We hiked to Big Hump in good weather, minus a few sprinkles now and then. The trail is in good condition and we saw a handful of other hiking parties. This is a great hike to do in early spring. A few trilliums were in bloom. A word of caution -- reportedly, three vehicles were broken into at the trailhead parking lot on Friday, 4/10. The perpetrators even took a car battery. Most people we encountered on the trail were nervous and wanted to know if we had seen any damage to their cars. It looked like there weren't any additional break-ins since Friday.

Friday I had off from work and decided to try the Duckabush for an overnighter. The weather was supposed to hold until Saturday (3/7) and it did. The road to the trailhead has potholes but I have seen alot worse and its only dirt for about 2.5 miles. The trail is in good shape with only a few blowdowns. I hiked to FiveMile Camp and only saw dayhikers from the Port Ludlow Hiking Club who were enjoying the view of snow-capped peaks from the lower of two view points on Big Hump. There are no big stream crossings to talk of although in the event of big rain there would be 1 or 2. Fivemile Camp is really nice, by the river and pretty clean except for the big rock where people have made a fire and left it black. I hiked a little further up the trail from camp past a couple of other good camps. There was no snow anywhere along the entire length of the 6 miles that I hiked. Noel

The road to the trailhead is badly potholed, but the drive from Highway 101 is only about six miles, and it's flat most of the way. We were the only people on the trail, except for one we met at the very end. This gave us the solitude so beautiful on a river walk through a misty canyon. The trail is in good shape; the nearly impassible section of blowdown last year has been cleared off the trail. We enjoyed our lunch at the false summit of Big Hump with a momentary clearing giving us a brief view of the surrounding peaks. The river and all the streams are very high, making it quite dramatic--especially the waterfalls along the way. This is a wonderful winter hike because it gives you elevation (about 1500 feet) and and is snow free.

Duckabush to the beginnings of the Western Slope of Big Hump. Some blowdown, stream crossings fairly full of water but not too deep to hop-skip across, or too deep for the 10"" Danner (shameless plug, they're great boots) Go Devils. Tread in fine shape, a veritable boot-o-bahn. Trail a very nice suprise, went expecting woodsy walk in the valley bottom, some nice river. Got raging rapids, not-quite Hoh but impressive forest, peeks at snow-covered steep 'hills,' hints of more impressive peaks in the distance.. and then up Big Hump, some stupendous views, including a peek all the way to the Cascades, and local crags and rockfaces. Not to mention that no one else had signed the trail register in over a week, Ferry fares are cheaper in the winter, there's no lines... (the author wishes to note that he has no business interests on the Olympic Peninsula, nor has he rec'd any payment for this endorsement)