07-07-07 and it was 77 degrees when we got back to the car. Where's the LOTTO ticket?
After last week's ""burn"" hike in the Pasayten (//www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7960693) today it was ""slash"" in the Olympics. There have been a couple of trip reports recently on this trip - but what folks don't mention is the start of the trail. It can be confusing. First of all, the road to the trailhead is well marked. The most difficult part is finding the turn-off from 101. If you are coming from Quilcene (from the north) and are heading south on 101 - it's just south of Brinnon and about a 1/4 of a mile south of Mile Marker 309. There is a definite road on your right, but the little road sign that says ""Jupiter Mountain"" doesn't jump right out at you - so just be aware. Once you make the turn off of 101, it's easy. However, the ""parking area"" for this hike is minimal. There is a little additional parking up and around the corner in front of a gate. To get to the trail head, walk the road a little to the west and you will see the trailhead bulletin board. As you are looking at the board, the trail starts just to your right. Don't be discouraged, because for the first 3/4 of a mile along the clear cut area, you have to negotiate at lot of ""crap"" on the trail. Note: you are totally in the open and on a south slope, so it can be toasty! Once you get part way up towards the ridge, you do enter some trees, but that lasts only for about another 1/2 mile or so and then you break out into the open again until you reach the ridge and then the next almost five miles is in the trees - with some ups and downs. Remember, although the books say 3600' of gain for this hike, add another 800' for the up you have to do on the way out! It's a 4400' day to this peak and back. The best part today was all of the flowers once you are above the clear cut. We were surprised. And, they just got better and better the higher we got. The rhodies even are in bloom almost all the way to the summit. I didn't capture all of the flowers in bloom (lupine is pretty much gone, so is the Vanilla Leaf and False Solomon Seal), but we did see a lot. We were so busy snapping a lot of pics - that's probably why it took us 3:40 to get to the summit! It was a veritable pink pathway to the summit through the rhodies. It wasn't until we were about 3/4 of the way up the trail that we ran across someone. Susan had started from the trailhead about 8:30 a.m. - about 45 minutes ahead of us and made the trek early - wanting to beat the heat, too. We had a nice chat and shared with her hiking info available online. She was kind enough to find the driver's sunglasses that had jumped off my head and onto the trail and she left them on my car for me. Thanks, Susan!! We told her there are several hikers in the Hood Canal area and to check the nwhikers.net board for possible hiking partners. The bugs were circling us as we stopped - but they were nothing like they had been in the Pasayten. We moved on. Above, we saw a couple of ""companions"" - two lovely bald eagles just enjoying the views and the thermals. Soon, our destination was in sight and as we got closer, we even saw some snow on the north face. There also are some lakelets to the east of Jupiter and below the ridge. Once on top, the views were stunning - albeit hazy. We couldn't see to Seattle initially, but in about an hour as we were heading down, it would become more visible. We had our lunch and wandered around the top of Jupiter (the driver wanted to know where the rest of the mile-wide peak top was - since that's what we had up in the Pasayten!) We even spied the little tarns of Jupiter - which are about 900' below (not on a beaten path) and on the northwest flank of the mountain.
The heat was most tolerable - in fact, a windshirt was needed on the summit - but the breeze kept the bugs to a minimum. From here, we could see the bumps and ridges we had come up (all 7+ miles of them!). So we headed down - be aware, that there's lots of that loose, pebbly stuff on the way down. The trail is in good shape - with just a few blowdowns that you either go over or, in some cases, under. For the most part, the trail is quite pleasant and about mid-way through, you move into the wilderness. We were amazed, however, that given the recent trip reports, the great summer day and the end of a holiday week, that there were only three of us on the mountain this day! Take water if you're going. There isn't any along the way - take extra if you have a 4-legged friend with you. Stats:
3:40 up/2:40 down
14 1/2 miles roundtrip
4400' gain
poles are a good idea - especially on the downclimb off of the summit.
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