Enchanted Valley
May 30, 2003
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Enchanted Valley
- Region: Olympics -- West
- Avg Rating: 3.33
This hike has clearly regained its popularity with the new foot bridge over Graves Creek (Nice one too. Don’t believe the “thin log” referenced on the Park’s web site) and the rerouting of the river crossing into Enchanted Valley (you can now cross on a series of logs vs. fording).
The wildlife was in abundance, though not nearly the number of bears as last year. I suspect the influx of people into the area has influenced this greatly. A mother with very young cubs is residing in the area (and should not be disturbed), and another bear makes cameo appearances in the area of the upper meadows. Bears were sighted around Pyrites Creek, No-Name Creek and at the stock gate before Enchanted Valley, though not by us. We did find fresh scat around Pyrites Creek on our exit.
A large number (40?) of Canadian Geese are making the river in Enchanted Valley their home, sunning and sleeping all day along the riverbed rocks. In the evening they take off, forming the largest “V” I have witnessed.
The herd of elk is also constantly present, though quite skittish. I learned a disappointing trick in photographing them. Every time I bent down to pull film out of the Ziploc bag in my pack, I would look up to see the curious elk taking several steps toward me with its head cocked slightly. I would then photograph it some more before it began to retreat, and then we would go through the process all over again. It finally occurred to me that it was the “wrapper” sound that my Ziploc film bag was attracting them. Associating wrapper noise with food leads me to suspect that people have been feeding them. I hope this is not the case. There is a sign posted on the chalet that a couple of bears have had to be destroyed the last couple of years for this reason. This would also explain the declining number this year, though I’m not certain how old the sign is.
The trail to the Western Hemlock is completely snow-free, though snow was reported shortly thereafter.
Photos will eventually be posted at www.mountainscenes.com (I am behind in my deadlines and must prioritize tasks, unfortunately. You may currently view many from last year’s visit however).
Don Geyer
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