North Fork Skokomish River — Tuesday, Jun. 17, 2025

This report is also a cautionary tale.

Today I hiked up the North Fork Skokomish River Trail in Olympic National Park. My goal was Nine Stream. I stopped at Camp Pleasant to eat a snack and while eating I smelled smoke. No one was camped in the area, at the time (10 a.m.). Long story, told short: While a campfire ring had been doused, the embers had spread under the rocks and were burning six to eight inches under ground. I discovered a few tendrils of smoke coming up through seemingly normal spoil, more than two feet outside the fire ring. An hour later, after digging with a trekking pole and a stick, and making numerous trips to the river for water. I think I managed to cool all the hot spots. People, just because you can have a fire at a location doesn’t mean you should. Camp fires should be placed over mineral soil, with no organic material. Fires can and do spread underground, where that can remain dangerous for extended periods of time. Placing stones in a circle does not provide some magic force field preventing a fire from spreading. Maybe this thing would have burned out – maybe. But I sure would hate to risk losing a beautiful corner of a treasured park because a camper didn’t know proper fire safety.

I decided to continue my hike to Nine Stream and back. I love the forest out there. There are a few downed trees, but they were easily climbed over. The trail is in wonderful shape. With the added time I spent looking for a source for smoke, I ended up extending the hike, quite a bit. My GPS totals were 19.7 miles, with 1,739 feet of climbing.