Upper Duckabush, West Fork Dosewallips River, Anderson Pass, Anderson Glacier, Cameron Pass, Cameron-Lost Primitive, Cameron Creek, Grand Pass, LaCrosse Basin, Grand Valley via Grand Pass Trail, Lillian Ridge, Lost Pass Primitive, Main Fork Dosewallips River, North Fork Skokomish River & Duckabush River — Friday, Aug. 18, 2023

We did a South to North Traverse across the east side of Olympic National Park starting at Staircase Campground and ending at Obstruction Point. We did it as a 4 day 3 night backpack with a key swap with another group coming from the north who we met and camped with on night 2. It was 69 miles total with about 20,000 feet of climbing. It was amazing, beautiful, challenging and remote.
The route was from Staircase up North Fork Skokomish River Trail, over First Divide, down to Upper Duckabush River, up to Marmot Lake and O’Neil Pass, down to East Fork Quinault Trail, over Anderson Pass down to West Fork Dosewallips River, up Main Fork Dosewallips River, up Lost, Cameron and then Grand Pass, into Grand Basin and then out Grand Valley via Lillian Ridge to Obstruction Point. I will divide the report into days. Of note we are all pretty strong hikers with fairly light packs and were doing 10ish hour days. This route could be done for most people but might be better 6-7 days, lots of pretty camps we hiked past every day.

Day 1-Staircase CG to Marmot Lake Camp-20 miles and 6000 ft of climb:
The North Fork Skokomish River Trail is in great shape and only gains about 1000ft in the first 8-9 miles. The river starts getting really pretty about 5-6 miles in when you cross the river near Big Log Camp/the intersection with Six Ridge Trail. We ate first lunch at Camp Pleasant (appropriately named) and Nine Streams Camp also looked lovely as we passed. The trail really starts to climb after this and gains almost 3000ft in 3 miles to First Divide where we enjoyed the view and had second lunch. The trail down to Upper Duckabush River is a little rough with quite a few blowdowns, and some narrow, overgrown and rocky sections. You descend first past the huge meadow where Home Sweet Home camp is, looked like another beautiful option. Once we got down to Duckabush River Trail we turned up river towards Marmot Lake/O’Neil pass. This trail also is a little rough with some blowdowns and brushy sections. It climbs another almost 2000ft, getting steeper the further on you get. You have to ford Duckabush River towards the end but it is not deep, one member made it over on rocks/logs everyone else got their feet wet (I did it barefoot to save myself from wet shoes in the morning as it was the end of the day). Finally we got to Marmot Lake and it was really beautiful, gorgeous views of lake and surrounding mountains. We had hardly seen anyone all day hiking so were surprised to find multiple groups at the lake and it took awhile to find spots to camp-we divided the group and my partner and I ended up pitching our tent on the ridge overlooking the lake and the mountain, pretty much the most beautiful tent spot I have had. Weather was mild, stars were gorgeous, very tired so slept well.

Day 2-Marmot Lake to Honeymoon Meadows via O’Neil and Anderson Pass with a side trip to Anderson Moraine- 14 miles, 3300ft of climb:
We took the morning a little too leisurely so didn’t have time to take the side trip to see Hart or LaCross Lake (Heard they are beautiful and also have nice camps) The day did not disappoint tho, gorgeous views all day long. Started with a climb up O’Neil pass, easy from Marmot, lovely view back toward Anderson Glacier which we got much closer to as the day went on. Narrow trail but otherwise not too challenging, slow at times because views are so good, at one point you can see all the way down the Quinault River basin to Quinault Lake. Berries are plentiful on this section and so are bears. Our group saw 3 total, the group going the other way saw 6. We gave them their space but they didn’t seem to care about us being there, were more interested in eating. The trail is a lovely traverse for quite a few miles before descending into White Meadows which is really lovely and has a couple nice, small camp sites at the bottom edge. You then descend a little more on a somewhat rough trail to the Quinault River Trail. Right before the intersection there is a pretty nice large camp spot in the trees where we ate lunch. At the intersection we turned right and climbed up to Anderson Pass, about 2000ft in 2ish miles, enjoyable tho, in and out of trees, good views and a couple nice streams to cross. At the pass we dropped our packs and took the side trail to Anderson Moraine. I think you can go all the way to the glacier but we just went up to the ridge above the large glacial lake which was gorgeous. A bear crossed the path right towards the top but kept moving on. The trail to the lake is about 700ft of climbing in 2/3 mile, steep, narrow, very brushy and loose in some areas, happy to not have the pack but well worth the trip. We then went down the pass on the West Fork Dosewallips River Trail, passing Camp Siberia (decent size camp, good if you want to explore pass/glacier area), then the camp at the intersection with the LaCross pass trail and finally on to meet our friends who had already made it to Honeymoon Meadows. You pass through the Meadows and then have to cross the river to get to camp (shoes off again for me, lovely cold foot soak at the end of the day). Really lovely camp, lots of space, right near the river for easy water access and relaxing water sound. Outhouse super clean and nice, had fun catching up with our friends who were doing the same route from opposite direction. Remembered to swap the car keys before going to bed, such a great day.

