Upper South Fork Skokomish River, Six Ridge & North Fork Skokomish River — Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013

Olympic Peninsula > Olympia

Great weather for a two-day traverse of Six Ridge. The Upper South Fork Skokomish trail is in great shape after a couple of WTA multi-day work parties this season. WTA trip is scheduled for Six Ridge in mid-September. While the Upper South Fork Skokomish trail is clear, the first crossing bridge of the Skokomish is out and requires a crossing on a large cedar log downstream from the old bridge site. look for the trail to this log. The second Skokomish bridge is broken is broken but passable. I expect it will be swept away in high water. Another Startup Creek was as low as I have ever seen it, but not as low as was experienced by a friend who reported a dry boot crossing a couple weeks ago. There is one old growth log that has been turned into an elevated boardwalk on the long traverse above Startup Creek. That one will need to have a fair amount of saw work and 'spinach' applied to clear the trail. The huckleberries in the more sun soak slopes were sweet and juicy. Those in a bit shadier habitat were still tart. Chanterelles were out at about 2,500 feet ele. The same ele on on our descent on the east end of the ridge had white chantrelles. There were minimal logs on the trail from Sundown Pass to McGravey Lakes. From McGravey to Belview Camp there were a few, but nothing even in the realm of inconvenient. We had a quiet night at Belview. The clear skies made for great star viewing. The log pace picks up from Belview out to the east end of the ridge before the switchbacks get started. Several of the windfallen messes led to momentary route finding problems. On the descent to Seven Stream there are more logs and more that were annoyances. Fording Seven Stream required a shift to water shoes. We took advantage of the new suspension bridge on the Staircase Loop to cross the river. We stayed in the shade and closer to the river. It is a big improvement over the slog on the road to trail conversion.