Flapjack Lakes
Jul 25, 2009
by
nwskiscubahiker
—
last modified
Jul 28, 2009 11:50 AM
- Type of Outing
- Overnight
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: North Fork Skokomish River and Flapjack Lakes
- Region: Olympics -- East
- Trails: Flapjack Lakes (#114)
- Avg Rating: 3.78
- Why You Should Go Now
- Ripe berries
- Be Aware Of
- Bridge out
- Bugs
We finally got around to making this great hike up to Flapjack Lakes again this year. We recognized it was going to be HOT heading up the switchbacks below the lakes so we hit the trail at 7:30AM. The temperature was better than expected as we left the Staircase trailhead but the mosquitoes were a lot worse than expected. We stopped about a half mile from the trailhead and slathered on the bug juice. The bugs didn't bother us much at all during the rest of the hike. This trail starts off relatively flat for the first 4 miles until you turn onto the Flapjack Lakes trail. The next four miles on the Flapjack Lakes trail is nearly all switchbacks and some are pretty steep. I decided it would be a good idea to take some good breaks on on the uphill section and keep spirits high in consideration of the heat. The trail itself was in excellent condition with the exception of the Madeline Creek bridge. The bridge looks like it took a pretty good size tree right across the middle of it. It's marked as closed but we used it anyway. It just looked a little scary and holding on to the railing is a real good idea if you want to brave it. If not, there is a detour and creek ford that has been created. We made it to the Lakes by 12:00 so it took us 4.5 hours. On Saturday, the mosquitoes weren't bad at the lakes but the biting black flies were absolutely vicious. We slathered on more bug juice but even the DEET variety didn't really slow the flies down much. Plus, I got stung by a nasty bee. By 3:30, it got hot enough to justify a swim in the lake which was really nice. We turned in for the evening without the rain fly on the tent and were surprised to be awoken to rain in the middle of the night. The weather was crystal clear again Sunday morning so the tent dried up quickly. The black flies were vicious and the mosquitoes were picking up their attacks Sunday morning so we decided to take off. It took us 3.5 hours to get back to the trailhead, where it was in the mid-80's. Another thing to mention is the campsites at the Staircase Campground are virtually always full. We spent Friday night at a pretty good and pretty cheap ($85 / night) hotel in Hoodsport called the Glen Ayr. It was about a half hour drive from that hotel to the trailhead.
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