Views, berries and bears - Oh My!

This was an epic trip to remember. It was as close to perfect as any backpacking trip could be. Rapids, rivers, lakes, trees, mountains, all the berries you could eat and wildlife - plus nearly no bugs and clear skies.

• What Type of Trip? Six day thru hike.
• Where Did We Start? Staircase Rapids Ranger Station on the North Fork Skokomish River Trail.
• Where Did We End? Graves Creek Trailhead in the Quinault Rain Forest.
• Where Was Camp?  Two Bear, Hart Lake (two nights), Enchanted Valley and O'Neil Creek.
• How About the Stats?
  • Total mileage according my Garmin was 59.19 miles.
  • Estimated elevation was 16,107 ft ascent and 16,355 ft descent.
  • At least eight individual black bears. I stopped counting sightings at 14 on the second day in the LaCrosse Basin.
• How Busy was It? The overnight parking lot at Staircase was close to full when we arrived at about 9AM. Probably less than six spaces left. Once on the trail, we encountered a modest number of people. Nothing heavy until we reached the Enchanted Valley and O'Neil Creek. The Graves Creek Trailhead parking lot was completely full and lined up down the road when we exited on Saturday the 10th.
• How Were the Bugs? Nothing to write home about. Encountered a few mosquitos at Hart Lake in the early evening. Lots of flies at O'Neil Creek, but they were more interested in the shirt and socks I was drying in the sun than me.
• How Was the Weather? The first day was overcast, humid and misty. After that, the skies opened up and were clear. It was hot in areas exposed to the sun, like our camp site at Hart Lake.
• How Were the Roads? The paved roads around Lake Cushman to Staircase were great. Just a bit windy. Then once onto the last stretch on gravel it was a game of dodge the potholes. On the other end from Graves Creek on gravel, it was great. Then eventually turns to nicely paved road.
• What Else? The elevation gain on the final 2-ish miles from Nine Stream Camp to Two Bears is steep and relentless. There are some steep sections going up to Marmot Lake and then again to Hart Lake. The 6,000+ foot descent from O'Neil Pass to the East Fork Quinault River Valley relentless pounded my feet nearly the entire way. It felt great to soak them in the ice cold Quinault River that night before dinner.

Sharing a link to my blog of the adventure below, which includes more details, photos and videos.

Backpacked a lollipop loop along Enchanted Valley and then clockwise around LaCrosse Basin - O'Neil Pass and back down Enchanted Valley. Camped at O'Neil camp on the way to Enchanted Valley, which was full, but not overly crowded. The day was cloudy as we entered Enchanted Valley, so we missed views of the peaks. We camped about a mile past the Enchanted Valley chalet before the trail starts climbing steadily to Anderson Pass. At Anderson Pass, we stashed our packs and made a side trip up to Anderson Moraine, which was well worth the extra effort. The view of Mt Anderson and the tarn was spectacular. The trail up is steep, but not difficult. There were wildflowers going up to Anderson Moraine and from Anderson Pass to Camp Siberia. 

We camped at Honeymoon Meadows and made our way up LaCrosse Pass the next day. Wildflowers were past their peak in these meadows. The trails were in great shape until our descent to Duckabush River. There were many downed trees and significant brush to push through, but nothing dangerous. Camped at Upper Duckabush camp, where there were a few more mosquitoes, but not terrible.

We did have to ford the Duckabush River before arriving at Upper O'Neil Camp and again on the way to Marmot Lake, but the water was only mid-calf high. We camped at Hart Lake and day tripped over to check out LaCrosse Lake. The flowers at LaCrosse lake were outstanding. We saw about a dozen bears, including several mothers with babies in the area of Hart/LaCrosse and both sides of O'Neil Pass. One was near our camp at Hart Lake in the morning. Another on O'Neil Pass trail. The others were at a distance along the hillside munching on the vegetation. None seemed interested in us.

The hike along O'Neil Pass was stunning, with great views, wildflowers, streams from recent snowmelt, and alpine cirques. We met a ranger near White Creek. It was a long, hot hike back to Enchanted Valley camp, temperatures had increased to the high 80s, but the sky was clear so we had better views of the valley. Pretty easy, but another long and hot hike back to Graves Creek trailhead.

The trailhead was packed upon arrival and when we left. Permits are required, but appear to be limitless. Even so, we had no issues finding a campsite. Enchanted Valley camp had the most people, but is very spread out with many possible sites. We saw the most number of hikers near the trailhead. We saw no one until we arrived at camp on our hikes from Honeymoon Meadows to Upper Duckabush and the next day to Marmot/Hart Lakes.

