Mount Townsend, Silver Lakes, Tubal Cain Mine to Buckhorn Lake, Tubal Cain Mine, Buckhorn Mountain, Marmot Pass, Marmot Pass via Upper Dungeness River Trail, Lower Dungeness River, Hawk Peak & Little Quilcene River — Saturday, Jul. 27, 2024

Have never backpacked in the Olympics, so headed off for a three day tour of the Buckhorn Wilderness, experiencing a wonderful variety of forest, terrain, creatures, unusual sights and endless wildflowers.

TL;DR;

• Route:
  • From Tubal-Cain TH, up Dirtyface Ridge (#835), over Mt Townsend (#839), down to Silver Lake (#842, camp I), off-trail scramble over Hawk Peak, down Tull Canyon (#847), up Tubal-Cain (#840) to Buckhorn Mountain ( camp II ), down the Dungeness (#833.2), and ending with a road walk (FS2870) back to car
  • Route lies within the Buckhorn Wilderness, adjacent to the National park
• Conditions:
  • All official trails in great shape, wide and fast
  • The section from Silver Lake to Tull Canyon requires off trail route-finding and comfort on steep loose terrain
  • Myriad of other additional scrambling ( and technical ) options available for those looking for it
  • Weather in the Olympics can be "fickle",
    • On my trip the early morning was best, often with mist/clouds settling latter
• Alpine Wildflowers: Past peak, but still amazing 
• Bugs: Surprisingly absent, perhaps due to cool temps
• Toilets: Dungeness TH Toilet clean and stocked, no toilet at Tubal Cain TH
• People:
  • Silver Lake & Dungeness quite popular, but never felt crowded. 
  • Saw nobody on the high traverse over Hawk, nor in Tull Canyon

Approach:

• Fairly long paved, then dirt, road
• Generally pretty good shape, but with enough potholes and washboards to keep you honest  
• Quite a bit of traffic, so beware those blind corners
• Couple intersections are not intuitive, good to have the GPS plugged in

Tubal Cain TH to Mt Townsend:

• The Little Quilcene TH starts just up the road from Tubal Cain TH
• Trail is in great shape, but is one of those that selects a steep-ish gradient, and doesn't stop until approaching the ridge
• Passes through dense Rhododendron forests that must be amazing when in bloom
• Once reaching the ridge, the path to Mt Townsend is wonderful fields of alpine flowers
• Would be even better if not for the mist that had rolled in obscuring the views, but the mist gave it that "Scottish Highlands" feel  
• Friendly gentlemen recommended the approach from hood canal side ( FS 2820 ) as a less crowded approach to Mt. Townsend
• With wind and cloud/mist, can be quite cold on the ridge, saw quite a few day trippers shivering

Mt Townsend to Silver Lake ( camp I ):

• For those of us who like scrambling, I have seen reports of the scramble route over Welch and Silver Lake Peak
• However wasn't feeling it this day as:
  • Would not have seen anything due to weather
  • Was running low on water
  • Scrambling less fun with a full pack
• So instead dropped down the fast Silver Lakes trail, then back up to Silver Lake
• Silver Lake ( upper ) is a scenic lake, with lots of campsites.
  • Saw maybe 6 parties
  • Spent a lovely evening exchanging stories with some fellow campers
  • Heard one can access the lower Silver Lake ( off trail ), but did not have the energy

Silver Lake - Hawk Peak - Tull Canyon ( class 2 scramble route )

• This was the highlight of the trip for me
• This section is non-technical, but requires off-trail route-finding and comfort with steep loose rock
• There appear to be two common ways:
  • Direct: From Silver lake, up talus fields to S ridge at ~47.84060, -123.07994 @6411'. 
    • Good option if short on time, or in bad weather.
  • From Silver Lake saddle: This is the way I went, described below
    • Suspect this is the more scenic/interesting way
• The route starts by going up to Silver Lake Pass via boot path
  • To find it: Stand in the large clearing at the S end of the lake and look for a path starting more climbers left then you would expect
  • Silver Lake Pass probably has amazing views ( mist was obscuring it for me )
    • Along with nearby Silver Lake Peak would make a nice side trip while camping at the lake
  • From the pass, pick up a climbers/boot path that traverses steep terrain along the south face
    • The boot path is fairly obvious, and no real exposure, but certainly would not want to trip in spots
    • When I was there the mist was roiling, making the whole traverse rather ethereal/spooky
  • The key to the route is that the traverse ends at about 47.83909, -123.07693 @6031'
  • Next that path hooks back, and ascends easy class 2 loose gullies to meet the knob at 47.84036, -123.07619 @6260'
• Fortunately for me, the north side of the ridge was bluebird skies, so enjoyed wonderful views from here on
• After the knob, the boot path meanders the ridge to meet Hawk's southern shoulder
  • A quick/easy walk N along the ridge to the true summit
• Descending Hawk into Tull Canyon is really enjoyable, and has a very different feel:
  • Descend easy meadows starting on SW ridge, then aiming towards main canyon below Tull Saddle. My waypoints:
  • 47.83970, -123.08585 @5965'
  • 47.84027, -123.08730 @5837' ( the "PGA golf green" )
  • 47.83999, -123.08828 @5787 ( short easy gullys )
  • 47.84096, -123.08890 @5656 ( meet mainline Tull Canyon Trail )

