Hiked clock-wise and descended into badger valley. Trekking poles were very helpful for steep sections. Stayed overnight at Grand Lake. Bugs were annoying. Hiked out the next morning to catch sunrise near the ridge-line. The trail was very well maintained - thank you trail crews! Some portions of the ridge have very steep drop offs, loose rock, and is very high up. Just a note for anyone who may be nervous about heights. But the views were GORGEOUS!

Did this loop clockwise with a one night stop at Moose Lake. Note that you need an Olympic National Park backcountry permit in order to camp anywhere on this trail.

The last Grand Valley trip report covers most of the important tricky bits on the trail so I will focus on the wildlife and flower sightings!

For birds, saw three separate Sooty Grouse families with chicks, two along Obstruction Point road and one on the trail. Other birds included the usual alpine forest inhabitants plus a few surprises. Grand, Moose, and Gladys lakes all supported populations of Yellow Warblers, Townsend's Warblers, and Warbling Vireos. In addition, there was a family of Spotted Sandpiper at Grand Lake, including three fledglings! We also saw adult and fledgling Chipping Sparrows in the meadow between Grand and Moose Lake. Vaux's Swifts were skimming Moose Lake in the morning and we saw one American Dipper fishing high in the creek by Gladys Lake. Hermit Thrushes and Olive-sided Flycatchers were both plentiful.

The three lakes are crawling with deer, and we also saw a couple of massive Olympic Marmots, chipmunks, and a Snowshoe Hare!

As for wildflowers, I think this was the most diverse trail for plant life in the northwest that I've ever visited! I couldn't begin to name all the varieties of wildflowers currently in bloom. And walking the loop gives you the opportunity to go through some different habitat types including wildflower meadows, woods, and lots of creek crossings. Some of my favorites were the massive fields of Columbia/tiger lilies, huge drifts of red columbine, gorgeous subalpine spirea, and some really cool water-loving plants like horned butterwort (a carnivorous plant and also really pretty to look at), shooting-star, and white bog orchid.

There were lots of butterflies out too. I believe my photo is of a snowberry checkerspot.

Lastly, the biting bugs are out in force so be ready to take precautions however you choose to do so, and still come out itchy in the end.

Enjoy!

I did this counter-clockwise, heading down to Grand Lake first and then returning up via Badger Valley. I also did it as a 2 day trip, with 1 night spent at Grand Lake, ascending Badger Valley the next morning.

The Obstruction Point road is in good condition, so no issues to report here.

On the trail to Grand Lake, there are a couple of small snow fields to cross along the ridge, but nothing dangerous.

The ridgeline section of the hike has amazing views of the interior of Olympic National Park, with a great views of Mount Olympus.

The hike down to Grand Lake was pleasant without many obstacles. The descent is on some loose-ish scree, so can be tricky for folks who feel less stable going down.

Since I was not in a hurry to get back to Obstruction Point, I also went up to see Moose Lake and Glady Lake on that first day.

Moose Lake was very pretty, with lots of opportunities to take in the lakes and the surrounding mountains.

The climb up to Glady Lake had some sections with water on the trail, so you might get muddy. The lake itself is smaller than Moose lake and not as deep, so it lacked that deep turquoise color that Grand and Moose lake have. It was still a tranquil spot to grab a snack and take in the views. There is a little out cropping into the lake that I took, but the path there was very marshy/muddy and got my shoes thoroughly wet.

No issues hiking back to Grand Lake, although there were a lot of bugs around the lake, which was not fun.

Hiking from Grand Lake to Badge valley, you descend for a few miles and there are some blow downs you have to navigate. There is a bigger one where I had to take off my pack and crawl under because I didn't see a better way to get around it.

There were 2 river crossings with log bridges on the descent. After the 2nd bridge crossing, you start a fairly steep climb up and the trail maintains a consistent climb from this point on.

You eventually get to a large meadow, with many wildflowers blooming. I would have lingered more but the bugs in this section were relentless, so I hurried out. Since I was doing this in the morning, they subsided when I got to shadier/cooler sections; I can't speak to how bad they are in the upper sections later in the day.

There was another large-ish blow down on this ascending section, but a trail around it has been cut in, giving you a way around it.

