Dry Creek — Thursday, Jun. 20, 2024

Beautiful sunny and warm day to spend on the Olympic peninsula on the border of ONP. I hiked the Dry Creek Trail to the Ridgeline just blow Dry Mountain starting from the TH nearest Staircase park entrance. Nothing spectacular about this trail, but nonetheless, it was beautiful woodland, some old grow, a pleasant stream crossing, a peekaboo view of lake Cushman from the ridge, and complete solitude. Start trail by walking down the private road and following “Trail” signs. Other than two people on the trail, I had it to myself. There are several down logs, but each have a notch for climbing over which made it fun. occasionally, the trail disappeared slightly below vegetation, but still easy to follow. No grand view from the top. Once on Ridgeline, not worth following trail to the end as it only drops down to the second trailhead. Fording Dry Creek pretty easy: follow obvious cut in to the creek off main trail and look for pink flagging on other side, which is where the trail picks up again. 4 hrs to ridge, 3 hrs back, 3K elevation gain.