I traversed Six Ridge from the North Fork of the Skokomish, to its junction with the Graves Creek trail, and then descended the Graves Creek trail to the Graves Creek campground.
After fording Seven Stream, the trail through the forest and along the ridge was pretty easy to follow. It was very bushy, so you couldn’t always see the trail (or your feet), but the trail was there. Eventually the trail goes across the top of the ridge, which is very pretty. I crossed a few snow fields when nearing the top of the ridge, but was able to make out the trail on the other side.
Near the high point of the ridge, there is a sign for Lake Success one way and Belview the other. I wasn’t sure which way the trail continued, but knew I needed to get to Belview to camp. I descended the direction pointing towards Belview, and camped at the first spot I saw (I was tired). It turns out the nearest stream is at least a half mile downhill from the first site. I’m not even sure if that was “Belview” proper.
Later that evening, a group came through with a Green Trails map that showed the offshoot trail to Lake Success, and I learned I needed to stay on the trail I was on to continue on Six Ridge. Neither my USGS Caltopo map nor my National Geographic Illustrated map showed this side trail to Lake Success. They ended up camping on the far side of the stream, a bit below the trail, where I had noticed what seemed like some sites in the forest.
The following morning, after about 20 minutes of walking, I reached what may be actual Belview- some prominent campsites near a stream in a meadow, with sort of views. After Belview, the Six Ridge trail stays below the ridge, crossing through a series of meadows before going uphill towards Six Ridge pass. The meadows are pretty, but wet and hard to navigate. I guessed right all but once, and was quickly able to return to the trail.
After Six Ridge pass, you get good views of Mount Olympus and the trail is easy to follow. I got water at a stream flowing out of Lake Sundown, crossed a few more meadows, and then started heading down the Graves Creek drainage.
Between the junction with Sundown Pass and the Graves Creek trailhead, I counted 107 blowdowns. Some were very large logs, and I had to take my pack off and pull it through. There was also a lot of mud in boggy sections, which went up to my ankles at times. I ended up walking through both fords with my shoes on to clean them off. The beta to go uphill at the large washout is correct, but I initially went too high. I tried to go back and build some cairns to show where people should turn from going uphill and actually cross the washout.
Despite the obstacles, the Graves Creek trail is very pretty, and I will likely return to spend some more time at some of the waterfalls I hurried past.
This trip was part of a bigger loop involving Enchanted Valley, O’Neil pass, and First Divide. But I’ve focused on Six Ridge and Graves Creek here because they were the hardest sections to follow.
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