The climb is steep but manageable, and the views looking back down the valley were great. You pass by many what I can only assume are marmot burrows, and can spy a few marmots in the meadows as you climb.

When you effectively finish the climb and meet up with the trail that heads to Deer Park (if you take a right), you are faced with a bit of a sketchy snow field crossing when taking the left back to the Obstruction Point trail head. I took it slow and had my hiking poles with me to give me more balance, but it is a steep drop, should you slip, and can understand if this section gives folks pause. If this is concerning, perhaps give this hike a few weeks to allow for this section to melt.

It has been many years since I did this hike, so I was happy to return to it.

Beautiful view-laden loop route from Obstruction Point (closed from October through winter).   Going clockwise,  the trails goes down down down steeply from Obstruction Point into a beautiful forested valley,  then climbs again up to Grand Lake.   You can complete the loop in one day by taking the trail towards Lillian Ridge and back up to Obstruction.   We made it a two day hike,  camping overnight at Moose Lake, and enjoying a brisk dip in this lake surrounded by mountain peaks.   Our lovely large campsite was at the end of the lake.  Nice to camp at a lake and have no bugs- that's fall backpacking at its best!

4 day solo trip on the "Grand Loop" in Olympic National Park.

Hiked Clockwise.

~42 miles & ~13,000'

Itinerary:

• Park at Deer Park
• Night 1 @ Falls Camp via Three Forks and Grey Wolf River
• Night 2 @ Bear Camp via Grey Wolf Pass and Dosewallips River
• Night 3 @ Gladys Lake via Lost Pass, Cameron Pass, and Grand Pass
• Return to Deer Park via Grand Loop (taking the "middle route" via Moose & almost Grand Lake), Lillian Ridge, Obstruction Point, Grand Ridge, Elk Mountain, Maiden Peak, & Roaring Winds Campground

TL;DR - Main Takeaways:

• Gorgeous loop with MANY mountain views, varied ecosystems, and wildlife
• Very challenging loop with a tough 11 mile water carry (Grand Lake to Deer Park)
• Water was never an issues elsewhere
• The trails just go straight up the mountain in many places, not too many switchbacks, leading to extremely steep trails (like mini Aasgard Passes), but only one short area I needed to use hands (poles for rest)
• Sun just feels hotter out in this park and on these ridges - idk how to explain it - got heat exhaustion for the first time ever while hiking on Day 3 when doing Lost, Cameron, & Grand Passes. Plan accordingly.
• Lower use than others in park, I saw someone or a group about once per hour.
• Highly recommend Trekking Poles (2 of them!) - some decent fall exposure in areas that could lead to broken bones, and in a couple locations death (North side of Cameron Pass & areas West and East of Roaring Winds Camp)
• Rock at peaks and ridges is very brittle and crumbly, like shale. Easy to slip on. I did.
• All river crossings either have bridges (though some without railings, poles help here) or are crossable without getting my trail runners wet.
• I saw 0 bears. Fortunate for some, unfortunate for others. Saw 0 bear evidence in Grey Wolf and Dosewallips drainages, saw an extremely fresh (hours old) nice big bear patty in Cameron Creek drainage.
• LOTS of Barred Owls, not many squirrels or chipmunks.
• Mosquitoes are nearly non-exisitant. I did have an issue with wasps. They were abundant and I got stung in Grey Wolf drainage as well as someone else I talked to. They were bad at Bear Camp but not an issue at Gladys Lake. I saw 5 wasp nests (either intact or destroyed on ground), I've never seen a single one before on any hike.
• Two trail crews working on Dosewallips and Cameron drainages.
• No blowdowns on the whole loop except going up to Grand Pass via Cameron creek, Lost Pass, and between Lost and Cameron Pass. No blowdowns were too bad, most you could step over.

Not Too Long; Did Read:

Day 1:

I arrived at Deer Park around 1 pm. Pretty late but getting there via ferry took longer than expected. Lots of parking in this campground. I got the last spot in the nearest lot, but there were plenty of spots elsewhere. The ranger station is currently open for another couple week and the volunteer ranger working there is very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. I talked to him for about half an hour after my hike.

