Anderson Pass #101,Enchanted Valley,Anderson Glacier #102
Jun 23, 2004
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Anderson Pass
- Region: Olympics -- East
- Trails: Anderson Pass (#101)
- Avg Rating: 4.00
- Be Aware Of
- Bridge out
- Snow on trail
Finally went to Enchanted Valley. This was a little too much forest bottom for me, so we brough our ice axes and planned to go up to Anderson glacier. The Quinalt valley is true rainforest. We hiked in about 3 miles Friday night, camped, hiked another 10 miles Saturday to Enchanged Valley, deposited our big packs and loaded day packs, and went 6 miles and up a few thousand feet to Anderson Glacier, then headed out Sunday morning. The forest was varied enough to hold my interest throughout the valley bottom hike. Enchanted valley itself is interesting not only on account of the plunging waterfalls, but on account of being such a large meadow at only 2,000 feet. Perhaps this property accounts for the large bear population. Views open up on the way to Anderson pass and are stunning at Anderson glacier. The glacier itself was snow covered. Apparently the glacier is receding and the lake at its base growing so fast that none of our sources agreed on the exact size of the lake and the end of the trail. I'm writing this several days later at work, so it may sound dispassionate, but don't be fooled, this is an awesome hike, especially for big tree, moss, and rushing river lovers.
We got in /big trouble/ for leaving our overnight packs with food in them. We told a ranger we would turn back immediately, but went ahead to Anderson glacier. When we got back he had taken the packs and barely decided not to give us a citation. We reasoned it would be okay since we were only leaving the pack unattended during the day and in a populated area, but he assured us that this was not safe. I advise everyone to hang all unattended food of any type. We were being stupid. Oh, and we saw two bears coming back from Anderson Pass.
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