Trip Reports

What a day this turned out to be! I woke up grumpy but my husband woke up even grumpier and I was glad to get out of the house. I was also excited because the wild life gates opened two days ago and now I could hike three trails that had been closed off to me all winter.

By 10 AM I was almost to the Upper Trail Head and I was so excited that I managed to get my self stuck in the snow. I did my usual routine, put firewood and sticks under my tires. But my darn Jeep just would not budge. I tried every trick I know but I could not get my Jeep to move a centimeter in either direction. I got cold and wet trying to get unstuck but I never got nervous. At worst I felt annoyed and embarrassed. It was still early in the day so not too many cars would be coming my way.

I decided to rest a bit, make one more attempt to get unstuck and then hoof it out the main dirt road to look for help. I was so relaxed about being stuck that I almost fell asleep. I had plenty of food and water, a cook stove and a thermos full of hot tea. I also had lawn chairs, fire wood and a blanket so if worst came to worst and I had to spend the night out there I would be comfortable. I knew it was not going to come to that though.

After my nap I got out and started to try to get unstuck one last time and it was then that a van appeared. It was a van full of brush pickers and they came to my rescue. I had been hoping for someone with a monster truck to come by and pull me out but that van load of brush pickers was a very welcome sight. There were six men and one woman in the van and it took them one hour to get me dug out of the snow! I had high centered the Jeep so bad that the tires were basically up in the air and could not get any traction. There was bare road all around me but I still managed to get high centered. I bet those nice brush pickers thought I was one crazy gringo!

It was noon by the time I got out of there. Part of me wanted to just go home thinking that I had enough excitement in the woods for one day but the hiker in me won out. I tried to drive up to Spider Lake but there was too much snow there so I turned around and drove down to the Lower trail head.

There was a huge group of WTA trail workers on the trail. Some of them were very efficient young woman. I spent time talking to the more relaxed older folks in the crew. They had logged out the trail for the first four miles and they had two more work parties planned for later in the year. I took some pictures of the trail workers and have posted them on my blog at http://mosswalks.blogspot.com

Thank you WTA!

I did my usual 9 mile loop hike utilizing both the trail and the road. The first four miles of the trail were easy going but the next mile was tougher. There are still massive mud slides, blow downs and wash outs to contend with.

The forest service has started to do it's logging up there but it does not look too bad.

9 miles round trip with 600 Feet Elevation gain.

I took my packgoats for a day hike and went in about 3 ½ miles on the Lower South Fork Skokomish River trail from the LaBar horse camp trailhead.

The South Fork Skokomish River trail is west of the southern tip of Hood Canal. Access is via the West Skokomish Valley Road. Then via forest road 23 which angles off and up to the right 5.4 miles up the valley. While FS road 23 is initially ‘paved’ the first mile or so is full of potholes. The next mile or so is good gravel, then back to pavement with a few slumps. There was still some snow in the ditches along the road, but around the trailhead it was snow free.

The Lower South Fork Skokomish River trail has some really nice stands of true old growth. The trilliums are in bloom and a few yellow violets.

The first couple of miles of trail is in pretty good shape; small wash-outs at the first couple of stream crossings and one place where the stream runs down the trail for a couple hundred feet. There were a couple trees down but no problem. At about 2 miles a stretch of snow about 1/3 mile long started. The snow had pulled a lot of vine maple down over the trail which made the going a little slower. After that section I did not run into any more snow as far as I went.

At the 3 mile marker I started running into bigger trees down across the trail. At about 3 1/3 miles the was a slide/washout followed by 3 large trees across the trail. The board of the old trail was visible about 75 ft down slope, and made a pretty easy way to go down and around these trees. I turned around at a large washout / slide at about 3 ½ miles. It looked like it would not be too hard to get through, but it was turn around time.

Back at the trailhead I got my first mosquito bite of the year.

This is a great early season hike and the trilliums are quite pretty now.

