Today 07Jan2021 is another beautiful day - weather ~40s_F and rain-free .. and so off i went to Quilcene_WA to hike the National Forest Mt Walker Trail #894 (more information at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/olympic/recarea/?recid=47893
The Gate was closed (for the season). When i arrived ~11:45, there were 5 vehicles parked “before” the Gate. And when i departed ~15:00, there were 6 other vehicles. During my ~3+ hours on Mt Walker Trail, i only encountered a total of:
12x people, 3x dogs, 1x squirrel, and 2x birds - and all were very friendly :)
The Trail is well-maintained and well-constructed - thank U’all National Forest! Except for a few small muddy spots, the Trail was generally somewhat “dry” - which is quite surprising (for me) .. it seems as if the recent almost daily snow or rain had “missed” the Mt Walker area :P
Though the Grade (incline) can occasionally range to a “steep” ~25_degrees (as described by National Forest), it was do-able for me - cos i slow-hiked and took lots of breaks (to catch my breadths). Also, the Switchbacks did help moderate the incline. A consolation for the tedious steep ascend is the near effortless descend (though do be cautious cos there are some exposed roots, small rocks and stones to watch out for .. to not trip-over or slip-and-fall). Btw, at ~1.5 Mile from the Trailhead, there’s a blow-down - a single tree across the Trail - passable though.
Lots of peace, quiet and solitude walking through the lovely green forest - i sometimes felt as if i was hearing the sound of its silence. The views at the North Viewpoint and South Viewpoint are incredibly beautiful (despite the somewhat cloudy weather). There’s the view of (a few of) the Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound and islands, in the distanced - Mt Baker and Mt Rainier too.
Happy Trails Everyone! :)
Comments