Marmot Pass - Upper Big Quilcene

Neither my friend or I had been up Marmot before, and although the forecast called for fog, it turned out to be barely-cloudy and beautiful for the whole weekend. The trail was moderate at its most difficult, with steep sections not lasting terribly long and established campsites being pretty frequent. Bugs weren't too prolific and we were lucky to encounter almost no wind whatsoever up on the ridge.

Things to know:
- Mystery is not your last opportunity to camp. There are established sites a ways after at your very last water source, some more in the groves around the meadow/pass itself, and even a few along the ridgeline trails. The ridgeline sites, however, are pretty low on tree cover, so be aware of that one a windy day.
- As mentioned above, the last water source in the later portion of the season is a ways beneath the pass; not terribly convenient if you're camped up in the ridgeline. Either bring at least 3 liters of water a person to the ridge per night, or plan on making water runs. We were told that there is snow up there much of the rest of the season, however.
- This past weekend, there were a lot of hunters, with and without stock animals. Lots of stock animal urine and feces along the trail as a result. Occasional gun shots, though nothing wanton. There were a lot of people in general.

Overall I'd say that this was an extremely rewarding hike for its tame difficulty. I'd definitely come back here, although - if I had it to do over again - I'd take two cars and park one at each end so we could hike straight through.