Marmot Pass — Monday, Aug. 11, 2014

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Oh man this hike was awesome. A little more difficult than I thought for my 8 yr old son though. But with plenty of stops, extra snacks, begging and pleading we made it to camp mystery in about 4.5 hrs. This hike starts off nice and mild for the first 1.5 miles. Then the 30 deg inclines kick in. And to top it all, there aren't any reprieves, except the shelter rock camp, it is all uphill. It was tiring. I even had to push my 8 yr old dog up the hill at times. This might sound tough, but for someone in shape it should be fine. I am coming off the couch from 6 weeks recovery fro surgery and I made it. I really love this hike. The description doesn't do it justice. As the elevation changes, so does the scenery. You MUST see for yourselves. Starting along the river and the old growth is cool and beautiful. Then on up past shelter rock and gain altitude hike into things out forests. Further up is the high altitude scree fields and meadows along with the spectacular views. Then finally at the pass it opens up to view the Hood canal east and west to the Needles. After we set up camp at mystery we rested for a couple hours and headed up to Marmot pass. If I would have known and had the energy to make it, I would have camped in the meadow below the pass. Bring plenty of water. Last water is the spring feeding the river 20 min past mystery. As you get to the meadow take the game path to the right instead of skirting the meadow to the left. From a previous post about the hanging inch worms, there were only a couple here and there. Their time seems to be about gone. No bother for us. As for the trail condition there are a couple of spots where small creeks wash over the trail but pose no problems. As far as wildlife it appears the goats have retreated to solitary. We saw none. We only saw a hand full of grouse and chipmunks. The only dumber for me was the fact camp mystery didn't have a pit toilet. Not that I need it but it seems many people just pooped everywhere on top of the ground, no cat holes and left their toilet paper in the wide open. Be careful exploring camp mystery. I love this hike and glad I made it.