The descent down to Three Forks is grueling. -3500'. I can only imagine how tough it would be to come up this. Kind of weird on the legs going down first not up. Saw some fresh coyote or bobcat scat on the descent, pretty cool. There is a campsite at the bottom with a really cool shelter and a new outhouse. Lots of wasp activity by the shelter. Crossing Cameron creek there is another campground another 0.25 miles on with a new outhouse.

Heading up Grey Wolf river the trail is great. Extremely dense and green forest here. As close as you'll get to the rainforest ecosystem this park is known for on this whole loop. As you gain elevation the mossy rainforest slowly opens up. In this area I got stung by a wasp. I hadn't seen anyone for a while, talked to two people heading down then immediately got stung a couple minutes later. I think some wasps made their nest near or under the trail and got stirred up by people coming thru right before me. Someone else at Falls Camp said he got stung as well. A nice woman gave me a sting relief wipe that helped since I didn't have one in my first aid kit. Thanks again!

I got into camp late, around 7 pm. Falls Camp was really nice but very crowded, overcrowded. I camped by an old burned up tent platform. From talking to people on trail and how loose many of them were with their itineraries, I think a lot of people camp out here without permits. FWIW I never saw a single ranger checking permits.

Over the night we had a bird making a whistling sound, like a low to high shriek. It did it all night long. It started when the sun went down and when I woke up at 4 am to use the restroom it was still doing it haha. I slept with earplugs so it didn't bother me but others complained about it in the morning. I cracked me up how persistent it was all night long.

Amazing stars! Could see the deep Milky Way!

Day 2:

Got going kinda late knowing it would be my "easy" day at <9 miles and only one pass to climb. Lots of cool bridges to cross out of camp. Up higher along the valley I saw something fly from one tree to another, it was a Barred Owl! It then stood up really tall and proper-like and let out that same low to high whistle from last night! So that closes the loop there on what bird was making it in camp last night, a Barred Owl. Pretty cool!

The climb up Grey Wolf isn't too bad. Casual then a switchback section before you come out of the forest into sub-alpine and the views open up. Some really nice meadows up there. Plenty of water I stopped at the top for lunch before heading down the reverse side. This side was more forested and looked like more of a grind to get up. I was glad I was heading down. There was some water on this south side but less than the other. Not much or any fall exposure on this pass, pretty chill.

Eventually you connect with the Dosewallips River trail. I was expecting this area to be forested but it was large dry meadows mostly. It reminded me of areas of the North Cascades. Little water here. As you get higher the trees come in a bit. I arrived at Bear Camp pretty early, around 4 pm. I kinda wished my permit was for the next camp up the river 1.7 miles to eat into my tough day the next day, but I was happy to be in camp not at 7 pm today. There is a shelter here, 3 tent spots, and an outhouse further up the trail (I didn't know about until leaving the next morning lol, there's no signage). There is river access and across the river (easily fordable without getting shoes wet) is a bear wire and more campspots. A trail crew was camped in these. I took a bath in the COLD river and washed my hiking clothes. When I got back to camp I saw ANOTHER (3rd!) Barred Owl sitting in a tree right next to my camp, watching me move about judgmentally before turning its turret of a head to watch the meadow. Pretty cool! It sat there for 2 hours before leaving (silently, I didn't notice it was just gone at some point). 2 more hours later I am scoping out a place to use the bathroom and I look behind the tree it was on and to my shock there was a dead rabbit with its head eaten off, ants all over it. Then out of nowhere that Owl swoops LOW over my head and lands in a nearby tree watching me, again judgmentally but this time with more aggressive vibes haha. I give it some sass and say "what you're just gonna eat the head and leave the rest?" and head back to my tent to go to climb in to read before bed. Another 30 minutes pass and it is getting dark and I see it swoop down and start eating (well it was behind the tree, but I could see the wings flapping to the side of the tree and lots of weird noises) the rabbit. I guess it, similar to a cat with the judgy-ness, also like to eat its meals in multiple sittings. It kinda kept me up past 10 pm since it was making weird noises. When I checked on the spot in them morning on my way out the rabbit (and all evidence of it) was completely gone!

Some cool scratchings on the shelter including some very old dates ('63 and '74). My favorite was "I was 0 bears in Bear Camp." Same.

