Lower South Fork Skokomish River — Monday, Feb. 26, 2001

Olympic Peninsula > Olympia

Crisp, clear late-winter day. Friend Jay and I got out of Olympia a little before 9am and were on the trail at 10. Some snow and ice on the road, fast disappearing, nothing my Prelude had trouble with. A few blowdowns, one big one (a ""double"") at about 2.5 miles, climb over or go around, take your pick. No significant delay. Stopped for lunch near mile 4, sat in bright sun on riverbank. Beautiful. Turned around and were out at 2:10 pm. Broad-leaf trees not in leaf yet, there are great views of the river and of the numerous huge old growth trees. There is a lot of mature 2nd growth. Old stumps have springboard notches. Some patches of granular frozen snow from about mile 2 to mile 4. Jay, in running shoes, didn't get his feet wet. Bridges mostly in good shape, a few broken or rotten planks. Streams easy to cross with dry feet. Encountered USFS personnel on the way out. Apparently USFS is acquiring the Simpson inholding that touches the river at about mile 2; they were looking for survey monuments.