Tull Canyon:

• Upper Tull Canyon is quite pretty, then descends into meadows, then forest
• Several large camps midway, but no water currently until...
• The 1952 B-17 plane wreck:
  • From Seattle Times Article ( link below )
    • "In January 1952, a search-and-rescue B-17 was returning to McChord Air Force Base after assisting with a rescue mission in Canadian waters. Flying in blizzard-like conditions, the crew of eight was passing over the Olympic Mountains when their jumbo plane clipped a ridge and skidded down a steep, snowy slope."
  • Wreck site is obvious, just west of trail in meadow/streambed
  • It covers quite a large area testifying what must have been quite a violent crash, it's amazing that there were some survivors.
  • Follow creek downstream for engine block, and even further for a tank and large fuselage section
  • Several camps with nearby water 

Tubal-Cain Trail:

• Continued descending Tull canyon, past huge boulders, and arriving at the Tubal-Cain trail
• Right before meeting said trail is the first ( not primary ) mine adit at ~47.85305, -123.09593.
  • This one is short and dry, but watch your head!
• The trail has some beautiful mossy creek sections
  • Reminds me of NZ, which shares temperate rain forests with the Olympics and Chile

Tubal-Cain Mine:

• This ( primarily ) copper mine apparently extends 450m into the mountain ( see history link below )
• As you approach the main mine site, there is a myriad of camps and social trails
• Best way to find the opening is to look up and east, trying to see the mine tailing slope through the trees
• Aim to ascend climbers left of the tailings to reach the adit, with a stream exiting it
• Gathering my headlamp and nerve, boldly entered the cave, ready for adventure...
  • But within 40' of being in the freezing stream...
  • My frozen feet made a unilateral decision to about face and scurry whimpering for the entrance
    • Lesson: Bring neoprene socks :)
  • Note, the short bit I did felt very safe to me, but have no idea what lies beyond, so do your research before entering

Tubal-Cain to Buckhorn Mountain ( camp II ):

• The upper Tubal-Cain trail is wide and fast
  • The old direct trail is still in decent nick, and while steeper, does shave off a mile
• At first I thought I would camp at Buckhorn Lake
  • But found it to be a dark and claustrophobic place, so immediately filled water for a dry camp, and retraced my steps
  • Note that if you do need a camp in this area:
    • There is quite a pleasant site a hundred yards upstream on the trail up from the lake, next to the burbling creek
• The stream on the way to Buckhorn lake is last water before Marmot / Mystery Camp, or Boulder Shelter
• Carrying extra water, headed up towards Buckhorn mountain hoping to find a ridge camp
  • Found a really nice one in a copse of trees just below buckhorn pass
  • Lulled to sleep by metronome booming of an incredibly tame grouse
  • Woke up cold ( 36F ) to realize my mattress had a puncture ( I blame the grouse )
  • Morning arrived with starry sky, and wonderful sunrise over the cascades

Buckhorn Mountain:

• From Buckhorn Saddle easy trail switchbacks up to the shoulder of Buckhorn Mountain
• The trail to the summit is well established, with just one section of loose rock ( care of those below )
• The summit view is spectacular, well worth the short side trip
• I had no idea there were that many amazing Olympics peaks ( looking at you Warrior! )
• A friendly summit marmot is there to collect your tickets

Buckhorn Mountain to Dungeness TH:

• Took the wide, fast and long trail to exit the Dungeness TH
  • Trail in great shape, though tad loose when skirting the tops of erosion gullies
• The historic Boulder Shelter is a quick detour
• It's always a surprises me that the US doesn't have the same tradition of public shelters/huts that other countries do
• Water available just prior to shelter
• Spoke with a nice gentleman who used to work in the area, lots of good stories
• Dungeness trail gets prettier and prettier, with several beautiful pool/fall sections

RTB ( return to base ):

• The downside of this route is getting back to the car, at Tubal-Cain TH
• There isn't much uphill traffic in the afternoon past Dungeness TH
  • So was unable to catch a ride, though this was probably because I stunk pretty bad at that point!
  • So ended up walking the 3.5mi road back to car
• On the ferry ride back:
  • Was entertained watching 4 crew members unsuccessfully trying to break into a car, whose keys were locked inside 
  • Was a little freaky having us back up to the edge of the fantail so we could exit up the centerline

Having seen the error of my ways, will definitely be returning to the Olympics!

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/an-eerie-october-hike-to-downed-b-17-and-old-mine-site/
• http://www.kawal.net/tubalcain.htm