Day 3:

Hiking up the Dosewallips was pretty casual, tho I had a bit of a fright. I got up early and on the trail by 7 am. Heading up I heard something crashing in the brush around a blind corner. I shouted out "Hey Bear!" and no response, more crashing. I shout it again, no response, more crashing. I come closer to the corner and shout it a third time and I head a shout back. Turns out it was just a trail member and I think he had his headphones in lol. They were clearing brush and logging out the trail, crew of 5 stretched out along it.

I used the outhouse at the camp right below the turn off to Lost Pass. The signage here was a bit confusing and I start heading up hill to the right through a meadow, see a nice marmot chilling on a boulder and realize after a 1/4 mile I went the wrong way. I head back to the junction, take the OTHER right up the hill and start the climb up to Lost Pass. This was a steep steep climb. Reminded me of Aasgard Pass, or like a "mini" one. It just goes straight up for a lot of the way. Tons of very active and talkative ravens once I reached the sub alpine. Less meadows here and more slate. Looking back out across the valley I could see Thousand Acre Meadow that a few people had been talking about and hyping up, saying if you have time head up there. It is to the East of Hayden Pass and boy did it live up to its name. It is a HUGE hanging meadow. Gorgeous. Wish I had more time up here to head up and explore it. I talked to someone who random camped up there and said it was fantastic. Everyone I talked to said they saw bears up there (including a mama with 2 cubs). That must be where the bears are now haha.

The rest of the climb was tough but not too bad. Definitely more fall exposure on this pass than on Grey Wolf, but nothing too dangerous. Took a short break at the meadowed top and continued on. The between Lost and Cameron Passes descends slightly into the Lost River basin, a gorgeous and green sub-alpine meadow with tons of water. Maybe one of the more beautiful valleys I hiked through this trip, alternating between meadows and forests. A few blowdowns here and there but all could be stepped over. A bit overgrown but easy to follow. The climb up to Cameron is very steep, like no switchbacks. Similar to Lost, exposure is not too bad. Once you get out of the sub-alpine and into the exposed alpine the views start to get crazy. You can see Mount Olympus for the first time on the loop (my first time seeing it!), gorgeous and impressive! The climb to the top of Cameron was tough especially after doing Lost, and about 500' vertical feet from the top the "bear jumped on my back" so to speak and I got pretty freaking tired. Pushed through and got to the top of the pass. The views from here are WILD. Gorgeous in every direction. I took a long break here for lunch, to let my feet dry out, tend to my blisters, and change to yesterday's (drier than today's) pair of socks. After about 30-40 min I started my descent down the North side of Cameron Pass. The trail here has MUCH more exposure as it descends zig-zagging down a spine of the mountain. I was a little gripped. You can still see snowfields here on the mountain (not on the trail) and you can tell the mountain is much steeper head due to heavier glacial carving. There is pretty high fall exposure here where a fall could lead to definitely broken bones if not death. There is one gully others have mentioned you have to cross. I did not find this to be the worst exposure of the path down, but it was a little sketch. A fall here would hurt but not be fatal. It's just a 5 or so foot deep gully you have to cross that has some steps cut into it. I didn't need to use hands, poles were fine, however about one step before I was ready to step to the base of the gully and climb out my lower pole slipped and I had to take a big step lol. I was fine but could have been worse for sure. Need to be more careful especially being solo. Hiking out of the gully was easy.

The trail quickly flattens out of the alpine scree and into meadows of Upper Cameron. Water is here and abundant. Views are immense and you can see Grand Pass and even the trail on it which is neat (and intimidating). Around this time I started realizing my footwork and pole placement was getting sloppy, things were not going on the ground quite where I wanted them. Maybe TMI but I was peeing clear on the way up Cameron, but after taking a long break in the sun on the top with my shirt off and drying out, and the descent, I was feeling a bit nauseous. At first I thought maybe it was an adrenaline letdown from that kinda gripped descent, but with my foot placement + nausea I realized I was pretty dehydrated. I went on to pee very very dark. I was shocked how I could get so dehydrated so quickly. I sat by the river and forced myself to drink water, but it was tough since I was nauseous. I wasn't sure if I was lacking electrolytes/salt, and the deep salt stains on my trekking poles and backpack straps only reinforced this thought. Eventually I started feeling a bit better and continued on, making sure I was forcing myself to drink as I descended down the Cameron drainage. I was TIRED though and the idea of going up Grand Pass today seemed nearly impossible. I was tempted to camp in the very beautiful Upper Cameron area, even knowing that would make my long day tomorrow even longer. But I just tried to break the hike into chunks: here to the bottom of Grand Pass, Grand Pass, and the top of Grand Pass to Gladys Lake. And then break those chunks into chunks. Just one chunk at a time, one step at a time.

