Marmot Pass, Mount Townsend, Silver Lakes & Tubal Cain Mine to Buckhorn Lake — Sunday, May. 29, 2005

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

A superb day in the wilderness. We got an early start as the ferry schedule permitted, ate a quick breakfast on Bainbridge (we would need the fuel)and drove under gray skies to the Big Quilcene trailhead. We saw a nice sized balck bear at the fork of Penny Creek Road and Forest Road 27. The trail to Marmot Pass was cleared of the winters debris. The sky cleared as we reached Mystery Camp and stopped for a snack (more fuel)and drew water from the stream. No snow to cross until the last push to the pass. The views deep into the Olympics were inspiring. We headed north on the Tubal Cain trail. Several snow traverses delayed us while we kicked in steps and one outright detoured us onto the scree. The trail was otherwise clear of debris and had no erosion problems. After we headed down the pass from the Buckhorn ridge there was no more snow. The rest of the trail was easy going. We stopped for anothe snack at the Tubal Cain mine works and got back on the trail. The next stop was at the Silver Creek crossing. More snack and more water. Next we legged it up the road to the Silver Creek way trail. Then up the rugged little path. Parts could use a cag railway. We had our second to last snack before heading up the Silver Lake trail to Windy Pass. As we ascended we watched a marine cloud layer flow into the valley from the north. The last snack was at the pass. To the east was cool cloud. 10 steps away was warm, dry air. We headed down into the gloomy cluodbank and went through layer after layer of cloud all of the way to the Mt. Townsend trailhead. There we met a great couple from Bremerton (hikers ARE the nicest sort) who drove the stinky, sweaty pair of us back to our car at the Big Quilcene trailhead. A nice 22 mile day to warm up for summer treks.