Duckabush River Trail The Duckabush is a low elevation river valley trail in the eastern Olympic mountains. We found it to be a well engineered trail through mostly old forest, with lots of flowers and wildlife, a few mountain views and a powerful river. Other than a big upturned rootball and hole in the ground at about 3 miles the trail is unimpeded by any obstacles. Not very crowded either for a holiday weekend. Five mile camp was our lunch and loafing turnaround point. We shared it with one other small party. This was the smallest Mountaineers group that I have hiked with but it featured 3 naturalists out of the 4 of us . Duckabush trail features Big Hump and Little Hump, two glacier created foothills that must be surmounted. The trail loses most of the elevation gained after each. So .. up and down, up and down. 2500 ft. gross elevation gain for the day but only 800 ft higher at Five Mile camp than at the trailhead. Peak elevation is 1750 ft. at the top of Big Hump. The forest is old 2nd growth for the first 2.5 miles, and then becomes very big old growth from Big Hump on. A portion of Big Hump was burned (perhaps 50 years ago?) and has a mix of young trees and giants. Forest flowers bloomed all along our route, 24 early varieties scattered here and there . New species attracting our attention every few minutes. Birds sang and our ornithologist identified them almost at first note ! We found some interesting tracks in a patch of mud and then encountered the llamas who made them, and their pet humans. Several snakes showed up in steep sunny locations. All in all an outstanding flora and fauna outing. There is a good campspot next to the river at 2.5 miles just before Big Hump. But Five Mile camp is much the better spot for lunching, resting or camping. It is on the riverside in large fir and cedar timber with plenty of space to relax and spread out. Here the river is dropping thru rapids and a waterfull as it approaches a bend. It is a very beautiful spot. Directions: drive 15 miles south of Quilcene on US101 to the Duckabush road and turn right. 3 miles of pavement and 3 miles of gravel get you to the trailhead at 400 ft. After 1 mile the trail is in The Brothers Wilderness. Stats: 10 miles, 2500 ft. elev. 3:10 in 2:40 min. out -------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Robert Michelson 5-26-2003

I headed up the trail Monday the 19th at 10:30 am with the dog in tow. Our goal was the National Park Boundary at 6.5 miles, after which Daisy is no longer welcome. The section between little hump and big hump is where the fun starts: giant trees, emerald river, mule deer resting in the woods, and total isolation. The switchbacks up big hump always amaze me as they are carved right out of the cliff. It makes for a vertiginous view down the way we came. The viewpoints halfway up are the best and merrited a long break. The backside of big hump is a large drop off down to the river again, but well worth it. The real Duckabush starts here. There are numerous excellent campsites, and several changes to the river's feel, along the relatively level stretch that follows. One stretch is normal cascading, one is cliff-constricted gorges, and one is wide and riffle-y with salmonberry borders. We camped at a spot surrounded by small waterfalls and giant trees. We used the ultralight method of a blue tarp, ground cloth and mosquito net(not needed), for that ""sleeping out with no tent feel"" and the fact that it sleeps up to two plus dog for 2.5 lbs. carry weight. Not recommended for heavy rain. Tuesday was a little sprinkly, but nothing got wet. We day-hiked around noon on up to the Park boundary, seeing more variety in the river and woods and getting a different feel from the stretch where the cliffs bordering the valley back off a bit, giving a more open, lighted feel to the trail. At 2pm we headed back, with the climb up the back of big hump seeming endless. I figure we climbed about 3,000 ft round-trip, but the smoothness of the trail makes it a bit easier. The section between humps is as flat as a pancake. The hike from little hump to the car is that perfect downgrade that allowed me to just sort of fall forward with each step and let gravity swing the next leg for me, making for a nearly-effortless walk. We reached the car at 7pm, utterly exhausted and blissful in the knowledge that I had spent every minute of my two free days this week in the deep wilderness.

A good warm-up hike for the season. Duckabush is easily accessed and was particularly crowded this day. Many scouts returning after an overniter at 5 mile camp. The trail was in good condition. All blowdowns had been cleared save one large root ball that forced you around. A bridge was out at Big Hump but, again, there was an alternate route provided. Plenty of water on and around the trail, but the tread was in good shape. Hiked to 5 mile camp, ate lunch and then returned in a light drizzle. All in all, a very nice workout.