Anybody who wants a tour of the impact that winter storms can make should head about six miles up this trail. My friend and I set out to make a 20 mile day trip but were thwarted by huge blow downs, trail washouts, snow and finally a big fresh looking bear track! The first few miles in are lovely but at about mile 4 or 5, you will start to encounter large trees blown down over the trail and knee deep snow in large patches. At about mile 6 or so, the trail washes out completely and from there on out, it's more route finding than anything else with the trail coming in and out of focus. The trail consistently follows the river so it isn't a matter of getting lost but it is definitely time consuming and somewhat frustrating when you are trying to log some longer miles before summer!

More snow then I have ever seen up here. Snow is starting to melt though. The snow on the road is heavy and wet and difficult to drive in. I could not get my Jeep with snow tires down the road to Brown's Creek Campground because the snow was so deep that my front axle was rubbing on it.

The trail makes for a good snowshoe hike at the moment but getting to the trail head is a bit dodgy. They were plowing FS-23 all the way past Spider Lake earlier this month but they have now stopped plowing.

One large blow down from the Dec 3 storm has been cleared from the trail but once you get past the 2.5 mile mark the going gets tough with lots of blow downs and alder trees heavy with snow blocking the trail. The 120 access trail has a large double tree blow down blocking it.

Today I got to test out my new snow tires and I'm pleased. I never would have tried to drive in this much snow with out them.

There was about 16 inches of snow at the trail head and I did a lot of post holing. I only made it 5 miles round trip but my legs feel sore. When I stopped to decide if I was too cold and needed to turn around a tree lobbed an ice ball at my head. That made up my mind. Before I turned around I was sinking up to the top of my thighs in the snow. This was only when I had to go off trail to avoid trees. Alder trees bent over the trail formed impenetrable barriers in several places.

The weather changed from sunny and bright to dreary and gray several times. The snow on the ground was melting but snow was still falling from the sky. That always makes for a cold wet hike.

On my drive out I saw dozens of people enjoying the snow. A lot of families had parked on the side of the road and built toasty campfires. The adults stood or sat around the fires while the kids went sledding. I want to try that some time.

http://mosswalks.blogspot.com

I'm pretty sure that all of last year's damage to the trail was cleaned up and all the damage I saw today was fresh. Past the 2 mile mark and beyond there are many trees down blocking the trail. I had to go well off the trail to get around blow downs.

About 200 feet of the trail has been washed out by the river and an extensive re-route will be required to fix the trail. The washout is just past where my topo maps shows that the camp comfort shelter used to be.

I hiked out on the road via the spur trail just past camp comfort that up to the 2353. By hiking out on the road I turn the hike into a 9 mile loop. The road is washed out in several places. A crew was up there working on the road. The forest service is going to do some logging up there and then sell the trees to a biodiesel plant so the road will be repaired.

The road washouts on 2353 will not prevent access to the dry creek or the dry creek extension trail once they open the gates back up. But there could well be other washouts on other roads leading to hoses trail heads.

Forest Service road 23 is washed out before Spider Lake but it will be repaired soon.

Anyway I had a lovely hike and got some good exercise climbing over all the blow downs. All the bridges that were good last year are still good this year.



http://mosswalks.blogspot.com

Delightful trail through big old growth. Trail is in excellent shape with no blowdowns. Most bridges are out but we had no trouble using logs or hopping over streams. Walked 4 miles in. Best trees are in the first mile. Can seem like you are deep in the wilderness though it is really only a narrow strip of big trees along the river. Good winter hike--try to miss the flooding!

The Elk Lake trail is a nice but short trail. Very nice old growth doug fir and cedar line the trail. Too bad the trail does not go all the way around the lake. We only went to the creek crossing and back but we really enjoyed our walk.

You can get there via the Jorstad Creek road now, but we drove up from Lake Cushman on the 24 and had quite a fun adventure on those back roads. You can also get there via the Hamma Hamma road.

I think this trail used to be part of the Jefferson Ridge Trail.

There are traces of snow on the road at the Lower Ellinor trail head already. From the road we could see that Ellinor / Washington are blanketed in snow.

As for the Lower Skok my forest ecology class at Evergreen goes there every Friday and there are 54 of us (including two grad students and our instructors). If you want solitude avoid that trail every Friday until after December 14th. Don't expect to find any mushrooms there either!

