We hiked from the Upper Big Quilcene trailhead to Marmot Pass where we spent two nights. Side hikes up Buckhorn Mountain and to Constance Pass.

Trailhead to Marmot Pass: Parking lot was mostly full on a Wednesday morning, but still lots of space along the road. Toilet in good shape. The trail was a steady incline, well maintained and easy going. There were sites open at Mystery Camp Wednesday afternoon, but things looked very full by that night and on Thursday. We camped at Marmot Pass, a dry camp, so went down to Mystery for water. At Marmot Pass there were spaces open Wednesday, but by Friday established sites were mostly full.

Buckhorn Mountain: this is a walk-up hike, but steep and loose rock as the WTA description says. I found poles helpful. The views from the top were spectacular -- even though much of Mount Constance was shrouded in clouds, the strait was visible.

Trail to Constance Pass via Boulder Camp and Home Lake: This is a great, long day hike from Constance Pass, with varied views and terrain. The trail was in good condition the whole way, no obstacles. The south side of the pass was socked in so no views, although still worth the climb to see Mt Constance up close and the views to the north.

Smoke notice: the second evening we had significant smoke come in from the 2620 Road fire in the Duckabush/Mt Jupiter area. The fire had started the day before. Smoke patterns are strange, we saw no smoke the whole day between Marmot and Constance passes, but as soon as we turned towards the Quilcene valley at the pass it was quite heavy. People staying at Camp Mystery that night reported only slight smoky smell, nothing like what we had at higher altitude. In any case, be aware that there may be smoke impact, depending on conditions. The next morning we had no smoke for our hike out.

Four-day backpack from the Upper Dungeness TH to Boulder Shelter, day hike to 6500' high point south of Constance Pass, back to Boulder Shelter, backpack to Marmot Pass, side trip up Buckhorn Peak, camp at Copper Creek, side trip up Tull Canyon Trail and exit at Tubal Cain TH.

The hike from the Upper Dungeness TH to Boulder Shelter passed through a lovely second-growth forest along the scenic Dungeness River. There were other hikers, but not busy at our early afternoon start. At Boulder Shelter, the two camp spots, one by/in the shelter and another in the meadow were taken. We hiked ~0.10 miles up the Home Lake trail to another forested site with enough room for two tents.

Day 2 consisted of a day hike up to Home Lake, Constance Pass and further to the 6500' high point. Alpine flowers were in full bloom. The views of the Olympics, Puget Sound, and other WA volcanos like Rainier were breathtaking. Back at camp, we moved our tents to Boulder Shelter for better scenery.

Day 3 we climbed up to Marmot Pass, dropped our packs and day-hiked up to Buckhorn Mtn. The trail is very steep with loose rock and a scramble near the top. Hikers we met on the way down suggested taking the Tubal Cain trail past Buckhorn Peak, then the trail back south, as it is not nearly as steep, and when we later saw that option, agreed that would be a better route. This day was cloudy with some haze in the distance, but again, the views were still amazing. Mt Baker was now visible.

We planned to camp at Buckhorn Lake but didn't hear great things and had time so we continued to Copper Creek. We took the long route past the Buckhorn Lake junction and regretted adding the extra distance for what seemed to be no purpose. We were pleasantly surprised by the expansive, forested camps at Copper Creek. Exploring the Tubal Cain Mine required water shoes to slosh through near-freezing water as well as a headlamp.

On our final day, we explored a side route about 0.25 miles from camp where we found an old pipe coming down from the mine toward the trail. There is a footpath which follows this pipe. We day-hiked up the Tull Canyon trail to the B17 crash site and a way beyond to check out the scenic canyon. There were found more mosquitos, having only seen a few until then. 

We were fortunate to meet someone at the Tubal Cain TH who generously gave us a ride back to our car at the Upper Dungeness TH.

Started on bikes on the Dosewallips River Road, which is cumbersome with hiking packs on, but doable :) NPS already has broken down and removed the old Ranger Station, and is working on the bathrooms, and seem to have taken the bike rack out as well, so we locked up to some trees. 

The Dosewallips River Trail is in great shape and well traveled. We turned off toward Constance Pass to slog up the 3k-ish feet up to Sunnybrook Meadows. This trail is pretty overgrown with low-lying scratchy salal, and swampy in places, but is not difficult to follow. 