We spent a pleasant day hiking to Big Hump. It didn't rain much, but the creeks were high and filled with water from the previous day's very heavy rains. A lot of normally rather insignificant creeks and creeklets were gushing forth and the river was magnificent. Even portions of the usually good trail were under water as waterbars and culverts were being overwhelmed by the runoff. Spring is breaking in the woods. We spotted some red flowered currant and manzanita coming into bloom. Coltsfoot and shunk cabbage was to be seen on the drive along Hwy 101. The Duckabush forest is very green, with a lacey undercover of moss and ferns puncutated by Oregon grape, red huckleberry and salal. The big leaf maples and alders are covered with a green fur of moss, glowing in the gentle light. There are some nice sized old growth trees along the trail especially as the trail starts climbing up the Big Hump on numerous tight switchbacks. There was a little sunshine when we reached the Big Hump for lunch and views down the river. On return, some of the larger streams had even more volume in them. In one, I floundered up to my knees for a step or two. A little excitement for a lovely hike. There is one area about 3.5 miles in where a root ball has torn out the trail. No stock can pass, but okay with caution for hikers. Great hike! Enjoy!

Our group of brave souls completed a tour of the Hamma Hamma, Skokomish, and Duckabush drainages from August 16 thru 19. The Lama, Wild Bill, and the author started off in the company of my dad for the first leg of our adventure, leaving the Lower Lena Lake lot at 8:30 AM. The student was so wary of this hike that he went and got himself a job in Amsterdam to avoid any possibility of joining us. The first 4 miles of the morning went by smoothly on the well-traveled trail up to Lower Lena Lake. No wildlife to speak of, and the forest canopy limits the light so very few plants out, except the usual bunchberry, Indian pipe, and red huckleberry. A quick snack at that point, and Dad headed back down to enjoy his lunch at Lower Lena. We headed up, up, and up to Upper Lena. Lunch was in one of the many openings in the trees, and Mount Rainier was visible floating above Puget Sound and the Canal. The trail descriptions of the rough going on this section of trail are very accurate - it is steep and quite relentless, a great warm-up for the remainder of our 4 days in the Olympics. We were most thankful for the awesome maintenance work recently completed on the Upper Lena trail. Downed trees were cleared, puncheon placed, and brush clearance done. I would not have wanted to work any harder than I did in the 3900 + feet of elevation gain to the upper lake. Good work folks! The flowers were in full bloom. You name it, we saw it. I won't go into details except to say a plethora of beautiful flowers gladly accepted our sweat as we trudged upward. Our pace was consistent, as it was hazardous to stop. Hordes of flies, black and horse, were constant companions. They seemed to love the various bug sprays and repellants we brought. The Lama's soy-based product worked as well as my jungle juice. Wildman's DEET worked the best of them all (maybe 45 minutes as opposed to the 30 minutes I was getting!). Anyhow, we made it to Upper Lena (with only minor cramping from the Wildman) by 2:30 PM - not bad for a bunch of old guys. The back-country ranger was swimming in the lake - Ranger Tom is a brave guy. There were 2 other groups at the lake that evening, and the fly-fishing was not so great. But there was a whole lotta biting going on, as the mosquitoes were stealthy, ever-present, and numerous. They affected every meal we ate for the next 3 days! We retired to the tents to get some relief. The next day dawned sunny and warm. The skeeters hastened us out of the site. We originally planned to head into Hagen Lakes Basin via the north shoulder of Mount Stone, but after talking with Ranger Tom we decided that a saner plan would be to ascend to St Peter's Gate, go past Lake of the Angels, and around the west side of Mt. Stone to Great Stone Arrow Pass. This utilizes a series of way trails that were alternatingly difficult to find at times and easy to follow once you found them. The trail between Upper Lena and Scout Lake is well described in Wood's bible on hiking the Olympics- beautiful meadows and stands of sub-alpine trees. The trails would be relatively visible thru the meadows, and easily identifiable entering and exiting. That is, until we reached the bypass to Stone's Ponds and St Peter's Gate. We missed the left branch (more appropriately, it disappeared after 5 steps into a meadow / rocky area). We headed another .3 miles toward Scout Lake until the trail got ugly and the area of hanging onto roots with 40 feet of exposure down the cliff came into view. We punted and headed back up to the left branch and found some small cairns and eventually the trail heading up the second small shoulder on the right. This trail was a good tread, only disappearing for 15 feet at a time, and led us all the way to the approach to Stone's Ponds. We side-hilled to maintain elevation and headed up towards St Peter's Gate over scree, boulders, rock, and snow. I actually got buzzed by a hummingbird about halfway up. The snow was good for kicking steps, and the exposure was minimal until we were within 50 feet of the top. Wildman took over with the ice ax and led us over the final section. Lunch was eaten at 2 PM with beautiful views out to Scout Lake and beyond. We relaxed and enjoyed the breeze (it kept the bugs at bay) and recharged. It had taken 5 hours to go that far (about 5 miles), and we had about that much more to go before we rested. The way down towards Lake of the