Two day trip from Tubal Cain (#840) trailhead to the campground at the junction of the Dungeness River and Royal Creek and a day hike to the Royal Basin.

Day 1: Mid-day start on Tubal Cain, encountered a few other hikers. Great trail through the woods and brief stop at the Tubal Cain Mine. Once we left the trees we had great views up and down the Cooper Creek valley. The wildflowers were out and in abundance. A wonderful first day. Our destination for that day was the camp at Buckhorn Lake. There is a nice sign marking the trail down to the lake. Numerous campsites, but only a small one on the lake shore itself. The lake is beautiful green-blue and entirely melted out. (A special request: If you go there for the night, please bring an extra garbage bag to pack out some trash left by past campers.)

Note about water: If you plan on continuing, the Lake is your last water source until you get through Marmot Pass - either Camp Mystey on the Big Quilcene Trail or Boulder Camp on the Dungeness River Trail.

Day 2: Hiked up from Buckhorn Lake through Marmot Pass, then down to Boulder Camp and finally down Dungeness River Trail to the campsites. The section of trail up from the lake to the pass is steep but the views along the way are worth it. On the other side of Marmot Pass to Camp Handy on the Dungeness River is also very steep. The crossing at the lower end of the Dungeness River Trail is out but not entirely impassible. It looks like a system was rigged up for people to cross, but water is rushing over a 3-foot section of bridge. We could tell that people were crossing from the west side to the east side, since the east side of the bridge was wet. We decided to go farther downstream since there was a well worn trail on the east side of the river, to find another log across the river which we carefully crossed. Cross at your own risk. (The bridge is supposed to be fixed this summer)

Day 3: Day hike to the Royal Basin via the Royal Basin Trail. The trail was in great shape the entire way thanks to the WTA trail crews. We actually met some on our way up working on the rocky sections - Thank you and great job. The bugs started appearing about 4 miles in and continued to the upper basin. There is a well-worn trail to the upper basin and is well worth the one extra mile hike from Royal Lake. Royal Lake is a great swimming hole and isn't too cold but quite refreshing on a warm day, so bring your swimsuit.