Through hike South (Quinault) to North (Deer Park) – Olympic National Park – June 29^th – July 3^rd, 2023

Graves Creek - Quinault River – Anderson Pass – West Fork Dosewallips – Dosewallips River – Gray Wolf Pass – Gray Wolf River – Deer Park

Day 1: Thursday June 29^th:  Graves Creek - Enchanted Valley

Arrived at Graves Creek Trailhead around noon – Did the 13.2 to Enchanted Valley – Trail in great shape, well-trafficked – encountered other hikers/ groups at least once every other hour. Plenty of sites at Enchanted Valley. Valley is stunning.

Day 2: Friday, June 30^th: Enchanted Valley – Anderson Pass – Big Timber

Woke up in Enchanted Valley, packed up and was on the trail by 7am. I was the first one on the trail heading to Anderson Pass. Missed the Largest Hemlock, I saw some hiker-made indicators arrows made of rocks & items stacked on a post -only after I had passed did, I realize that was the cutover. Near the O’Neil Pass cut over, there is a stream waterfall that has an ad hoc log pile/ bridge. I opted to Ford – it was fast-moving and felt like the first mildly risky thing I had done on the trip. I was glad I was crossing in the morning before the snow melt had picked up speed. I would guess later in the summer the water levels will go down.  Continued up towards Anderson Pass and got to my first snowfield. It looked manageable (about 35 feet across), pulled out my ice ax and started to follow the footprints (Human and Elk). The first observation is I should have put on my microspikes – the added grip would have been nice. About halfway across it became apparent that under the snowfield was a stream that was about 25 feet down – I continued across safely – but would advise caution to anyone heading up in the next few weeks while things are melting. Around 10 am I ran into my first hikers of the day. The rest of the trip up was easy to navigate and well-maintained. Reached the pass at about Noon, stopped to look at the pond frogs, and began to head down the north side. About ¼ of a mile down from the pass in a beautiful mountain valley I spotted a bear. I paused and watched it as it made its way through the fields. I then crossed the meadow without seeing the bear again, arriving at Camp Siberia shortly after for a water refill and foot tape stop. The next 5ish miles to Big Timber Campsite needed some maintenance (lots of overgrowth). Arrived at Big Timber Campsite around 6pm and had the whole site to myself.

Day 3: Saturday July 1^st: Big Timber – Deception Creek Campground

Slowed down on Saturday – Trail from Big Timber to Dose Forks well maintained and beautiful meanders along and across the West Fork Dosewallips in a truly enjoyable 2.7 miles, I only saw one other hiker. I stopped at the Dose Forks campground for water, lunch, and to let some things hang out in the sun. Back on the trail in the afternoon did the 7 miles to Deception Creek Campground. The connector trail has stunning glimpses of the Dosewallips Valley and Diamond Mountain. Once on the Dosewallips River Trail, the views continue to be worth the hike. Very well maintained and I went several hours without encountering another hiker. Deception Creek Campground was somewhat busy – still found a spot to camp without issue.

Day 4: Sunday, July 2^nd: Deception Creek Campground – Gray Wolf Pass – Camp Ellis

On the trail by 6am – the first one out for the day. The short hike from Deception Creek Campground to the Gray Wolf Pass junction was a good warm-up. The accent up Gray Wolf starts immediately. Water was a bit more limited on this trail – I was glad that I filled up early. I was glad I did an early start, things were shaded and not too warm. Didn’t encounter any snowfields on the way up & all the stream crossings were small and easy to do without getting my feet wet. The trail up Gray Wolf is well-maintained and stunning. 10/10 recommend the south side accent. I reached the pass by 10am after a short slightly more complicated shale crossing to reach the final pass marker. The view from this pass is worth the climb. Based on the footprints I think I may be the second person to cross this pass this summer. After a break at the top I started the descent on the north side of the pass. I suggest pulling out your micro spikes & ice ax while you are at the top. The shale path is unforgiving and requires a high level of concentration. Three times while switch-backing down the shale I had to cross snowfields (90+ feet across) that were steep and slippery. I am not a trained/experienced mountaineer but do have a moderate amount of experience with snowshoeing/cross-country skiing. I felt comfortable with these crossings and after what felt like an hour of shale and snowfields I reached the bottom of the bowl – things started to level out. There is a lovely lake that will distract you from the main path. Once back on the true path down the next few miles are an enjoyable descent. Somewhere around the second mile, the trail becomes a true wolf path – overgrown, and never-ending downed trees. This is broken up by fun log bridge water crossings. It continues like this until the Falls Campground. At Falls I stopped for a snack and water break. The next 2.5 miles the trail is well traveled and you can truly appreciate the beauty of the Gray Wolf River. I saw my first human of the day during this final stretch. I camped at Camp Ellis, had the whole site to myself.

