Had a really pleasant stroll through the Staircase area today, wanting to get in a dayhike without much elevation gain. We had never visited the area before so we kind of did a "wing it" and chose the Skokomish Trail generally. Using Cairn we were able to understand the Rapids loop was an easy extension to the original plan.
The trail overall is pretty flat up to Spike Camp, where we turned around and headed out. It was about 90 minutes of hiking each way, though we stopped a lot for photos and video. The streams/creeks are quite lovely right now.
The trail was not packed per se, but had plenty of dayhikers, backpackers, and trail runners. Surprisingly, saw some tourists smoking cigarettes and some other visitors (presumably college kids from nearby Olympia) smoking pot near the rapids. I guess what you might expect from a national park experience!
Will have to return this summer given how many longer and more challenging trails are around. But for now, this is a beautiful place to have a memory of.
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