We planned a 5 day/4 night in-and-out backpack to Hart Lake from Staircase, staying at Home Sweet Home the first night and Two Bear the 4th night. Sunday, July 31 was 95 degrees in Seattle and we drove to Staircase that morning, but didn't get on the trail until after 10 am. That meant about 10 miles hiking to Nine Stream down low all day. It was pretty brutal. But the worst was climbing up in the afternoon heat to Two Bear, which we decided was all we should do in the heat. Before Nine Stream, nearly all the downed trees are cleared except for one major one. Two Bear camp is small - only about 6 good spots although a few more tents could cram in in some less level open areas. No privy or bear wire here!  Horse flies were voracious in the heat!

The next day was also long and hot, but the stream crossing just above Upper Duckabush camp has amazingly gorgeous dunking pools. The trail is often eroded or overgrown through this stretch - definitely could use some work to bring it up to National Park standards! Many downed trees - seems like zero have been addressed from Nine Stream, up and over First Divide down to Upper Duckabush and up to Marmot Lake. But there was really no difficulty getting up to Marmot Lake, except the climb in the heat. Marmot was perfectly tepid-cool for swimming, and Hart Lake was not cold either! Yay! 

Hart Lake has few established sites and actually is a lake with a quota (see below). Two nights are Hart Lake with a leisurely day hike through Lacrosse Basin and up to the col overlooking Mt Anderson, West Peak and Anderson Pass rounded out the trip, as did evenings watching the sun set on Mt Duckabush and taller more formidable Mt Steel. Mosquitos were moderately bad in the evenings but disappeared by dark.

Not much to add beyond Nutmeg's excellent report!

Beyond mobs in the first few miles from Staircase, we met only a handful of hikers the rest of our mid-week trip!

BTW, when we called earlier in the spring to get permits for Hart Lake, the ranger on the phone told me that we should just select Marmot Lake on recreation.gov and write in the notes that we'll be at Hart Lake. However, a ranger we met on the trail said we were told wrongly: Hart Lake is also a permit lake with a quota although not on the Recreation.gov system and that permits are obtained by calling in and having the ranger log into recreation.gov and doing all the permitting for you (only the rangers can see in the system the permits/quotas for sites they regulate that are "off-trail" from maintained trails). I don't care what they decide to regulate, but I wish they would state it clearly on their website and specifically how the public is to get permits and not give incorrect information out! The ranger was totally cool about it and also shared our frustation. 

Day 1: Duckabush Trailhead to near LaCrosse Pass turn off (15.5 miles)

The road to the trailhead is really rough, and some of those pot holes go really deep.  You can get there without high clearance but you will need to go slow.  Trail to five mile camp is in really good shape, but a bit brushy.  Few obstacles, and creek crossings are easy.  To ten mile camp it gets brushier and a few more blowdowns but nothing terrible.  Beyond ten mile camp you start to run into some sketchy water crossings, but nothing too dangerous if you are slow and cautious.  Had a nice, dry night in the hammock tent.

Day 2: Up to Marmot and Hart lakes and back to camp (15ish miles round trip)

If you are headed up LaCrosse Pass trail, look for the red flag in the tree.  The sign is on the ground and easy to walk past.  The trail gets pretty brushy in places and the creek crossing past Upper Duckabush camp is a little time consuming.  Never had risk of losing the trail, though.  Upper Duckabush has a brand new privy installed and while I didn't use it, I'm sure it's immaculate.  On the way up to Marmot lake I saw the elk herd - at least 50-60 of them passed in front of me.  Snow started at Marmot lake and temps dropped and snow got heavier as I made Hart lake.  Very pretty.  I decided against LaCrosse lake since it looked rather small.  Hart was really the highlight.  Snow was accumulating on the ground quickly.  Back down snow turned to rain around 3500 feet.  Rain through the night so breaking down camp was a bit chilly and wet.  Sky was clear, though, so I had that going for me.

Day 3: Back to the car (15.5 miles)

Made good time heading out because keeping moving was the best way to stay warm.  Sky was dry but the brush was very wet.

Summary:

Signs of elk very heavy from 10 mile camp up into the basin.  Very good chance of seeing them based on previous trip reports.  Even if the forecast is for clear skies, you will want waterproof gear from at least the waist down due to brush.  If creek levels increase much, there are two crossings near Upper Duckabush that will become pretty dangerous. 

Have fun and stay safe out there!