Day 5: Monday July 3^rd: Camp Ellis to Deer Park

The last day started out a bit slower- was on the trail by 8:30 am and enjoyed the solitude of the next 3 miles to the Gray Wolf and Three Forks campground area. This area has a lot of train intersections going on – I looked at my map several times at this section to ensure I was on the right path. There was a large group at Gray Wolf Camp and no one at Three Forks. I filled up on Water at Three Forks and began up the Three Forks Trail before 10 am. This was where I experienced my first annoying bugs of the trip and ended up putting on bug spray. The trail is constantly up, but the forest is quite enjoyable. There were two places where people had made paths to a small stream – but I recommend having all the water you need with you. By the time I reached the top final mile, it was sunny & hot. I wished I had started my day earlier. The views in this final section are satisfying as you can see Gray Wolf Pass and the river valley you just hiked. It was close to 2 pm by the time I arrived at Deer Park, this 4.3 miles section was one of the more grueling sections of the 5 days. The campground has highly limited services – no water. Pit Toilets – I couldn’t even find a campground map. I was glad I had water left from my trip up and settled into the shade on one of the stunning meadows looking south towards the needles as I waited for my partner to pick me up.

I hiked the grand loop are here are my unsolicited pieces of advice to others:

1. Go counter-clockwise starting at Deer Park. Yes, the climb out of three forks on the last day is BAD and a real gut punch. But it's a small price to pay for going up the good sides of Cameron and Grand passes. Starting at deer park rather than obstruction means you get the dry ridgeline done while you are still hydrated on the first day and you get to enjoy the views while you're fresh and not rushing to the car.

2. If you go counter clockwise - push past Falls camp to any of the other campsites before or including three forks. Falls camp was really small and not as pretty as the others in this section. I - and many others I talked to - stayed at Falls because it makes the mileage even with mostly 10 mile days. However, if I had known better I would have pushed to Camp Ellis at least for a better campsite and a shorter morning out. The miles from the bottom of Gray Wolf pass to Three Forks are pretty easy and it should be easy to get them done at the end of the day after climbing gray wolf.

This loop was amazing and I highly recommend it, whichever direction you choose! Here's how I approached it:

D1 - Deer Park to Grand Lake
Pretty easy going. Grand Ridge was fun as a start but as many others have noted there's no water. I started with 2 liters and finished them just as I was seeing water on the descent to Grand Lake.

D2 - Grand Lake to Dose Meadows
This was a tough day! Climbing Grand Pass was beautiful and I was up at the top by 9:45 - I thought it would be smooth sailing from there but woah did the elevation change in this section get me. The trail in the river valley after Grand is pretty overgrown and it's generally slow going up to cameron basin. Nothing too major and the trail is still navigable, but generally rocky and lots of vegetation. You're not going to sprint through any of the downhill or "flat" after Grand.
I wanted to spend way more time in Cameron basin than I got to. I was there pretty late in the day due to my slow pace but it was absolutely beautiful! An amazing remote alpine meadow and then you climb up to what feels like the surface of the moon on Cameron pass. A truly magical experience to have this area all to myself. The olympics on full display! It would be worth adding a day to camp at upper cameron if you have time and want a slower day thrown in.
The descent from lost pass to dose meadows is straight down and unforgiving. Going down this is one of the main reasons I recommend going counter clockwise - this climb would have been legit awful going the other way.

D3- Dose meadows to Falls camp
My main advice here is listed above. The "easy" climb up gray wolf was a relief after my previous day. It took awhile but a lot of the climb was shaded and the switchbacks were forgiving. Once the trail got into the valley with the gray wolf river it got brushy and lots of downed trees again. This whole area could definitely use some trail maintenance!

D4- Falls camp to Deer Park
This climb out of three forks surprised me and took a lot longer than I expected since I was so tired from this loop. Everything is pretty uneventful for this last section and I was glad to have an audio book on hand.

Happy hiking!

FOUND: water bladder & tube on Upper Gray Wolf trail, less than ½ mile above Gray Wolf camp. If it’s yours, please comment below with contact info. so I can get it back to you.

