creek Shelter trailhead on the right side of the road, you've come about one-quarter mile too far. Alder is beginning to crowd out the 600 spur, and several large rocks are about. My little sedan made it 1.5 mile up this road and stopped where a semi-repaired washout was too steep to get past. A 4WD could probably make it the entire 2 miles to the trailhead, though. The best bet, it would seem, would be for the Forest Service to convert this stretch in its entirety to trail, and have hikers access it from the main 2361 road. True trail begins at the first switchback of the road. A partially hidden sign is present to reassure that one is in the right place. The trail immediately plunges into gorgeous ancient forest, with a nice diversity of tree species as it transitions from lowland to montane. Monster Douglas-firs and western hemlocks tower above, complemented by western red cedar, Pacific silver fir, and later Alaska Cedar. The beauty is in marked contrast to the opposite slope of the valley, however, where the trees have been clearcut all the way to the Church Creek streambed (a tragedy). Switchbacks then take one out of the valley bottom and over a pass into the Wynoochee watershed, near Chapel Peak. The trail's tread has seen some fairly recent work over much of its length, though downed trees from the winter must periodically be climbed over or crawled under. The trail is also quite steep in places. En route during the initial ascent, it crosses a closed road that has been re-contoured to better resemble the natural slope. This work also appears to have been done fairly recently, as the old road bed is still devoid of any vegetation. Although crossing even a closed road can be a bit of a letdown, the Forest Service should be applauded for obliterating it, and should be encouraged to do the same elsewhere. Upon reaching it, one should follow the roadway to the right for approximately 75 yards, then pick up true trail again off to the left. Cairns mark the way. The descent from the relatively low pass (3150') goes by a pretty waterfall and journeys past more big trees, eventually reaching upper Satsop Lake, a salamander paradise. No one else was around, despite the lake being a mere .3 mile from the western trailhead. The sun was hot, so we went for a nice swim in the chilly water. The surrounding landscape of this area reminded of the Three Lakes region of Olympic National Park. After a pleasant lunch, we hopped back up and over the roughly four miles to our resting vehicles.