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Trip Report

Staircase Rapids — Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

The trail has a lot of downed trees across it and there is still a good amount of snow making it not as easy as it probably is in the summer. The road to the trail is clear but the gate is locked so it’s about a mile easy walk to the trailhead. Overall it was a very enjoyable hike, plan on going back in the summer to see the difference. 

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Comments

Hiking addict on Staircase Rapids

Thank you for your report! We were really unsure if we should go here or not.

Posted by:


Hiking addict on Feb 14, 2022 11:31 AM

Hiking addict on Staircase Rapids

Was the snow a posthole problem or hard-packed?

Posted by:


Hiking addict on Feb 14, 2022 11:33 AM

Armyscout92 on Staircase Rapids

Not sure I understand the term post hole as I’m still new to this but it was a combination of soft and hard snow some spots you would sink in but most was hard. If it wasn’t for the tracks of others the trail would be really tough to spot in the snow. It’s a doable hike just be prepared to navigate the downed trees. I had a garmin inreach explorer that kept me on track.

Posted by:


Armyscout92 on Feb 14, 2022 11:41 AM

Hiking addict on Staircase Rapids

Posthole means to sink knee-deep in soft snow. When I moved here three years ago, I had no idea what the term posthole meant. It's basically a term for sinking in snow.

Posted by:


Hiking addict on Feb 14, 2022 12:32 PM

Armyscout92 on Staircase Rapids

Yeah we encountered that some, maybe 25% of the way in stretches.

Posted by:


Armyscout92 on Feb 14, 2022 12:39 PM