Angels was very steep! The climbers' trail was difficult to follow, and we ended up side-hilling over towards the pass above LOA to save time. The Lama punched thru on a snow field and left some red snow behind. We rallied for the steep descent to the Skokomish drainage and worked our way on up to Great Stone Arrow Pass (west of Mt Stone, the entry to Hagen Lakes). We decided to camp at the pass for the night, hoping for some wind to keep the bugs away. A beautiful sunset colored Mt Stone a memorable shade of red, and the moon rose over the south shoulder of same. Water was available from snowmelt below the field at the pass. We rested well. Day 3 dawned sunny and warm. We packed up and headed for the Elk Basin. We found the entry to the elk trails on the Skokomish side of the drainage that had eluded us 4 years ago in the fog. Smooth sailing was the order of the day as we hiked thru scree and meadows bursting with flowers. Elk droppings were everywhere, and we could even smell the elk, they had been there so recently! The Lama claims to have seen the herd, including maybe 6 with antlers. All the Wildman and I heard was a rumbling as a large group of mammals thundered away from us, and the queen momma stared at us before catching up with the crowd. We quietly made our way to Fisher's Pass for a rest, enjoying the view up to Mt Hopper. Next up was the HORRIBLE section of non-maintained trail known as the Mt Hopper Way Trail. We did this section in about an hour 4 years ago, but it was much deteriorated from that vintage. In general, the blowdowns were too numerous to count, and the trail completely disappears in 2 areas. Heading down the trail, the first time the trail disappears is in an area of major blowdown. Just below the blowdown, a seeming ""switchback"" turns and goes the other way. Do not follow this, as it dies at a stream crossing in a couple hundred feet. Continue beyond the blowdown, and one will find a big cairn reclaiming the trail. The second loss of trail (on the way down) is in a meadow that is gradually being reclaimed by trees and mountain azalea. After crossing a seep, a pile of blowdowns completely obfuscated the trail. A cairn marks that one must continue across the hillside, but from that point things were not clear at all. Finally, the Wildman headed down the hillside and in about 40 yards found the trail. It was near the bottom of the meadow and to the right (NW) side of the clearing. If headed in to this section, the easiest way of finding the trail would be to continue along the contour to the seep/ creek and head vertically up until encountering the rock cairn. From this point, we had only to put up with the endless blowdowns to clamber over. There were many ripe blueberries to eat in this area. Elk Basin is such a nice area to access that it is a shame the trail has deteriorated so much. Flagging would help in the lost areas. It was too bad that we did not bring any tape with us. We eventually connected with the North Fork Skokomish Trail just below First Divide. It was so nice to be on a maintained trail again! We were woefully behind schedule, having spent the better part of 2 hours going 2 miles! Lunch was at 2 PM (I sensed a trend here) besides Home-Sweet-Home creek. We were enamored of the lack of flies and mosquitoes. Only the slow ones were with us (piles of dead flies). Bill wondered where our next planned campsite was, and I did not have the heart or feet or legs left to tell him it was supposed to be at 10-mile camp on the Duckabush, 9 miles distant! We rallied the horses and enjoyed the plunge into the deep forest of the Duckabush above Camp Duck. We saw our first people in a day (frightening). The majesty of the huge Doug firs, Hemlock, and Cedar were inspiring, as were the forest carpet and padding they provided for our feet as we wended our way 1500 feet down to the Duck. A quick stop at Camp Duck and we were back on the trail (too many bugs there!). We did notice a palatial mansion of a tent set up, as some entomologists were busy along the trail (they claimed to not have any beer or wine, but I did not believe them) and river studying (I kid you not) the Olympic jumping mouse (?). I did not know such a beast existed, but oh well. We agreed to hike until 6 PM and take the first campsite we saw after that. At about 13 mile, our rest spot came into view, a lovely spot under the trees next to the river. Dinner (less soup spilled) and a really cold bath did wonders for the group's disposition and aroma. The best part of the camp was that there were no bugs! Dinner was enjoyable, and we collapsed as darkness arrived. 12 miles (5 with no trail) had done its damage on our bodies but not our spirits. Day 4 found us thinking about getting a move on, but we did not get up until 7:30 and on the trail until 9 (par for the course). We had 13 miles to cover by 4 PM. Hiking in old growth is such a cool and somewhat humbling experience. I have heard it called ""gloomy"", but it is not gloomy at all to me. Passing by 6 foot diameter Doug firs that have survived major burns and are still alive and growing, or seeing a hugely buttressed cedar with the center burned out but still living are things to ponder. So is climbing up Big Hump after going 8 miles. That was a major workout. The 33 switchbacks on the way back down were painful on knees and feet. But in the end, it was all worth it as Dad and Mom were waiting for us on the trail, with Moose Drools for the participants, and comfortable shoes and clothes that did not stink. 39 miles, lots of vertical (up and down), great trails and maintenance, difficult trails and no maintenance, lofty peaks and deep valleys, this hike had them all. 4 days doesn't seem like enough time.