Graves Creek, Six Ridge & North Fork Skokomish River — Saturday, Jul. 24, 2021

We started up Graves Creek around noon on July 24. There are many downed trees to crawl over or under, but fairly easy to get past. There is a bad gully at about 3 miles. If you look up the gully you will see disturbed soil that indicates a better way to get out of the gully and back on the trail. The first ford at 3.5 miles is directly across Graves Creek; don't cross Success Creek. The trail is always brushy, but the worst section is between the two fords. It is easy to miss a switchback (we did) and end up off route in the forest. The trail is hard to see, but pretty distinct, so you'll notice when you are not on it. We camped at the second ford the first night and watched Juncos catching emerging bugs. Neither of the fords are difficult.

The next day we started up the hill to Sundown Lake. The grade is not difficult, but the trail is very brushy. When we broke into the meadow where the South Fork Skok trail junction is it was filled with Beargrass and Avalanche lilies, which were blooming all the way to the eastern edge of Six Ridge. We took a break at Sundown Lake and saw salamanders and nice sized trout swimming. We met a couple of fastpackers descending between the lake and Six Ridge Pass. They had planned a loop up the Skok and down the Quinault, but couldn't route find fast enough to maintain the pace they needed. At Six Ridge Pass we could see Mt. Rainier.

We dropped down to McGravey Lakes for lunch in the shade of a twin Mountain Hemlock. Swifts were streaking across the lake, leaving tiny wakes where their beaks touched the water. After a lot of up and down and several wet meadows we arrived at Belview, where we camped the second night. Lots of bear sign, but we didn't see any. After Belview there is no water until you get to Seven Stream.

After Belview and more up and down the trail hits the actual ridge and runs it for a couple of glorious miles. There were two small snowfields on the north side, but the snow was soft and disappearing quickly. The trail passes in and out of forested sections alternating with meadows. The logs from Six Ridge Pass to the eastern drop-off were cut by a WTA BCRT (thanks Becca and Martin!) in 2019, and this was the easiest part of the trip, but still brushy. As we descended to Seven Stream I counted 25 logs on the trail, but nothing that slowed us down. (We were going slow already.)

The last night we camped at Seven Stream and watched a female Harlequin duck and her brood working the riffles in the Skokomish.

In the morning we started the easy hike down to Staircase, and took the Staircase Rapids Nature Trail to get to the campground. It was awesome, especially the 14 foot diameter Cedar tree. Don't miss it. 

This trip could easily be done fast packing in a day. But it's a great example of a trail worth savoring by going slow enough to smell the flowers.