This was a bit of a rehab hike but also exploratory for a future overnight. I hiked here for the first time late last year, and it's quite a gem.
Arriving early at the proper TH, it was full which prompted me to take a look at the stock TH at Le Bar. Nobody there. But wait, there is more. Road 2353 runs somewhat parallel with the trail, and I noticed a few routes down to it last time on my GPS map. So I decided to try these.
Heading west on 2353, I noticed a dispersed campsite on the south side. This is the TH for the 2353-140 trail that connects you to the Skokomish at the first campsite junction. This is a narrow and quite brushy trail, with a few bridges over currently dried out stream beds. It's about 1.5m and 400ft of elevation lost.
Hanging a right, I followed the Skokomish trail all the way past the 4th bridge, continuing on past the stick-signed turnoff at the edge of the bridge that leads down to the river and campsites (all full today). I noticed a neon orange rope somewhere down there, so there must be a dicey spot or two to reach the water.
Moving on, I passed my initial trips turnaround point just prior to a couple of ascending switchbacks. At the bottom of these are multiple entry points to a huge, beautiful rocky and sandy area that stretches a quarter mile and has many accessible camping areas. This was my break spot.
Heading back to the trail, I immediately came upon a junction with the trail I was looking for, 2355-100. This is pretty short and well maintained, taking you up and over to the 2355 forest road. There is a small dispersed campsite here and room for 1-2 vehicles to park. From here, I road-walked back to my vehicle to a make a loop.
I was noticed many tense Sage Grouse during this section, and one even popped out of seemingly nowhere during my road walk and charged at me! I was taken aback in the moment and yet managed to speed up my walk just enough to get out of its way in time. I recently learned it's nesting season, so this type of behavior is common.
This area is pretty fascinating and I look forward to returning for a camping trip. It has it all- heat, brush, water, humidity, bugs, mud, old growth and maybe a quarter of the amount of people you'd see on a similar trail up the 101.
RT 8.0m/599ft
Comments