We did not hike past Falls Camp as our destination was Cedar Lake. I filed a separate trip report for Cedar Lake. I don’t have many updates to previous reports.

Trail: There are two logs across the trail, one near Deer Park on Three Forks trail and the other on Upper Gray Wolf, kind of near Camp Ellis. (“I don’t need to note the location; I’ll remember!” Ha, not so much.) Both can wait until next year, when they will surely be joined by friends. The substantial foot log w/in a mile uptrail from Gray Wolf Camp was damaged when trees fell on it. It’s still very easy to cross and seems plenty stable but is bowed in the middle and missing a section of handrail, with another section being shaky. The log itself is plenty wide to cross comfortably with no rail.

Camps: Gray Wolf has several sites on both sides of the river, a great privy (new last year?), no bear wire. Camp Ellis has two spots right on the river - very pretty! For "facilities", look for a path on the other side of the trail and just up river from camp. I was pleased to see proper use at all camps, with only one "TP flower" at Ellis (thankfully sans pile). No privy or bear wire at Ellis or Falls Camp. Falls Camp has sites a bit up the trail that goes away from the river at the burnt-down shelter (also the trail to Cedar Lake). All camps have excellent water access.

Bugs: surprisingly few on Upper Gray Wolf trail and at Gray Wolf Camp & Camp Ellis. We didn’t use head nets until Cedar Lake. Three Forks trail had a bevy of horse flies (aka follow flies) to escort us; the circling and dive-bombing kept things lively.

Props: I mostly want to acknowledge and thank the WTA crew who worked on Three Forks and Upper Gray Wolf to Falls Camp this summer. Every cut log we passed, each section of fabulous tread work, brushing, and drainage – I appreciated it all! Particularly once we hit the Cedar Lake Way Trail, which could use some TLC.

We did a counterclockwise loop starting and ending at Deer Park. We went: 

• Deer Park
• Grand Valley
• Grand Pass
• Cameron Pass
• Lost Pass
• Dosewallips 
• Gray Wolf
• Three Forks
• Deer Park

We stayed at: 

• Roaring Winds (no privy, no water)
• Grand Lake (privy, bear wire, water)
• Upper Cameron (water, no privy)
• Bear Camp (water, privy)
• Falls Camp (water, no privy)

The trail overall is in good condition. Not surprisingly, the farther you get from the trailheads, the more obstacles or issues.

We started at Deer Park and continued to Obstruction Point before dropping down to Grand Lake. The views on the high section were delightful and we enjoyed some great wildflowers. We also spotted a cute mama grouse with her babies.

The trail between Deer Park and Obstruction Point drops and climbs, but stays high. It then drops down to Grand Lake, which is steep but the trail is smooth and easy.

Grand Lake was lovely for swimming.

We then headed up over Grand Pass. The climb to the lower edge of the pass was easy and then it picked up dramatically. The climb up to Grand Pass was steep and occasionally felt slightly exposed if you're particularly scared of heights. The trail was mostly wide and solid enough, however. 

The descent from Grand Pass was very steep (and very pretty!), especially up top. A few sections had minor washouts. Once in the forest, the trail got a bit easier. 

The climb up toward Cameron Pass goes through some very steep, very brushy sections. Watch your footing, it can be hard to see the copious marmot holes. When the trail approached the stream, the route got a little confusing. Some white flagging helped.

We stayed in Upper Cameron, where we learned our lesson about leaving any clothes out overnight. A deer chewed up a shirt we left on a branch. It was a gorgeous site, however, and Upper Cameron is beautiful.

The climb to Upper Cameron was steep and had sections of scree. Most of it didn't feel too bad. One section, however, is awful if you're afraid of heights. There is a gully that has been washed out and there are about 3 very sketchy steps. I was not a fan. I was glad we went up rather than down this section. 

From Cameron, there's an easy enough drop down to an absolutely gorgeous meadow before another climb up to Lost Pass. The descent down Lost Pass was steep and had quite a few trees to navigate. (We counted switchbacks -20 - and treedirects -17 - to keep us distracted.)

Sections on trail on the Dosewallips were quite brushy. Wolf Camp had surprisingly good views for being in a valley.

The climb up to Gray Wolf the next day was kinda a slog, but mostly well graded. 17 switchbacks. There is one scary, short section of trail right before the pass. There's exposure, but it's less scary than some areas because, while you would NOT want to fall, it's not that far down if you did fall. Once you cross the pass and begin heading downhill, however, there are two sections of trail that freaked me out. (I hate going down loose trail.) It was a mix of screen and loose dirt/sand. It took me quite awhile to get over it, going slowly and steadily. 

