Staircase Rapids, Flapjack Lakes via North Fork Skokomish River & North Fork Skokomish River — Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023

Long week called for a long Saturday hike to get away from assignments and people and college prep. Did some research on some river valleys I could wander up, and decided on the North Fork of the Skokomish as my best bet.

Got to the trailhead at about 8:10 am. Road in national forest portion on upper end of Lake Cushman is very potholey, but no potholes are more than a foot deep. Just lots of them. Road in national park is beautifully paved as always. When I left the parking lot I was the only car parked in staircase area. Started hike about 8:35 am.

First few miles of trail were what you’d expect from a river valley in the Olympics, steady grade, damp trail, and big trees. Intermittent patches of snow every 20 feet or so become more frequent about 3-4 miles in. Weather was nice, trees were drippy from storm night before though so very wet. Much of the trail for a lot of the day Mother Nature was using as a stream bed instead, which lead to wet shoes. About 5 miles in started to see lots of animal tracks, from my best guesses I saw: elk, black bear, cougar, and raccoon. Saw 5 humans total during the day.

I followed North Fork trail about 7 miles in to Camp Pleasant, when snow became deeper and entirely consistent. Had a pb&j and then turned around. On way back I decided to check out the Flapjack trail, which ascends steep switchbacks for a half mile and then curves around the hillside at a steadier grade. Most of the climb the snow (slush) was intermittent, until 3 miles up the flapjack trail when it became 6 or 7 inches deep. Was running short on time so I turned around at a neat waterfall, about .6 mile shy of the lakes. Will have to return next season.

Final stretches of trail were self explanatory, yet even wetter than the morning as rain had passed through and the slush was even more slushy. For another change of scenery I took the staircase rapids alternate trail across the bridge back to the ranger station, and enjoyed more river views with misty snowy peaks looming above. Got back to truck at 4:25 pm.

Hike was ~21 miles total. 14.2 out and back on north fork trail and 6.5 on flapjack spur. Very moist day on the trail, with a great example of the variability of weather in late fall in the mountains. While not one with show stopping vistas, hike was peaceful, refreshing, yet also exciting (the big game tracks were at least) 🐆🐻🌦️