The Elwha is a great Memorial Day weekend destination if you're willing to expend the extra effort of the road walk/bike to reach the trailhead. I went in on Friday morning, biked to the Whiskey Bend trailhead and hiked to Elkhorn where I camped two nights, with a day hike up to Wilder Camp on my layover day. The first night I had Elkhorn all to myself and the second night there was one other party, and I only passed a three other groups of hikers on the trail over the three days. Spectacular!
Parking: The parking lot was already mostly full Friday late morning, and packed when I came out Sunday. A ranger was there Friday checking permits and managing parking.
Trail: The trail was in great condition, with only a couple of exceptions (see below and pictures) as I got further in past Elkhorn. There was a trail crew camped around Lillian Camp and they had cleared all the blowdowns all the way to Elkhorn by Sunday. Thanks for all your great work keeping the trails open!!!
Elkhorn to Hayes River Camp: The section Elkhorn to Hayes River had about 5 blowdowns, but all were easy to step over/under/around, nothing to slow you down. There are two very brushy sections of salmonberry, the kind where you can't even see your feet, but each only 150' long.
Hayes River Camp to Wilder Camp: This section looks like it's gotten less TLC over the years. There were about 6 larger blowdowns, two of which you need to spend a minute to climb around or over. One is right at Hayes River bridge (picture). I couldn't puzzle out how the section of tree that had been sawed off in years past ended up on top of the new larger blowdown underneath. In any case, you need to climb over this to access the bridge. The second blowdown is similar in size, and you need to hike up and around, but not difficult. There are a couple of small bridges out or in a state of decay that would probably be challenging for stock (picture of one). But it looks like it's been that way for a while. In this section as well, two significantly brushy sections, but each of them relatively short.
Wilder Camp: has bear wire, privy, and shelter all in good shape. It looks like there are also campsites across a stream and closer to the river, but I couldn't figure out how to cross easily, but probably more viable as the water levels go down.
Burn area: There's a burn area north of Wilder Camp, but nothing challenging to hike through, and there are still living trees, so it felt minor compared to other burn areas that are just barren. But there were caution signs at each end (picture) -- first time I've seen this in the backcountry and it felt kind of odd somehow.
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