Our goal was to day hike the next day to Charlia Lake, but we kept hearing about how great the ridge was up by the pass, and that you could hike along it for miles - as far as Royal Basin even. Well, we gave it a shot! We pretty quickly hit a rocky tower that didn't seem easy to pass. Another group had descended into a snowfield below it, but that didn't seem too fun, so we abandoned the ridge walk idea. Another time someone will have to show us the way!

Instead we spent the day at Home Lake, taking a wonderful swim! Then returned and spent a second night at Sunnybrook Meadow before hiking out the next day. So fun biking back down in a flash! 

This trip report is just for section of the Eastbound Pacific Northwest Trail we did through the Olympics with hopefully a helpful pass report for those hoping to trail run or backpack the Olympic Grand Loop this July. 

Dirt Road from Hurricane Ridge to Obstruction Point is closed to cars for road work but open for hikers to do a exposed, hot road walk. This also means that we saw two parties in the whole Grand Valley area (Grand Lake, Moose Lake, Gladys Lake) because the trail is now a much longer hike in. 

Trail was in great condition except for Cameron Creek trail and Cameron Creek up to Upper Cameron Creek Basin Camp (quite a bit of bushwhacking and all of the snow melt turned the trail to streams at point). Mosquitos are biting at the lakes. 

NO SNOW GEAR was required on Grand Pass, Cameron Pass, Lost Pass, Constance Pass, etc. We'd brought ice axes because we'd heard conflicting news when we first started our thru hike but never needed them or traction. 

Grand Pass: North Side has two maybe ~10m length patches of snow left on low-consequence areas and they all included a boot track/were easily crossed. The south side has a lot of loose scree switchbacks but no snow to worry about. 

Cameron Pass: North side also has two patches of snow that were fast melting. The scree switchbacks avoid almost all of the snow on the ascent. Descent on south side was fine. 

Lost Pass: Zero snow in site. 

Constance Pass: Zero snow on trail going up from Dosewallips River Trail (it's a climb) nor going down to Home Lake Camp. Might be the best pano views in the entire Olympics

Day 1: Obstruction Point Trailhead to Gladys Lake (4.9 mi)

Hurricane Ridge is currently limited, but people with a permit out of Obstruction Point are allowed through after the entrance has closed for the day. We were able to get through without trouble, but there was some complexity with our car shuttle. The car was being picked up by family, who wouldn’t have a permit of their own. The staff at the entrance were not prepared for this, so we drove back down to the visitors’ center to check in with the rangers there. The ranger at the backpacking permit desk assured us that they do this all the time and that we had nothing to worry about as long as our family members checked in there before heading up to the entrance. This did prove to be necessary, but ultimately our family didn’t have any trouble getting through after the entrance was closed.

We missed the turnoff to Obstruction Point on our first pass and had to do some backtracking. It is a very sharp right just before entering the Hurricane Ridge parking lot. The gravel road is in good condition, but the drive itself is quite harrowing due to steep drop offs. There is a pit toilet at the trail head.

The Grand Valley trail to Gladys Lake was in excellent condition and the views from Obstruction Pass were magnificent. The ~4 miles from Obstruction Point to Grand Lake was the longest stretch we went without water on the entire trip. Gladys Lake had a bear wire and no privy. There are four campsites at Gladys Lake, but the fourth is far enough up the trail that we didn’t see the turnoff for it until we set off the next day. The deer at camp were alarmingly unafraid, so definitely don’t leave any food unattended.

Day 2: Gladys Lake to Upper Cameron Camp (5.5 mi)

The hike up to grand pass was steep at times, but not overly challenging and we had no difficulty following the trail. The trail construction itself is incredible. We had drizzle throughout the morning, so I can’t comment on the views from Grand Pass. On the other side of the pass the trail continued to be easy to follow and in mostly good shape aside from some downed trees, but the grade took a turn for the alarming, averaging 1277 vertical feet per mile. The wildflowers were incredible and helped distract us from the occasionally arduous decent.

We headed right up the Cameron Creek trail, which was in worse condition than the Grand Pass Trail, with several overgrown sections, downed trees, and annoying up-and-down scrambles along the way. However, once we hit tree line, the trail conditions improved along with the views. Upper Cameron was the most scenic camp of the trip. There was no privy and no bear infrastructure, so we carried a bear canister.

