Three of us did a 5-night, 57-mile hike to LaCrosse Basin with a tangent to Anderson Moraine.  We hiked up the old Dosewallips Rd, up the main fork Dosewallips Trail, up the West Fork Dosewallips Trail to Anderson Pass, up the Anderson Glacier spur trail to Anderson Moraine and Anderson Lake, down the E. Fork Quinault Trail to the junction with O'Neil Pass Trail, over O'Neil Pass to Marmot Lake, up the LaCrosse Basin Trail to Hart Lake, and out the Duckabush Trail.  

Trail conditions:

Dosewallips Trailhead to Anderson Pass:  Excellent.  Not a single log on the trail the whole way, and recently brushed out.  We owed our thanks to the ONP trail crew whom we met heading out as we were heading in.  They'd been working on restoration of the Siberia Camp shelter, a project still underway.

Anderson Glacier Trail:  Excellent.  One minor log on the trail, and recently brushed out.  The .7-mile trail from Anderson Pass is steep, but is well-graded for the most part.

E. Fork Quinault Trail from Anderson Pass to O'Neil Pass Trail:  Not bad.  Brushy in places, a couple of logs, and a couple of sketchy spots where the trail dips into stream gullies and the tread should be re-benched.

O'Neil Pass Trail: Okay.  About a dozen logs on the trail and a fair amount of brush.  There are several spots in the upper reaches where the tread is failing on steep scree slopes.

LaCrosse Basin Trail:  This is a steep, rough trail for the first half-mile till it tops out in the basin.  There was one log a couple hundred feet above Marmot Lake that was somewhat irksome to get past.  Once the trail tops out, the trails to Hart Lake and LaCrosse Lake were in fine shape.

Duckabush Trail to Upper Duckabush Camp:  There were only 5 logs in the 4-mile stretch between Marmot Lake and Upper Duckabush Camp.  But there was thick brush on much of the trail.

Duckabush Trail from Upper Duckabush Camp to ONP boundary:  This 10.5-mile stretch was in the worst condition of the whole route.  I counted 95 logs on the trail, about a dozen of which required some gymnastics to get past. There were many places where the brush was so thick you couldn't see the trail.  In the upper reaches, the brush was mostly salmonberry, but lower, around 10 Mile Camp, the trail was crowded by vine maple and Doug fir saplings.  There are several places where the trail seems to be at risk of disappearing completely.  About 3 miles west of 10 Mile Camp, near where Crazy Creek joins the Duckabush, a 30-ft section of trail has collapsed into the river gorge.  It's possible to work around this spot, but it's a bit sketchy and a remedy will require a few days' work by a trail crew.

About 2 miles west of 10 Mile Camp a pair of root balls blocks the trail, and a hard scramble above them is required.  Clearing this obstacle will be a big project.

Duckabush Trail from ONP boundary to trailhead:  This stretch was in good shape.  A bit of brush and a few logs, but pretty clear sailing past 5 Mile Camp.  There was one log on Big Hump and another just east of Little Hump, both easy step-overs.

Stream crossings:  As would be expected for this time of year, crossing streams wasn't a big challenge.  The two Duckabush crossings near Upper Duckabush Camp were rock-hops, as were all the other creeks.

Our trip: We left a car at Duckabush trailhead on Tuesday morning and drove to the Dosewallips trailhead.  Hiked 10.5 miles to Big Timber Camp, a roomy place with an intact bear wire and privy.  We saw no other hikers beyond Dose Campground, except for the ONP trail crew on their way out.  The skies were clear, and we saw no haze from the Bear Gulch fire.  There were plenty of ripe berries along the way.

On Wednesday we hiked 7 miles to Anderson Moraine.  Stopped at Siberia Camp for lunch and were impressed with the amount of work going into restoring the shelter.  The structural timbers are all in place, and a new shake roof has been started.  A member of the trail crew told us it should be done in a few more weeks.  Siberia Camp has a bear wire and privy, but no water source, as the creek near the shelter was dry.

When we reached Anderson Pass, we considered camping there, as there are several campsites scattered around the pass, and a shallow frog pond that would suffice for water.  But we decided to make the .7-mile, 500-ft climb to the lovely tarn below the Anderson Moraine, which is a far more scenic spot.  A bear can is essential here.  After making camp, we climbed to the top of the moraine for a good view of Anderson Lake and Mt Anderson, and then descended to Anderson Lake for a dip.  There was some smoke haze, but we still had good views of the spectacular terrain.  

On Thursday we descended to Anderson Pass, then dropped down the E. Fork Quinault Trail to the junction with O'Neil Pass Trail.  Smoke haze filled the E. Fork Quinault Valley.  We then made the long, fairly gradual, climb to O'Neil Pass.  The trail passes through a number of meadows, which we scanned for bears, but had no luck.  The east side of the pass had grand but hazy views of Mt Duckabush, Mt Steel, Mt LaCrosse, and the Duckabush Valley.

We passed Marmot Lake, where we saw nobody camped, and made the steep climb into LaCrosse Basin and Hart Lake, which we had to ourselves.  It's a lovely spot.  The campsite there has no privy or bear wire, so it's essential to have a bear can.

