Little Quilcene River, Mount Townsend & Silver Lakes — Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2015

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Needed a break from grueling office schedule so decided to take a couple days of vacation mid-week to seek solitude in Olympic Nat'l Forest. Stopped by Quilcene ranger station prior to finalizing trip. Checked if they'd heard reports of bugs at Silver Lakes - no recent reports. Also asked opinion on Silver Lakes vs. Marmot Pass -- they directed me to Silver Lakes if solitude was my goal. I was steered perfectly! The road to trailhead has a few ruts -- they can be avoided but would probably cause some scraping on a lower clearance vehicle if not avoided. All trails were in great condition -- only a couple trees to cross or duck under. The ascent from Little Quilcene trailhead to the Mt. Townsend trail was relentless - but I'm not in summer shape yet. The forest offered plenty of shade, but it was a huff-and-puff none the less. Once on Mt. Townsend trail, the upward path continues but the trail is much rockier and exposed. Mt. Townsend was socked-in and windy on my way in but offered superb views on my way out. Well worth it! Once at the junction to Silver Lakes, I expected an easy descent to the lakes... however there's a down, back up, down again... and then a bit of an up hill to the southern most lake. Again, the trail takes you into the forest offering plenty of coverage from sun. I had the entire lake to myself (amazing!) and made camp at the south end of the larger lake. Enjoyed an evening reading and watching the clouds cycle up the valley and clear again (have a cool time lapse video since photos didn't do the scene justice). There were bugs but they weren't biting/stinging. There are a ton of little white bugs flying around -- they look like small mosquitos but weren't biting. They seemed to congregate in specific areas, so if you weren't where they wanted to be, they weren't an irritation. Handful of bees -- very few flies. Had some deer in camp at night and saw a couple bunnies on the trail -- otherwise wildlife was sparse. Great mid-week hike with my canine companions -- found the solitude to help refresh the batteries before returning back to the office.