Mount Townsend, Silver Lakes — Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2004

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Headed over Wednesday evening 8/11 and car camped at Falls View south of Quilcene. Made our way to the upper Mount Townsend trailhead by 11AM on Thursday 8/12; the way up was fairly steep and there was plenty of sun, so we had to work, but as we got above the treeline, the views improved with each step. We camped at a viewpoint near Camp Windy for and were treated to brilliant sunrises over the Cascades and Puget Sound. On Friday morning we left our camp set up and day hiked to Silver Lake, mostly downhill and in the shade. There we enjoyed our lunch and some solitude. By the time we headed back up, the afternoon sun was in full force and the climb was taxing. We then made our way to the ridgetop at Mount Townsend, with the sun beating down on us the whole way. Our effort was repaid with the views at the top, where despite the haze we could make out Mount Baker, Puget Sound, some of the San Juan Islands, most of the Kitsap Peninsula, and even a bit of Canada across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We lingered and enjoyed the scene before making our way down. On Saturday we hiked out the final 2.5 miles from our camp and topped off a wonderful extended weekend with a concert at the Olympic Music Festival and an overnight stay in Port Townsend. One recommendation: bring plenty of water - there are just a couple of small trickles on the way up to Mount Townsend, and the only reliable source of water is the creek that crosses the Silver Lake trail about 3/4 mile from the lake.