There is one crossing of the headwaters of Cameron that is a bit of an ordeal to get through. The trail is pretty washed out plus it has blowdowns through it (or maybe avy debris) and the trail just kinda becomes the creek here for 50-100 feet or so. I was able to keep my trail runners mostly dry except I slipped once and dunked my toes. A little hard to follow the trail here but after two ins-and-out zig-zags into the river the trail reappears clearly. Descending down there is a 0.25 mile section I really did not like as a solo hiker. It was extremely overgrown by berry bushes, so very short visibility, with the river nearby so the noise you make is muffled out. Both times I have come around a blind turn and too-close face to face with a bear in my hiking career was in a section like this, short visibility, right next to a river. I shouted "Hey Bear!" periodically to make noise. I always feel kind of embarrassed doing this not in Grizzly country, but you gotta do what you gotta do when solo, and I was shortly vindicated. I came across a fresh and fat bear patty (less than a day old, poked it with my pole still soft) right after leaving that section. Then a 1/4 mile later I came across an extremely fresh (hours old) nice big pancake of a bear scat. No pole poke necessary for this one haha. Hiking on another 0.5 miles I heard a saw and quickly come across a trail crew logging the trail out. I'm sure if you're reading this with plans on going into or out of Upper Cameron, all the scary berry bushes and (hopefully!) the trail washout will be fixed! I reached the bottom of Grand Pass exhausted and intimidated by my work ahead. I checked the clock, it was 3 pm, great timing to do it in the peak heat of the day haha. I rested for a bit but a couple wasps kept trying to land on me and after my very direct Pavlovian conditioning on Day 1, I didn't want to deal with it so carried on up the trail.

The trail up to Grand Pass is tough. If hiking in the clockwise direction, I think it is the toughest of the 4 Passes (+ the climb out of Badger Valley), though it could have just felt that way since it was my last of the day. The switchbacks are very steep and eventually you come out of the forest into the sub-alpine but the trail goes perpendicular to the topo lines before reaching the large meadow. This meadow is gorgeous with tons of marmots and birds. Looking back at where you came from is pretty spectacular. There is a tarn in the upper meadow that is still mostly frozen. The trail ascents up the meadow and overall there isn't too much exposure except a bit towards the top, not bad though. By this point I was dead tired, running on fumes. The view from the top is excellent. I rested here for a bit but the day was getting on. The trail down from the pass is more exposed than the trail up but it quickly flattens out. By this point I was really nauseous again and I think feeling the affects of overexertion/dehydration or heat exhaustion. IDK what exactly or maybe all of the above. The last 1.5 miles into Gladys Lake were a trek. Felt like I was going to vomit, but tried not to since I knew that would dehydrate me more. I made it in late, around 6:30 pm. The camp was pretty full but I found a decent spot. Had a doe with two fawns come right through my camp! They were not scared of me at all. Saw another deer cross the lake. Gorgeous campsite.

Day 4:

