Duckabush River — Sunday, Aug. 22, 1999

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Olympic National Park. Up the Duckabush, over First Divide and out the Skokomish. Aug. 22nd through the 28th We hauled a group of Boy Scouts ages 12 through 18 and a couple of old men like myself through this hike so don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done this year. We did take seven days to cover 33 mile but these were not uneventful or easy miles. We started at the Duckabush River trail head and hiked into the park. Turned south at Upper Duckabush Camp, over First Divide and out the Skokomish River trail. The Trail had been cleared of wind falls through the first 15 miles to the LaCross Pass trail junction. The next two mile to Upper Duck Camp we ran into about a dozen wind falls. Mostly fairly easy to pass. About ½ mile past the LaCross Pass Jct. we encountered a LARGE avalanche debris field prob. 100 ft. across. Very impressive, 500 year old trees piled like pixy stix. A fairly easy crossing due to the underling snow. When the snow melts out it is going to be a lot tougher. ½ mile past this we encountered another avalanche path. Not as big, but a more hazardous crossing. The snow has melted out leaving a 10’ to 15’ vertical drop to the creek and then vertical back up. We crossed some 100 yds up stream through the debris and probably over an ever thinning snow bridge. The trail is showing signs of unuse. Many areas of low vegetation overgrowing the trail. A lot of nettles. Those wearing shorts were zapped a lot. If there ever was a bridge across the Duck at Upper Duck Camp (Duck Shelter) it is gone now. Two crossing, both about 30’ wide and knee deep. Cold but no problem. The trail on up to Home Sweet Home was fairly clear for the 1st mile then very heavy in blow downs. Large trees, lots of branches. Very slow and strenuous hiking with full packs. Snow started around 4000’ and was intermitted over the divide back down to 4000’ The shelter at Home Sweet Home has been demo’ed by a tree. The meadows were about 75% covered in up to 5’ of snow. One good camp right at the divide with free water available otherwise all snow. The trail down from the divide was again very choked with windfalls. Several small avalanches obliterating the trail. Be careful not to loose the trail. We stayed at Two Bear. An avalanche has invaded the camp and the central camp area was still covered in snow. The trail to Nine Stream continued to have a lot of wind falls. I would guess we crosses over 200 in the entire trip. At about a mile below Nine Stream the largest avalanche debris pile I have ever seen. Incredibly Impressive. Worth the hike up from Staircase just for this. The debris is passable by jumping logs in the river. But be CAREFUL. This is a log jam in moving water. A fall would mean being swept under the log jam and, forget it, your gone. The trail from here to Staircases is clear and easy. We had a week of blue sky and warm weather. The bees seemed to really be out this year. We suffered prob. 10 to 12 stings(I got two myself). First Divide was beautiful. I totally enjoyed the trip and give it a 4 out of 5. Moderately strenuous because of the avalanches and the wind falls. Enjoy Greg