Staircase Rapids — Sunday, Jul. 4, 2004

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Our small group of Olympia mountaineers started off on a 3-day backpack trip to Camp Pleasant on Saturday morning. We did all our registering and paid for our bear cannisters (they told us the bear wire was down- it is up, but we're happy to make donations to the park). The hike in to Camp Pleasant was beautiful and uneventful. All the bridges are in. That evening we were treated to a little show by a deer and two fawns. The little fawns zipped around the camp area like 5-year olds and mom waited patiently for them to calm down. They didn't seem to be bothered by our presence. A real treat! On Sunday we set off for First Divide and marvelled at how many microclimates we passed through on our 3,000 feet of gain. There are a few snow patches remaining but nothing to worry about. There are a lot of flowers above 4,000' including a peach-colored Columbine. We enjoyed the views at First Divide and even took a nap, then made our way back down to camp. There were some unusual mosquitos in that they buzzed around us but didn't bite much. I am normally a mosquito magnet but only got bitten a few times. On Monday morning, we reluctantly packed out under beautiful clear skies and hurried out to Hoodsport to eat ice cream.