The upper Gray Wolf basin is gorgeous. There's an absolutely gorgeous tarn and a bunch of great waterfalls. We stayed at Falls Camp, which is near a lovely stretch of stream. We decided not to go to Cedar Lake (rain + we didn't want to make our last day super long) but I'd like to come back for it. 

WTA trail work crews (THANK YOU) had done a lot of great work on this section of trail and it was glorious all the way down to Three Forks. We could definitely tell many areas that had been dramatically improved. 

We stopped for Lunch at Three forks. Note that there are campsites that are a bit spread out. We stopped to soon and missed having lunch in a great meadow. Alas. 

The climb to Deer Park felt never ending. But honestly? The trail is really, really nice. It's dramatically smoother than any of the other climbs on our route and it was in the shade nearly all the way. 

Note: Most of the climbs had some water. This one only had a tiny trickle. So stock up. 

Bugs: The biting flies were bad. The horseflies were noisy, but mostly just like to hover around you and rarely land. We saw very few mosquitoes. 

Snow: We crossed two small patches. Both were low angle and not scary. And both were melting fast. 

All in all a fabulous trip and I'm so grateful we got to do it!

Did a two day trip of Grand Loop/Deer Park Loop. 

Day 1 - Started the trip from Deer Park.  Road up is narrow and steep in places but would probably be doable in most vehicles with some minor navigation.  Began at 8:30am and took Three Forks Trail for roughly 4.5 miles to the intersection of the Upper Gray Wolf Trail.  The Upper Gray Wolf trail climbs gradually for the next 9 miles to Gray Wolf Pass.  There is a really small section of snow (maybe 20ft that is hardly worth mentioning before you get to the pass itself).  The trail is in good shape with some easy to maneuver downed trees and water crossings with foot bridges.  Some of the bridges are narrow but definitely not hard to cross.  Once at Gray Wolf Pass I took the trail down to the intersection of the Dosewallips River Trail.  I followed the trail to Dose Meadows campground where i stayed for the night.  The Dosewallips trail is in good shape other than a few brushy sections which are still easy to navigate. 

Miles = 20.3

Elevation Gain = ~5,000

Day 2 - Broke camp and started off at 6:30am on day 2 up to Lost Pass.  The trail immediately starts climbing for about .8 miles through the forest with a few annoying downed trees to get around until you reach Lost Pass which  has some really nice views.  From Lost Pass the trail flattens out for about 1 mile at which point you begin the climb up to Cameron Pass.  The trail here is great shape with only a few muddy spots.  Going up to Cameron Pass the trail follows along the side of the mountain with amazing views of the valley and the mountains!  Once over Cameron Pass the trail meanders downhill for the next ~3.5 miles.  The trail down Cameron is steep and there is another very small and easy to walk on section of snow.  This trail is considered "primitive" and is a bit overgrown in places and very rocky...was my least favorite section.  After ~3.5 miles the trail hits the intersection of Grand Pass Trail.  The next 1.8 miles are steady climb up a bunch of switch backs to Grand Pass.  I saw other hikers on this section for the first time since leaving Dose Meadows Campground.  Seems like most folks take the Cameron Creek Trail instead of the Upper Gray Wolf.  Once over Grand Pass the trail steadily drops for the next 2.5 miles to Grand Lake.  I took the fork up Grand Valley Trail to Obstruction point.  There is an option to hang to the right and go through Badger Valley but I wanted the views.  It's 3.5 miles and another decent climb up to Obstruction Point Trailhead.  The views along this stretch are awesome.  From Grand Pass to Obstruction Point there are tons of day hikers and backpackers.  Once at Obstruction Point I took Obstruction Point - Deer Park Trail 7.5 miles back to the trail head.  One thing to bear in mind is that there is very limited water sources from Grand Lake to Deer Park Trailhead so plan accordingly.  This trail mostly follows the ridge line until you dip into the forest ~2.5 miles from Deer Park.  The trail spits you out at Deer Park and you need to walk ~.5 miles on the road back to the Three Forks Trailhead. 

Miles = 21.7

Elevation Gain = ~8,000

Overall an amazing loop.  bugs were not too bad.  hardly any snow.  not many people from Gray Wolf Camp to Grand Pass.  Epic views! 

Also, total long shot. But if anyone finds a Big Agnes tent footprint between Dose Meadows and Grand Pass could you please DM me. Thanks!