First backpack of the 2025 season! Had a partly cloudy week with a few rain showers.
Trailhead is about 2.5 hour drive from Seattle via Tacoma Narrows and Hood Canal bridges. Easy drive in on Dosewallips road to the end, with a few sections of small potholes. Three other cars parked at 2 PM on a Monday afternoon. Hiked in from road end to Dose Forks, where we camped for three nights. Dosewallips road and the trail between Dosewallips campground and Dose Forks in fine condition. Very small muddy patches and a couple of blowdowns but all easy to navigate. Took the low route passing the washout, only noticed the new trail up and over on the way back out. The waterfall before the campground never disappoints!
We had the Dose Forks campsite all to ourselves, only saw three groups of people on the way in and a solo hiker and a couple on the way back out on Thursday morning. Several good, open flat spots here for a tent. Easy access to the river for water. Cleaned up some leftover trash from past visitors. Still can't quite figure out why people burn cans in the fire and then leave them behind. Privy at this site is in good shape.
Day-hiked the west fork Dosewallips river on Tuesday, to about halfway between Big Timber and Diamond Meadows. This trail had a few more trees across the trail, maybe a dozen total, all of which either had social trails to bypass or were easy to hop over. Otherwise, tread in good condition, no problem crossing the few streams that don't have bridges.
Wednesday took a hike up Constance Pass trail for about the first thousand feet of climb. The connector trail from the west fork/main fork junction had a handful of blowdowns across it. One looked fairly new; we took a moment to trim off all the branches to make getting over it easier. Trail up to Constance pass is little brushy, but nothing higher than my waist. Trail was still easy to follow, tread in fine shape. Not terribly steep, but the switchbacks just keep going. We were feeling a bit lazy and out of shape, so we turned back after the first mile. No signs of snow at all except on the tops of the nearby peaks.
Fauna: five deer, one solo and two pairs. A few birds around the river, including one that was diving in the river for food around the bridge at Dose Forks. A couple of hummingbirds. One bald eagle zipped by, heading up river one late afternoon. A couple of chipmunks and some squirrels.
Flora: lots of paintbrush shoots, not much in full flower yet except a couple of rhododendrons.
Bugs: nothing biting. Some bees feeding near campsite, but not bothersome. Didn't need any repellent.
Hiked back out Thursday morning under full cloud cover with some sprinkles of rain. Always easier making good time going downhill. Thanks for another delightful experience, Olympic!
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