Enchanted Valley via East Fork Quinault River — Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022

We hiked into the Enchanted Valley via a 2-night, 3-day trip. This was our elopement and we were so happy to choose such a beautiful place for our wedding!

We got a late start on Tuesday but had no issues parking in the lot. The privy at the trailhead is in good shape (the only one, take the opportunity while you have it!) There were plenty of people parked along the side of the road but lots of spaces were available. I could see parking here being a major issue on weekends though. For our first night we hiked into the O'Neil Creek campsite. There are tons of sites here and it was beautiful! Water was plentiful along the way.

Once we were in camp bugs started being quite an annoyance. Mosquitos would swarm us in waves, we would go 5 minutes without seeing one and then be driven absolutely crazy by a cloud of them for 5 more. Picardin did the trick for any exposed skin but we all left with plenty of bites through our clothes. The privy at O'Neil Creek was absolutely disgusting. With the amount of use that this area gets it's not surprising, but everyone in my group decided to dig catholes and pack out our TP via Leave No Trace guidelines rather than deal with the privy.

Day 2 we packed up and hiked to Pyrites Creek campsite first, dropped our gear there, then hiked on into the valley. The weather was absolutely spectacular - deep blue skies without a cloud in sight and very mild temperatures. We spent a few hours there doing our thing and taking in the sights and then headed back to Pyrites Creek for the night. Same story with the mosquitos - they were waiting for us. No privy here, but the best cathole area was absolutely littered with previous guests' toilet paper. Please pack it out!

Also in camp was a juvenile Sooty Grouse who we affectionately named Burt. He was incredibly comfortable around people and seemed to be putting on a cute show for us, I'm sure he is getting fed in camp. Please let wild animals stay wild and don't feed Burt! We can confirm he is having no issues finding food - we enjoyed watching him take dust baths and find plenty of worms.

We also saw a very large momma bear and her cub from about 200 yards while in Pyrites Creek. Not only the bear though, but two other hikers approaching it and coming within ten feet of the momma bear before it told them it didn't want them there with a false charge. Prior to the charge the bear was doing a fantastic job of minding its own business, it's a very well behaved bear. The hikers though would not leave it alone and had phones out continuing to approach. After the charge they moved on, deciding they'd had enough. We had tried yelling at them to leave the d**m bear alone, but to no avail. The cub wasn't out at the time, but those hikers got lucky. Again, please let wild animals stay wild!

It started raining around midnight of our last night and the rest of the trip had the classic peninsula misty mountain tops with light rain. It was a wonderful way to finish the trip, seeing the true rainforest aspect of the valley. We got back to the trailhead around 1 pm on Thursday to a slightly more full lot, but spaces still seemed available.

Overall this was a fantastic yet easy backpacking trip that packs a real punch with beautiful views, both along the river and once you reach the valley. Highly recommended, but be prepared for questionable behavior by those around you!