I contemplated going to Obstruction Point via the Low Pass --> Lillian Ridge route but my camp neighbors said they came down from that route and it was sketchy scrambling. Instead I opted for the "middle route" since this would lead to the least elevation loss when compared to the route that goes further down Badger Valley before coming back up. There is a seasonal ranger station at Moose Lake which was pretty cool to see - it's like a yurt. Moose lake is really nice and pretty big, however I'd avoid the latrine here at all costs. It is maybe the grossest I've ever used. Its one of those ones they helicopter lift in and out. You have to climb up it but the place you put your feet on is too small to stand on, so good luck "hovering" lol. Also some idiot threw a ton of backpacking meal packages in there. Poor rangers. Lots of deer here that dgaf about you as a hiker. Like I followed along the trail and when it saw me it just stepped 5 ft off the trail, let me pass, then kept walking behind me. I got a selfie. The trail up to Lillian Ridge splits before Grand Lake and there are a couple rivers above on this trail. The first one on the map then another one higher before the tarn on the map. I filled up at the one on the map for the long 11 mile dry section back to my car. I was kinda nervous about this water carry. Going into today still feeling some of the affects of the dehydration yesterday and still feeling a bit dehydrated, with a long water carry over mostly sun exposed ridges, I felt like this could be a recipe for disaster. I only brought enough containers to carry 2.5L. I didn't think this would be enough, then I had the "genius" idea to use my smell-proof bag to carry water! I'll get to why genius is in quotes later. I dumped my remainder food and scraps out into my bear can and filled my OPSak up with about 1.5L and stuffed it in the front pocked of my backpack. It held the water great! Sweet now I had 4L of water and felt good (albeit heavy, weighed down with like 9 lbs of water).

Climbing up to Lillian Ridge was a slog but took a lot of breaks and it wasn't too bad. Exposure isn't too bad here. Last little bit is full exposed to the sun in skree. The views from the top are great, seeing Olympus and back out towards the lakes and Grand Valley. The hike along Lillian Ridge is fantastic. The views are immense! Lots of day hikers here. Trail is never too exposed and the ridge isn't too sharp. Lots of tarns, some with snowfields you can see below you. Obstruction Point is pretty barebones. A big parking lot with a bathroom and some signs and great views. No running water or water sources here. Heading toward the lot, I could see Elk Mountain and Hurricane Ridge and the trail cutting across the steep face of them. It looked intimidating to be honest. Departing from the lot, there are a lot less day hikers going this direction. You climb gradually across steep scree slopes. There is some exposure here in areas on some of the steeper slopes that a fall could lead to a broken bone. The trail is pretty narrow and the rock crumbly. This is all alpine so no trees, all scree and rocks. I saw a 4 or 5 point buck climb up the slope in front of me and over the col before Elk Mtn like it was flat ground. There is an observation point at this col I climbed up to. Views might not have been worth the effort, but I saw the buck about 100 m off scratching. I continued on up the trail only to see the buck later change its mind when it came back over the col, get scared and run down the slope into the tree. Lol silly deer. The trail eventually tops out around 6700' on Hurricane Ridge - which is kind of confusing given Hurricane Ridge is the name of the very popular lot further west of here - but I've also heard this area called Grand Ridge so maybe it is mislabeled on Gaia? The views from here are Amazing! Like probably best in the whole loop. You are the highest you've gotten in the whole loop and can see everything over ridgelines to the ridgeline behind it. Awesome!

By this point I had drank 2L and was not starting to drink my "bag water" and it was gross. It tasted really chemically, and I thought maybe the OPSak was treated with chemicals inside it or something. I tasted so bad it made me want to wretch. I was worried with another 5+ miles to go and not being able to drink that I only had 1/2 of a L left of "good" water. Fortunately about a mile later I ran into some day hikers who asked if I needed any water since they had a ton. I was able to get 1L from them. Thank you!

The trail mostly descends from here down to Roaring Winds camp. The trail here gets VERY steep and VERY exposed. Like a fall = death in some areas. I was pretty gripped. While descending my foot slipped and I landed on my butt and slid on the trail a bit before stopping. Scary and painful! But I got lucky it wasn't worse. The rock is so crumbly and loose here. The terrain getting down to Roaring Winds was steeper and more rugged than I had anticipated. I have to stow my poles in one section to climb down over a bolder with my hands. Roaring Winds is a gorgeous camp with a couple spots and views for days. Climbing out of Roaring Winds was more casual, but there is one rock spine you go through before Maiden that had some very high fall exposure. From Maiden on, the trail is much much more calm. Great views, even towards Puget Sound, and eventually you round the corner and can see Sequim and Port Angeles. Awesome view! You realize just how high you are up here! You enter a meadow area then a deep forest as you traverse Green Mountain. The trail is smooth and fast here. A last little climb up to the Deer Park area and a walk through the campgrounds (stop at the seasonal ranger station and say hi!) and I was back to the car!

What a fantastic trip! Gorgeous views with grueling days out on trail. Everything you can ask for in a multi-day!

Happy Trails!