The Skok was running high this week and shallow water was running across the Skokomish Valley Road in the usual two places.



http://mosswalks.blogspot.com

Sunday I took my packgoats for a day hike on the lower South Fork Skokomish river trail starting at the Labar trailhead on FS road 2353. The South Fork Skokomish river trail is west of the southern tip of Hood Canal.

This is a beautiful easy hike through some sections of true old growth forest. The Trilliums were out. The trail was in pretty good shape except for a washout at a stream crossing at about 1 1/2 miles in and several blow downs. I turned around at about 2 ¾ miles where there were 3 trees in a pile across the trail that would have taken a little time to get the goats through.

I walked down forest service road 2353 and then back up the trail for a 13 mile loop. It could have been done as a 10-12 mile loop I think. I did not plan to do this hike as a loop but that's how it worked out after I got curious about where different spur trails go.

This trail is in need of a lot of work. There were many blow downs and it would be easy to lose the trail in some places. Some of the huge old growth there fell this year but most of it is still standing. In a couple of places it's a bit tricky to cross drainages because of their now very steep sides. All the bridges that were ok last year are still ok this year.

Blow downs start at the 1/2 mile mark and get worse and worse.

Don't even think about taking a horse here.

A friend and I made it out to the South Fork of the Skokomish River on Thursday to hike the Lower South Fork trail, riverside to about 3.25 miles in. This is an easy hike and not difficult to find so I'll omit trailhead directions. Road conditions to the trailhead were fine with tire tracks through the roughly five inches of snow covering the road. The tracks themselves were quite icy but the go was not a problem. There were many blowdowns covering the trail, some requiring some difficult scrambling to overcome. Be prepared for water covering the trail and multiple bridge wash-outs. A majority of the trail was snow covered with a few inches but no need for snowshoes; gaiters may come in handy but certainly not required. Passed a group of five camping riverside. The weather held, remaining mostly sunny although a bit on the chilly side (mid 30s probably). Completed hike wearing sweats, t-shirt and fleece pullover.

We went two miles down the trail starting at the Le Bar Horse Camp trailhead. The trail is dry and dusty and covered with horse poop. I've never seen it this dry on this trail. I've also never seen so much horse poop in this trail. In some spots the dust and desiccated stock manure was several inches deep.

There are no blow downs and the trail is well maintained and very wide except for a few steep muddy sections where the trail drops down to cross a stream.

Dayhiked the Lower South Fork Skokomish on Saturday. Left Shoreline 3:55am and with two brief stops arrived at trailhead 6:05 AM. By the way, road 23 repeatedly slumps along its length not that it is dangerous but looks like just a matter of time before pieces drop off. Hit trail around 6:20am. Trail is straight up for a few hundred yards but then levels off and proceeds downhill to groves of enormous trees. First miles of trail are gorgeous woods, mossy bigleaf maples and rows of giant douglas firs. Much more rainforest-like than the north Skokomish. Nice campsites around mile 1.5 - 2. Trail is in good shape with typical debris for this time of year, a few streams to hop, and a few larger trees at mile 5.5 where the trail curves around the 200 foot bluff. Sunny day so I had chances to view upstream to Church Mt, Wonder Mt, Chapel peak. Would have made nice pics if I could figure out how to not overexpose. Chapel peak pic attached for what its worth. Series of aging, picturesque bridges with waterfalls between miles 2 and 4. A few snowy patches on trail past Church shelter area. Also, one fir of about 8' diameter that fell over but not on trail making a grand archway. Miles of trail approaching the upper crossing are less spectacular than the first. I reached trail end at busted bridge around 11am. Lunched and lounged until leaving around noon. I trotted most of way back arriving at car 3pm. Maybe 16 miles total; nice early season hike particularly the first half of the trail. A few other parties met in final 2 miles as I returned. Wildlife: not much to speak of though a couple of ravens were croaking near camp at mile 1.5, and also making this odd horn-like sound.

My daughter Lori and I along with our hiking companions, Sophia & Kendal (dogs), drove up to the trailhead for the Lower South Fork of the Skokomish River trail, #873. I had never been in that area before and Lori had wanted to take me there. We arrived at the trailhead about 8:30 a.m.. There is a nice size parking lot on both sides of the road and a fairly new toilet.

