Ahh, the Olympics. Sparkling water, fresh air, trails in perfect condition, no pets. On the Duckabush, that restriction kicks in at the national park boundary, about 6 1/2 miles from the parking area. This was plenty of room for Daisy and me to hike to our hearts' content. The trail starts out with a gentle one-mile climb up Little Hump, descends a short way to river level, and then follows the river more or less for another mile. About the time you start climbing up the steep section to Big Hump, you will notice that the forest has changed to very old growth. The false summit of Big Hump has some excellent views up and down the valley, with the Cascades visible in the far distance. Some of the switchbacks up to the true summit were carved right into the cliff face, but still maintain a doable grade. There are several places where water drips down cliffs or boulders in numerous tiny streams coming off of each strand of moss. The walking was a delight due to the lack of snow, the great trail condition, and the perfect weather. Only three people used the trail that day, based on the trail register, cars in the lot, and people met on the trail. The travel time to the trailhead was no worse than some Cascade hikes, about 2 1/2 hours including the relaxing ferry ride. The only bummer was the $16 the WSF extorted from me. Their motto should be, ""Go ahead, drive thru Tacoma, see if we care!""

This trail is now my favorite long dayhike. I hiked the first eleven miles of this long trail that passes from The Brothers Wilderness Area in the Olympic National Forest and into the Olympic National Park with awesome old growth giants looming overhead and sheer rock walls bordering the rushing river. I suspect that this trail is incredibly busy during summer, so now is a good time to try it. The trail is in great shape all along the river, up the many switchbacks over Big Hump and to FiveMile Camp - testimony that it likely gets a lot of use. Beyond FiveMile, the trail gets less use, but takes one into much more beautiful territory. There are quite a few washouts between FiveMile and TenMile and one of them requires you to do a bit of searching to find where the trail continues, but none are too serious. A gorgeous river, rock cliffs, giant old trees, many great campsites and one fairly good aerobic workout on an exhausting 22 mile round tripper.

The Duckabush 803 trail was a good choice for an early season backpack. A spring storm had left snow above 2,000 feet the week before, so finding a snow free backpack trail west of the Cascade Crest was difficult. The trail is in excellent condition. It's relatively free of large rock steps and tree roots. Earlier reports from the rangers indicated there were extensive blowdowns, but when we went through, there were at most only 3 small blowdowns. It looks like the trail crews had gone through and fixed things up quite nicely. The trail climbs gently out of the parking lot to the top of the Little Hump, then descends to follow the river basin for a couple of miles. The trail then begins a steep ascent up the Big Hump, climbing close to 1,000 feet in a mile with a number of switchbacks. It's a good challenge for novices and a good conditioner for the more experienced hikers. The views from the trail are limited, with a couple of locations near the top of the Big Hump affording some views across the valley. After arriving at the top of the Big Hump, the trail drops back down to the valley floor. The first campsite next to the river is at about 6 miles. It's a great campsite and can hold a large group. Take nylon cord and a bear bag. We saw no critters and very few mosquitos. We encountered relatively few hikers out on the trail either on Saturday or Sunday. I imagine it will get more crowded as we get further into Spring.

My husband and I spent our 8th anniversary walking in the rain on this trail and loving every minute of it. The trail is still quite muddy between Little and Big Hump with many large and deep mud puddles to slosh through. Once we reached the foot of Big Hump the trail dried out. We hit some small snowy patches towards the top of Big Hump past the washed out bridge. But the snow was mostly melted by the time we came back in the afternoon. There were also a few downed trees after about 3.5 miles, but they were easily climbed over or under. We highly recommend 5 Mile Camp as a nice place to sit and have lunch or just look at the river. That was our turnaround point so can't relate any information on trail conditions after that.

If you're looking for a beautiful, lush forest with plenty of old growth still present, views near the top, a river, trail-in-good-condition kind of trail, the Duckabush River trail is it. The trail is now almost completely logged out (thanks to WTA); what trees are still across the trail are very small, past the 4 mile mark, and easily gotten over. The trail is in very good shape overall, and wanders through bright green moss-laden, twisted old trees. The skunk-cabbage is blooming here, and it's curious odor is mixed with the lush, heady scent of fertile spring and wet earth. There are some flat, meadowy areas near the River, filled with birds and twisty tendrils of moss hanging off the trees. The trail is flat until at about 3 miles when it turns to a series of well-built, steep, but steady-graded switchbacks that take you past a huge moss and lichen covered, dripping and ""weeping"" boulder towering next to the trail. Beyond is a great vista with views down the Duckabush River valley to the east and views of snow-studded North Rock, East Rock and West Rock mountains to the south. Beyond the vista a bridge is out, and at first glance you scoff at the orange ribbon across the trail ""crime-scene"" style. But once you see the gaping maw the bridge gapped at one time, you understand the orange ribbon and are glad you didn't miss the fact that there's no bridge there. The creek is crossed very easily, and the trail flattens out once again, and takes you into the darker, more dense forest for awhile; more old growth - trees that were sprared by the loggers 100 years ago. There are signs of an old forest fire here; it's is probably what spared the scarred trees from the saw. A randy and noisy grouse was loose in the area; another sure sign and sound of spring.