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Trip Report

Big Creek — Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal
The route including the branch to Lower Trailhead and also the Lookout. Red means we were moving very slowly: snow and tree fall.

Preface: Bring a Handsaw. Remove small switches! The Big Creek Trail is under relentless repair twice a week by the Mount Rose Trail Crew (bless their ancient hearts).

The road is fine out to the junction and parking at the trailhead behind the gate was fine.

The trail clockwise or anti-clockwise is fairly clear for the first mile. Further in is rife with snow fallen trees (you can't call them blowdowns since the weight of the snow is what brought em down). In many cases the tree fell downhill and the root ball took the trail with. Consider the trail an obstacle course.

The trail connecting the Big Creek Loop to the Lower Ellinor Trailhead and also the nearby lookout is surprisingly fairly free of significant tree fall.

The Lower Ellinor Trailhead parking lot had 20 inches of snow touched only by someone who postholed to there and a pair of ski marks.

Mt Rose Trail Crew at work clearing trail in the clockwise side. Go John, Go!
Bridge damage.
Pretty darn typical of the disaster on the trail.
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