Duckabush River, Upper Duckabush, LaCrosse Basin, O'Neil Pass, Anderson Pass, West Fork Dosewallips River & Main Fork Dosewallips River — Tuesday, Sep. 1, 2020

Did a 4-day backpack of nearly 50 miles, up the Duckabush, camping at 10 Mile Camp, then continuing to Marmot Lake where I camped.  Hiked around Lacrosse Basin, then over O'Neil Pass and Anderson Pass and down the West Fork Dosewallips, camping at Big Timber, then hiking out the main Dosewallips trail and the Dosewallips Road.  Had perfect weather the whole trip, and there were just a few flies and mosquitoes.

10 Mile Camp was nice:  spacious with big trees, and just one other camper.  The Duckabush trail was in good shape as far as 5 Mile Camp.  Shortly past there, it became more brushy, and then many big blowdowns appeared.  I didn't count them, but there were dozens between 5 Mile and Upper Duckabush Camp.  Several required some scrambling to get past.  After Upper Duckabush Camp, the trail was in great shape thanks to the awesome BCRT crew that logged and brushed it in 2019 up to Marmot Lake.

There were lots of people camped at Marmot Lake.  Apparently, closure of the Staircase trailhead hadn't dampened the crowd.  I set up camp there, then dayhiked to the upper Lacrosse Basin, visiting Hart and Lacrosse Lakes.  Both were lovely, and I saw only one other hiker there.  These lakes are much more scenic than Marmot Lake, and they're just a short distance away.  I saw 3 bears in Lacrosse Basin: one that was close enough that we made eye contact before he bolted, and the other two grazing on berries farther away on high meadows.

Day 3 was my longest at 16 miles.  I hiked from Marmot Lake over O'Neil Pass, which was beautiful.  Great views from there across Lacrosse Basin to Mt. Anderson, and of Mt. Steel and Mt. Duckabush. Once over the pass, the views were great as well:  O'Neil Peak, then Mt. Anderson and Chimney Peak, and down the East Fork Quinault to Lake Quinault.  Saw two more bears there from a distance.  But the O'Neil Pass trail needs work.  It was really brushy in places, enough that it was hard to keep my feet on the tread along steep slopes.  And there were a number of blowdowns.  But roughly the bottom 2 miles of the trail had been cleared and brushed recently.  

The climb up to Anderson Pass was only 1100 feet, but it was mostly shadeless, and got pretty hot on a warm, clear day.  There's a pond at the top of the pass, which was a welcome place to replenish my water.  I had considered taking the side trip up to Anderson Glacier, but I'd already hiked far that day and still had far to go, so I decided to save that for another trip. The descent along the W. Fork Dosewallips wasn't bad:  brushy in places with a few blowdowns.  Reached Big Timber camp around 6:30 p.m.  It's a spacious site, and only one other hiker was camped there.

The hike out the last day was about 10.5 miles:  4 miles on good trail, then 6.5 miles on the closed Dosewallips Road.  There were a number of people camped at Dosewallips Campground, and I passed several other parties hiking in to camp there for Labor Day weekend.  Got to the trailhead at 1 p.m.