The trail is in really nice shape, you climb quite a bit at the biginning, then drop and walk along the river bottom in such a beautiful area, lots of old growth trees, ferns, etc... Everything is so green this year it seems, just wonderful. The waterfalls along the trail, there were 3 in the section that we did I believe, are beautiful. We saw a couple of baby birds, robin and swallow, out of their nest, on the ground, with mom throwing a fit when we walked by. No, the two dogs did not bother them, but of course we had them under control. We also saw one salamander crawling along the trail.

We wanted to hike to Camp Comfort, but arrived at the 4 1/2 mile mark and did not see where it might be. According to the book, should have been at 4.3 miles, but did not see anything in that area. There has been washouts along the river since the book was written, 2000, so I am sure that Camp Comfort that we were looking for was not there. Of course we may have overlooked it, but don't think so. There are mile markers on the trees about every 1/2 mile and that is nice when you are trying to figure out where something is or where you are headed. If some of the historic places are still in the area, would be nice if they are marked.

The weather was overcast, but no rain and the sun did come out while we ate our lunch out by the river, so nice and peaceful.

There are several branches off the main trail so you need to keep on the main one. We did take one branch trail coming back, we wanted to see where it led, well it led finally to a single tract road, and finally up to FS2353. I was beginning to think that we might have to stay in the woods for the night, would be ok with me. After coming out on FS2353, we had about a mile to walk on the road, past the Le Bar Horse Camp, and then on down to our van and the trailhead.

There have been people working on the bridges on the trail, new sections put in, looks really great. There is one rotten tree that has fallen across the trail, can get around it, may have fallen since the trail was worked on. Just a couple of places where there is a tiny bit of mud on the trail, other than that in great shape.

Both Lori and I want to go back and backpack the entire trail all the way to the Wynoochee Lake area, would be a beautiful trip.

This trail has seen a hard winter. Clear for the first 3 miles or so until you begin to encounter LOTS of downed trees, plus a couple of large sections near the river that have been washed away. Some re-routing efforts are in evidence but a lot more clearing will be needed to get this trail back in good shape. At about nine miles, the log bridge across the river is canted and super risky to cross; it's looks like it might collapse any time. Some one has posted a sign which reads 'Bridge Unsafe -- Do Not Use' and there are no real ford opportunities either, so expect to return the way you came.

Mountain bikers, check for trail conditions before attempting this one in the near future: What should have required an easy couple of hours out-and-back took my partner and I six hours plus, with LOTS of bike carrying/dragging. :-(

I have hiked this trail many times over the years. It's always a nice easy trail to start the hiking season with. For those who are interested in a pretty old growth easy trail, this is one for you. The trail head starts with a switchback that climbs into second growth trees. Here the hiker may see signs of Elk and deer scat along the way as Elk and deer are in this area. The trail follows along the ridge and drops down to the Skokomish river below. The hiker will pass huge old growth trees draped in moss. Lovely tall maple trees which at this time of year are bare of leaves. The trail follows the river upstream. Easy going trail with places that the hiker can stop at the river and enjoy lunch out on the sandbars. Look for plenty of Elk and Deer tracks. Campsites are located here and there off the trail. The hiker will cross many streams and creeks which feed into the Skokomish. The only flowers which are blooming at this time are the Trilliums. They are scattered here and there along the sides of the trail. The trail is about 10 miles in length. Nice trail for families with children. Also old Rover can come along too and enjoy himself for the day. If one sits quietly and for a long time, Elk or Deer can at times be observed crossing the river. However one has to be very quiet in order for this event to happen. Also take time to enjoy the huge old growth trees that live in the area. Some are estimated to be 600-800 years old. A lovely sight to look at and marvel at as well.

As others have noted, this trail climbs steeply, briefly, then is pretty flatish as it follows near (but not aside) the river through pleasant forest. bridges on the trail are in poorish condition, but all are dealt with easily by either crossing gingerly or circumventing entirely. on a cold day waterproofed boots seem wise but not absolutely required for the nimble. the trail was a wee bit muddy -- but it showed evidence that it could be much worse. our recent weeks have been wet, yet the trail was surprisingly dry, so i am left puzzled as to what meteorological conditions make the trail get as bad. but whatever they are, be certain that in some mysterious weather condition this trail would likely require a bit of wading and a few long patches of deep muck. unlike another trail reporter, i didn't see a herd of 14 elk. i feel gyped! all a saw was a lousy nuthatch and a woodpecker, a couple troups of 60-year olds and a couple mountainbikers. at least the sun came out.

