I recenty spent four amazing and intense days hiking with a friend in the olympics from sep. 28 through oct 2; we encountered herds of elk, bears grazing in berry patches, leaves changing color, snow, sleet, rain and everything else the mountains had to throw at us in late fall.

Day one- We got on the trail to enchanted valley at the graves creek ranger station around 9 am. It Started raining about an hour into the hike. Around mid-afternoon, we heard the unmistakable bugle call of a bull elk just ahead. We crested a small hill to see a herd of about 20 elk grazing in a field by the quinault river. For the most part they paid us no mind, just went about their business. The large male, sporting a 12-point rack, came over near the trail to get between us and the herd.

Day 2-We left our nice enchanted valley campsite and began climing. After a few miles we came to the split where we could go straight to anderson pass or right (south) to o'neil pass and on to our planned campsight at marmot lake. Standing in the chilly downpour, it was tempting to want to go straight over anderson and cut a day off our trip, but we stuck to our plan anyway. The O'neil pass trail had some downed trees, but nothing impassable. We saw 5 or 6 bears, all of which more or less ignored us. After about 7 hours of hiking in pouring rain and sleet, the trail over the pass with the wind in our faces was chilly to say the least. We got to marmot lake and found a nice site (although much of the area and trails around the lake were flooded.)

Day 3- Left marmot bright and early, determined to conquer lacross pass early in the day. After crossing the Duckabush (me on a fairly easy log crossing, my buddy by means of fording) we were lucky enough to actually see some sun. We started up the lacross pass trail with our rain gear off for the first time in days. The trail was small and muddy at times, but not bad. As we neared the top the weather turned for the worse and began spitting snow. By the time we got to the top we had no time to celebrate, as we looked down the north-facing slope and saw it was covered in 3 or 4 inches of snow, we knew it was time to keep moving. We planned to stay at honeymoon meadows, but liked the looks of the camp about a half-mile before it.

Day 4- We awoke to the hardest rain yet encountered. We broke camp and got on the trail quickly--our only comforting thought coming from knowing that we would be warm and dry in my truck by mid-afternoon. Much of the trail we walked that day was flooded, as was the dosewalips at our many crossings. All of the permanent bridges were intact, but some of the crossings further up-river had become mid-thigh fording adventures.

All in all this was an amazing hike--certainly one I will always remember. I would highly recomend this hike to anyone looking to experience all that the olympics have to offer in a short amount of time. All told I think it ended up being 50-55 miles, but could have been made longer or shorter by amending the route during the hike.