My partner and I did a 3 day/2 night hike to the river ford just above Upper Duckabush. The first night we camped at “Camp Caleb,” about 12.5 miles up, across from where Crazy Creek cascades into the Duckabush. The second day we hiked up to the river ford right before Upper Duckabush, then back down to a camp just a bit beyond the park border. We also went about half a mile up the LaCrosse Pass trail and back. The third day we hiked back out about 6 miles to the TH.
Road in was fine. Some potholes but easily navigated in a Prius. Accidentally parked at the stock trailhead which ended up working out because the main TH was pretty much packed (10 am Saturday).
Trail up to the park border was in great condition. Saw some WTA volunteers improving a crew crossing and then some more coming down Big Hump carrying big saws. Thank you for all the work you’ve done on this trail!
The rest of the trail was much more challenging. Previous trip reports mentioned 140-some down trees. That sounds about right still. I counted 82 from the park border to 10 Mile, then about 20 from 10 Mile to Camp Caleb, 20ish to LaCrosse Pass trail, 20ish to the river ford. The section from the park border to 10 Mile is the worst (but seemed harder on the way up, knowing we’d have to get over all of these again). One tree we took our packs off to crawl under. One tree across the trail on a steep slope that’s fairly washed out, had to hug the tree to get over and footing was pretty sketchy (this was about 9 miles in).
Aside from blowdown, there were some very brushy areas and a few mud pits. Water was flowing high and the majority of the creek crossings required us to get our feet wet. Nothing that felt scary or dangerous, just high enough that there weren’t good rock/log hopping options. Both of us had a crossing where we attempted to leap across and slipped and ended up with a leg in the water. Very glad I brought 3 pairs of socks.
There’s a nice campsite a little upriver of the junction with the LaCrosse pass trail. We started to see patches of snow around here, and then had some across the trail starting maybe a mile from the river ford. Again, nothing dangerous, just made the hiking more challenging. Between snow patches, brush, and blowdown we lost the trail a few times.
The river ford seemed somewhat high but doable. There was a log a little bit downstream but that seemed sketchier than fording. Since we were just going to double back we decided it wasn’t worth it to cross and had a nice lunch on the river bank.
On the return trip we decided to go up the LaCrosse Pass trail a little ways and see if we could get any views. The trail is very overgrown and brushy, we almost missed it when walking past. Did get a couple nice views of Mt. Steel though.
Rhodies are starting to bloom on the lower end of the trail. Lots of Fairy Slippers further up. A lot of very fresh bear scat, especially up past 10 Mile. Spotted some bear prints in the snow too, but never saw one. A few mosquitoes but they seemed pretty lazy.
Trail was busy to Five Mile with day hikers and backpackers. Five Mile seemed like it was totally packed for camping. The trail quieted from there to 10 Mile, with just a few day hikers. Above 10 Mile we only saw one other group, who were headed to Upper Duckabush.
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