Decided to try one last Olympic peninsula hike before the weather gets bad. Wanted to do the upper trail (873.1) but the wildlife gate was closed which meant it would be a 4 mile hike just to get to the trailhead. We decided to go back to the lower trailhead. The beginning of the hike climbs a little and then decends steeply to the river. Actually the trail hardly goes by the river except in a few places. The highlights of this trail are some nice big old-growth trees and some nice side creeks with some small waterfalls. Went to the damaged bridge (about 3.5 miles in) and turned around. A nice side trip on the way there was the steel bridge over the Skokomish. This is a bridge originally built for a railroad in the 1920s. The deck is now a one lane car bridge. The bridge is over 400 feet above the river valley and its pretty spectacular. Check it out if you get the chance.

Repeated trip I did a month ago. This time my companion was my daughter Hannah, visiting from Pittsburgh.

There was no snow on the road. There was a little rain in the morning as we started out, then it stopped and we had a a few sun breaks. We went some ways past mile 4 and found a nice place for lunch: a big log perched on a gravel bar. Trees were trying to leaf out, but not there yet. No snow was on the trail, but it was muddier than last month. This time I had running shoes on, and did get my feet wet. Hannah, wisely, wore her boots.

There were several fresh trees fallen across the trail (wind or earthquake), including one about 5 feet in diameter just beyond mile 4. It had room to go under.

We had about a mile of trail left on our return, beginning to climb the hump at that point, when we saw a herd of about fourteen elk wandering through the wetland below. It was a nice finishing touch to a great outing.

Crisp, clear late-winter day. Friend Jay and I got out of Olympia a little before 9am and were on the trail at 10. Some snow and ice on the road, fast disappearing, nothing my Prelude had trouble with. A few blowdowns, one big one (a ""double"") at about 2.5 miles, climb over or go around, take your pick. No significant delay. Stopped for lunch near mile 4, sat in bright sun on riverbank. Beautiful. Turned around and were out at 2:10 pm. Broad-leaf trees not in leaf yet, there are great views of the river and of the numerous huge old growth trees. There is a lot of mature 2nd growth. Old stumps have springboard notches.

Some patches of granular frozen snow from about mile 2 to mile 4. Jay, in running shoes, didn't get his feet wet. Bridges mostly in good shape, a few broken or rotten planks. Streams easy to cross with dry feet.

Encountered USFS personnel on the way out. Apparently USFS is acquiring the Simpson inholding that touches the river at about mile 2; they were looking for survey monuments.

Very nice trail, lots of large trees and river views. Trail in great condition, went 2 1/2 miles in, few mud holes. Don't let steep start fool you, most of this hike is level along the river with lots of good picnic spots.

Trail in great condition, recently maintained, at least the first 2 1/2 miles that I did. Perfect early-season hike, only rare patches of snow and not even very muddy thanks to gravelly soil. Easy terrain as well, good for reminding winter-weary legs what it’s like to carry that pack. I actually left the trail and walked the river’s wide sand & gravel bars much of the way up. Note: Trail Park Pass required at both trailheads.

Saturday, Dec. 21, 1998

Snowed on me a little. Trail is in OK shape, with some downed trees and two tricky stream crossing. Snow in spots but not too deep. Magnificent old-growth forest, a great contrast to the lower valley which has been raped and plundered by Simpson timber and others.

Saw a bald eagle at 4.5 mile point but no elk. According to the trail sign in, hikers the previous weekend saw an elk. I had the place all to myself but that was explained when I got back to the car and found the road covered with 1-2 inches of snow!

if there is snow on the road: There is one steep place in the road which makes a 4x4 necessary if you are to access the trailhead

trail hooks into the upper Skokomish river trail at 4.5 mile point. according to Custom Correct, there is a camp at the 4.5 mile point but it wasn't evident on this particular day.

Easy trail with only a few minor ups and downs to get around bends in the river.