Anderson Pass

Anderson Pass, Enchanted Valley — Jun 24, 2010 — Underwaterdog

Multi-night backpack

Features: Wildflowers blooming

Issues: Mud/Rockslide

Backpacked into Enchanted Valley with a day hike to Anderson Pass. Trail to Enchanted fine with exception of some log...

Backpacked into Enchanted Valley with a day hike to Anderson Pass.
Trail to Enchanted fine with exception of some log bridges short on handrails.
Snow gets serious at 3600 feet, about 3/4 mile west from the pass.
The Oneil Pass junction has some damage so attention must be payed to make the turn.
My group had 5 bear sightings.

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East Fork Quinault River, Anderson Pass, West Fork Dosewallips River, ONeil Pass — Sep 04, 2008 — alpine

Multi-night backpack

Features: Wildflowers blooming | Ripe berries

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Started the 4.5mi road walk up the EF Quinault in the early afternoon of September 4 for a 4-night trip...

Started the 4.5mi road walk up the EF Quinault in the early afternoon of September 4 for a 4-night trip up to LaCrosse Basin, Anderson Moraine and out the Dosewallips.

We made it to ONeil Camp for the first night. Bugs present but bearable. The next morning we continued up the EF to Enchanted Valley for a lunch break then to the ONeil Pass junction, where we veered off to reach White Creek Meadow where we spent two nights. There are a couple of well used sites at the meadow, with nice open views across the EF toward the West Peak of Mt Anderson, and up the broad meadows in the other direction. Through openings in the late-day clouds we could peek at the off-trail route we planned to take through Fisher's Notch the next day.

From our meadows camp, carrying only day packs, we reached Fisher's Notch in about 1.5hrs. Contured up via meadows, talus and some moderate snow up to the considerably steeper and loose scree in the upper part toward the notch. The grade was much gentler down through meadows into LaCrosse Lake Basin where we connected with the trail. After a brief stop for lunch at Marmot Lake we continued on to ONeil Pass, and then back to our camp at the meadows. Pace was slowed by our constant seaching for bear and elk along the way, some of which we indeed enjoyed at pretty close (but safe) distances.

Broke camp late on day four, headed back down to the EF trail and continued on up to Anderson Pass. Dropped packs and scurried up to Anderson Glacier Moraine and soaked in the sunny views while munching away. Not a soul around. Three more bears enroute. Reluctantly had to leave our airy spot, but eventually descended back to saddle up our packs for a descent into the Dosewallips. Spent our last night by ourselves at Big Timber camp, which we found to be a very nice spot - beside the river among open timber.

Up early for the last stretch of trail and a final 5.5mi road walk to reach the car by noon on Monday, and the drive home.

All in all, an excellent trip. Using the White Creek Meadows camp as a base to make the Fisher's/LaCrosse/ONeil loop was especially cool. Accessed lots of country, but didn't have to lug the packs to do it.

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Anderson Pass #101,Dosewallips River #98,Quinault River #5 — Oct 02, 2006 — Dave CWA

Day hike

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Left with a group of 10 high school students and 2 teachers on a five day 25+ mile journey up...

Left with a group of 10 high school students and 2 teachers on a five day 25+ mile journey up the Dosewallips, over Anderson Pass and down the Quinault. Terrible rain virtually every night but we slogged through. Log bridges were all in and water was (obviously)available at all camps (Dose Forks, Honeymoon Meadows, Enchanted Valley and O'Neil Creek). Saw no bears, not even scat but lots of evidence of elk. We heard them bugling early in the morning. A great, if wet time for everyone.

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Anderson Pass #101 — Jul 29, 2005 — Hiking for scenery

Day hike

Issues: Bridge out

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Hiked up 5.5 miles of dusty road, then 1.5 miles to camp on Friday evening 7/29. Saturday morning hiked...

Hiked up 5.5 miles of dusty road, then 1.5 miles to camp on Friday evening 7/29. Saturday morning hiked to Diamond meadows, set up camp, then proceeded to Anderson Pass. After the very disappointing pass, hiked back down to Diamond Meadows to spend the night. Packed up Sunday morning and hiked out. There was nothing noteworthy about this hike. Pacific Northwest Hiking handbook rates it as a 9 out of 10, I don't know where he was, but it wasn't at Anderson Pass. This trail had 31.5 miles of hiking in the trees, then .5 miles had views that I would rate barely 4 out of 10.

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Anderson Pass #101,Enchanted Valley,O'Neil Pass — Aug 27, 2004 — SJC

Day hike

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The trip up Enchanted Valley to explore trails to O'Neil Pass and Anderson Glacier started on a Friday morning...

The trip up Enchanted Valley to explore trails to O'Neil Pass and Anderson Glacier started on a Friday morning at the Graves Creek trailhead. The thirteen miles in to the camp area at Enchanted Valley are relatively easy and took under eight hours, with lots of water and comfortable rest stops every three or four miles. Rangers' predictions of difficult water crossings due to recent rains were grossly exaggerated. Bridges were out, but crossings were readily manageable. The trail was in excellent shape and we eyed several attractive camps along the Quinault River as we strolled along. We counted at least 25 elk in a single herd along the trail on the way in.

After a wet night camping in Enchanted Valley, we made our way about four miles further to White Creek Meadow where we camped two more nights below beautiful White Mountain. Even though the meadow is expansive, there were only a few small, level campsites here, and no bear wires. As the weather finally cleared, we hiked one day along the seven-mile trail to O'Neil Pass and lunched overlooking the Duckabush Valley and nearby (receding?) glaciers of Mt. Steel. The two bears we saw on the trail were minding their own business, eating, as we were, hundreds of ripe huckleberries. Another hiker reported seeing another elk herd down in LaCrosse basin, but we did not have the chance to visit down there. Next time?

We spent another day hiking up to the Anderson Glacier overlook on a short, steep, and very well-maintained trail, along which we visited with several deer. From the trail-end, the view across the lake to Anderson Glacier is a classic dramatic and vast moonscape. It looks to me like Anderson Glacier has receded considerably and likely will disappear in a few years. What happens to the Quinault River then?

We spent the last night camping along the river at Pyrites Creek at a comfortable, dry campsite, one of four or five available there. Bugs had not been a problem on this end-of-season trip, but at this campsite, the repellent kept us comfortable before cool nightfall arrived. On the last day, we passed again the large elk herd on the trail, and spent a while standing quietly among them, including a five-point buck. We reached the trailhead about noon after the last unexpected uphill couple of miles, hiking the last seven or eight miles in four hours. On our way out, we were stopped for some road construction and chatted with a Park Service employee who tossed his cigarette butts in the river.

Bear precautions were mandatory, though we had no visits from bears at any of our campsites. We borrowed two bear-proof plastic food containers from the Park Service (modest user fee), but these were too small to hold all of our food as well as garbage, and storing the garbage bags in the same container as the food made for bad smells. Bear wires, where available, were a lighter weight and more convenient choice.

This is a long route: we covered more than fifty miles and were five days on the trail. But the wildlife viewing is excellent and the two destinations -- LaCrosse Basin and Anderson Glacier -- offer great opportunities for extended explorations, which we will follow up with on our next trip!

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