On Friday we took a leisurely ramble around LaCrosse Basin and took a dip in LaCrosse Lake.  We saw a bear near LaCrosse Lake, and another one by Hart Lake when we returned to camp.  As the afternoon grew late, more and more smoke haze filled the air, obscuring the views around us.  We'd planned on spending a second night at Hart Lake, but decided there was no point in sitting around breathing smoke, so we packed up and dropped 4.6 miles to Upper Duckabush Camp.  It's an uncommonly roomy camp under big trees, with a privy and bear wire.  We saw no other hikers.

On Saturday we hiked down the Duckabush about 11 miles to a nice site by the river about a half-mile before the ONP boundary.  There was a good swimming hole in the river.  We saw no other hikers the whole day.

On Sunday we hiked out the last 7 miles.  After Big Hump, we encountered two other parties of backpackers heading in, and a few day hikers.

Backpacked to LaCross Basin and back from the Staircase trail head. Spend first night at Home Sweet Home, second at Marmot Lake and third ay Two Bears. The basin with the three lakes is stunning. Great colors from the water and so many berries. The hike to the basin is through woods. I prefer more open trails. A crew from Grey Wolf just finished cleaning this trail and it was incredibly smooth. No jumping over trees anymore. Another hiker saw one bear at LaCross lake. If you have the stamina camp at Hart Lake.

Heading up to Lacrosse basin/Hart lake next week; wondering if anyone knows if the bear wires at Hart lake are still there/functional? Called the WIC and they did not know. Thank you, Scott

Three-night loop

Day 1: Graves Creek TH - Pyrites Camp
Day 2: Enchanted Valley - O'Neil Pass - Lake Marmot
Day 3: Upper Duckabush - LaCrosse Pass - Honeymoon Meadows Camp
Day 4: Anderson Pass - Enchanted Valley - Graves Creek TH
~56mi, ~11,500ft elev gain/loss

Hot weather this week!  Sufficient water access at all camps along East Fork Quinault, as well as at White Creek crossings (x2) on way to O'Neil Pass.  Occasional bushwhacking along O'Neil Pass Trail.  Fords of Upper Duckabush (x2) ankle/shin deep by Noon.  Lots of bushwhacking from O'Neil Pass to LaCrosse Pass with trail difficult to follow in some places.  Delicious Salmon Berries between Marmot Lake and Upper Duckabush Camp.  Blueberries are plentiful between Upper Duckabush Camp and turnoff to LaCrosse Pass but probably still 2-4 weeks until peak ripeness.

One black bear between Graves Creek TH and Pyrites Camp, otherwise no other large mammal sightings.

Very quiet trail from Marmot Lake to Siberian Camp, with only one other hiker encountered for 20 miles (on a Friday)--though the overgrown trail condition makes this little surprise.

From staircase trailhead, the two of us went up North skokimish River trail  to 2 bear camp first day with great conditions. 2nd day went over First Divide with some snow on trail down to Home Sweet Home but passable with trekking poles. Continued down to Upper Duckabush and up to Marmot Lake fording duckabush river that was little high with snow melt but passable. Marmot Lake trail was clear to Marmot Lake. Had Marmot Lake to ourselves 2nd night. Trail to Hart Lake had some snow but passable. About quarter mile past Hart Lake turnoff lots of snow on trail all the way to Lacrosse lake could be seen so we turned around. Also O’Neil pass had 4-6 feet of snow at the Pass when my son took 1 mile trail up there from Marmot Lake so only passable with crampons at the pass, which we did not have. Snow patches on trail to the pass started about 300 yards from Marmot Lake. We went back down to Upper Duckabush Camp for 3rd night. Then went down Upper Duckabush Trail the 17.8 miles to trailhead, which had lots of blowdowns and trees to go under, over or around and most streams easily passable by walking, or making passable by using rocks, or using water shoes. Fording the rivers you will need water shoes and take off pack or loosen pack but all passable. I am 60 years old and my 30 year old son was kind enough to carry my pack across the fords. Upper Duckabush trail between Upper Duckabush and 5 mile camp has lots of vegetation so could not see trail looking straight down for much of way, so slow going as trail rough and narrow in parts combined with the many blowdown trees as obstacles. With rain during night the vegetation will be wet so plan to get soaked feet and pants or use gaiters or other waterproofing or plan to change socks at least once during the hike of upper duckabush between upper duckabush and five mile camp if recent rain. Trail maps say experienced stock riders only for that part of trail but our opinion is impassable to all stock riders as the vegetation overgrown and the many, many obstacles of fallen trees. From 5  mile camp to trailhead, the trail is much better maintained, easier, wider and more used. You can see the big difference  between National Park  and national forest trail conditions readily apparent at boundary. Lots of flowers, pristine alpine lakes and views all to yourself as did not see anyone else for almost 3 days between First Divide, up to Marmot Lake camp and back down to Upper Duckabush camp made the 5 day trip worthwhile. Many signs of bear between Upper Duckabush and Marmot Lake and between miles 17 and 8 of upper Duckabush Trail but no actual sight of bears. There are a few individual campsites around the 6-7 mile area of Upper Duckabush trail if you don’t want to go all the way to 5 mile camp from Upper Duckabush camp in one day or want to go a little past 5 mile camp if starting from trailhead. We camped at a great single spot right on the river around 7 mile mark on 4th night after having lunch at ten mile camp. Between 7 mile and 17 mile is where most of the obstacles and overgrown vegetation is on trail.