Day 3: Upper Cameron Camp to Slide Creek Camp (~12 mi)

We had some difficulty finding the trail up to Cameron Pass. Past the marshland and up a short hill there is a campsite. The trail is to the left across the stream bed, not to the right in the campsite. It follows the stream, which was overflowing with a riot of blooming fireweed; some of the most magnificent wildflowers we saw. The final ascent up to the pass was easy enough to follow, but was very steep and at times looked treacherous.  Happily, the climb itself was ultimately easier than it looked from below. The view from the pass was magnificent, including both Mount Olympus and Mount Anderson.  It’s possible to take a side trail some distance up the ridge, but we didn’t do so.

More steep grades followed down towards Lost River and then up to Lost Pass. There is a campsite about a mile before Lost Pass, which was not marked on our Green Trails map, but would have comfortably fit one tent and was close to water. The descent from Lost Pass continued the trend as we plummeted to Dose Medows, where we couldn’t linger as the bugs were innumerable and biting. The Dosewallips Trail was flat and mostly easy, but there were many very, very large downed trees to navigate around and a few sections of overgrown and muddy trail. We passed Bear Camp, which had a shelter, nice river access, and privy in disrepair, so we aren’t sure if it was actually usable. Deception Camp also had a privy, although it was nearly overfull. Burdick Creek and Slide Creek Camps had no privy and none had bear infrastructure. There is only one campsite each at Burdick Creek and Slide Creek camps, while the Bear and Deception had space for multiple campers.  Note that it’s not possible to reserve a site at Burdick or Slide Creek, so we just registered at Deception Creek when setting up our permit.

Day 4: Slide Camp to Home Lake (~7 mi)

We started the day on the Dosewallips Creek Trail. The ford at Upper Twin Creek is easily passible this time of year, but we’d recommend going out of your way to take the bridge anyway for a view of the lovely Hatana Falls. At two miles, we left the Dosewallips Trail for the Constance Pass Trail, climbing quickly through magnificent old growth forest, twisting rhododendrons, and fields of Oregon grape and salal. One section of trail had been overtaken by the stream ahead of Sunnybrook Medows which was difficult to navigate and at times difficult to find.  We were unimpressed by Sunnybrook Medows Camp (no privy, no bear infrastructure) but found a beautiful overlook just past it to rest up before the final push.

The climb up to Constance pass was the most challenging leg of the trip, but the climb was beyond worth it. The view from the ridgeline over the pass was possibly the most magnificent I have ever seen, with Mount Olympus, the Sound, and even Mt Rainier looming in the distance.

This was the day we saw the least wildflowers, although there were some sections where blueberries were just starting to ripen.

Taking a quick swim in Home Lake was a welcome relief after all the climbing. The water was cool, but not too freezing. We set up camp at a site down by the lake, which was fun, but made for a very wet morning with all of the condensation. There is no privy or bear infrastructure at Home Lake.

Day 5: Home Lake to Handy Camp (~6 mi + ~3 mi side trip)

The trail was clear and easy to Boulder Camp and we ran into a WTA trail crew on the way! The evidence of their work was easy to spot and much appreciated throughout the rest of our day. Just before Boulder camp we took the turnoff (and lunch) up to the Charlia Lakes Overlook (another very steep climb). The turnoff is very badly signed, which was a theme for the trip. There are very few signposts for trails or camps along the way. There were plenty of wildflowers heading up to the Overlook and the views never stopped. We didn’t attempt the scramble down to the lakes, but we did chat with several hikers who planned to do so on our way back down.

Camp Boulder was jam packed with campers by Saturday afternoon, some of whom were not following good food storage practices, which was disappointing to see. We were told that Camp Mystery was also very full.

It was an easy and pleasant descent down to Handy Camp through pristine old growth forest. Handy Camp itself was very pleasant with plenty of stump tables and log benches. It was the most established backcountry camp I have ever used, although there still wasn’t a privy or any bear infrastructure.

Day 6: Handy Camp to Upper Dungeness River Trailhead (~4 mi)

An easy jaunt through yet more old growth forest took us out of the backcountry and back to civilization.

Overall a very challenging hike, but so much fun, with the wildflowers and incredible views keeping you going!