Day 3-Honeymoon Meadows to Dose Meadows via West Fork and then Main Fork Dosewallips River trails-20 miles, 3800ft of climb:
Trail was pretty easy all day. Long, slow descent for 7ish miles then long slow ascent for 13. Trail got easier the closer you are to Dose Forks and more wild the further upriver you are. The view of the rivers intersecting from the bridge near Dose Forks is really pretty and the Dosewallips is beautiful by Dose Forks camp. The trail was a little monotonous for the next almost 10 miles, not really near the river and mostly just in forest although switching zones from Rhododendrons to Forest and crossing lots of pretty creeks with some lovely little waterfalls. There are lots of blowndowns, nothing too hard to cross but we ended up playing a game of hot potato where the potato changed possession each time we crossed a blowdown and the person that had it when we reached camp had to buy a round of drinks post hike. I think everyone in our 4 person group had the potato about 10 times. Trail started getting interesting again as we broke out into meadows as we got higher and got closer to the river again. All the camps we passed on our day were good ,near water with multiple large sites except Bear Camp which is small and only had a small little trickle stream close (but beautifully situated in trees surrounded by meadows). Dose Meadows was gorgeous, multiple camp sites located right at the edge of the meadow with mountain backdrop so you could look at the view but is also near the river for water and flowing river sound. Worth the hike and would make a great base to spend a couple days doing side hikes up the passes. We ate dinner and watched the sun set, no bear sightings but saw the largest marmot of my life. Bed immediately after dinner as very tired and super challenging last day coming.

Day 4- Dose Meadows to Obstruction Point via Lost, Cameron and Grand Pass-14 miles and 6200ft of climbing:
Had our earliest start, 7 AM because of the long day ahead. Was lovely to watch the sun rise in the meadow and catch the peaks above. Lost Pass trail is as one might expect from the name although just rough, never hard to follow. Steep, brushy, loose with blowdowns, definitely a primative/ not well maintained trail but also very doable. One blowdown that it was nice to be able to hand the pack across after climbing over as on a steep slope. About 1000ft in little less than a mile, little bit of work but over pretty quick. Lost pass has nice views both back towards the Dosewallips and towards Cameron which is the next challenge. Little traverse across some open areas before starting the Cameron Pass climb. I really liked this climb. So many views, both Anderson and Olympus visible as you got higher, another steep 1000ft climb but not too bad. Views at the pass were great, could really appreciate a lot of what we had done over past few days as well as see down to Cameron Meadow area and over to Grand Pass. Going down Cameron is lots of loose rock but nothing really scary, just good to have poles, looks impressive tho looking back once you are down. Upper Cameron with its meadows and beautiful streams seemed like a great place to camp, there was a particular spot close to a cool little waterfall that would be really nice but there are multiple options. Trail past the camp spots was very overgrown in places and sometimes steep, loose, rocky or full of marmot holes, not quick going even though it is downhill. Near Cameron creek and feeding streams the whole way tho so very pleasant. Nice spot to camp by two creeks just before the intersection with Grand Pass trail (we did first lunch here). Grand pass climb is a challenging 2200ft climb in 1.6 miles. The trail is better tho than Lost was and really neat with lots of views, especially in the second half where you are out of the trees. I really enjoyed this climb as well and enjoyed the views from the top looking back to Cameron and into the basin. Down Grand was like an easier/shorten version of going down Cameron but has more stone step kind of areas which I don’t really enjoy when going downhill with a pack. Glady’s lake was small and didn’t seem very special, camp area seems small as well. Moose Lake is larger/prettier but not particularly impressive compared to other alpine lakes, lots of good spots to camp where you could also swim tho and a nice place for second lunch before our last push to the car. We turned off towards Obstruction Point/Lillian Ridge and did not go down to Grand Lake. Last big climb was around 1500ft to get up to the ridge, little bit of a slog after all the climbs we had already done but great views and breezes as we climbed. The last 1.5 miles on the ridge were so pretty, great views both sides. Olympus and all the park to the left and down Badger Valley to the right. Easiest, best tread trail of the whole trip, could have run it without the pack, what a great way to end. Such a cool experience to share with friends, had a little celebration at the car before heading back to civilization for a big dinner and late ferry ride to the mainland.