4 day trip up to Heart Lake from Staircase and back. Beautiful weather the whole time, but with plenty of bugs (mostly black flies & deer flies, bring deet!) following our every step. NF Skokomish was cleared to just beyond 9 stream, with a trail crew working its way up to First Divide. From 9 stream to First Divide there's plenty of large tricky blowdowns, that, combined with the steep grade, made for some slow going. From First Divide to the Upper Duck, a group of 3 backcountry rangers had just finished clearing the trail, and it is in great shape. There is one patch of icy snow just on the north side of First Divide that is easily avoided by going through a meadow. From the Upper Duck camp to Heart Lake there was 2 avalanches and 24 major blowdowns that required major rerouting or serious gymnastics to get over/under/through/around. There was also about 150 smaller ""stepover"" or ""bendunder"" blowdowns along the U. Duck to Heart Lake section. That section is also very poorly graded, with many steep ups and downs that are not indicated on the maps or in the guide books. Heart Lake is a gorgeous setting, and we had the entire LaCrosse basin to ourselves on a Sunday evening. From our camp we heard and saw several avalanches peeling off the glaciers on Mt. Duckabush. The trip back was more of the same. Strenuous but rewarding!

The weather this day was wet. Lots of rain, even though it did slow at times. There were 5 of us this day and we started at the trailhead at 9:45am. The trail is beautiful, lots of undergrowth, moss growing on various things, lots of older growth dating back to the 1920/30's. The trail travels right next to the Duckabush River for a time which was gushing with run-off this day. Big Hump (the second of two steeper sections of the hike) was challenging because the elevation gain was quite sudden for probably 3/4 of a mile. We stopped to have lunch at 5 minutes to 12 at a lookout just about 4 miles in. At that point, you can look up at a peak accross the way where it was snowing (I believe the freezing level was around 3000 feet that day). We saw no other snow other than that snow off in the distance and up another 1000 feet or so. The trail was wet, and there were signifigant amounts of water and mud, however the trail was very well maintained. Although, Tennis shoes would not have worked this day (we were all well equipped), and we all had a chance to use the gear we always pack around, knew there had to be a reason for that, hehe). We returned back to the trailhead after stopping for ~45 minutes for lunch at ~2:15pm (9:45am-->2:15pm total time). Overall, a fairly easy hike with some nice surroundings. (douvoodoo@hotmail.com, Redmond, Washington)

Olympic National Park. Up the Duckabush, over First Divide and out the Skokomish. Aug. 22nd through the 28th We hauled a group of Boy Scouts ages 12 through 18 and a couple of old men like myself through this hike so don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done this year. We did take seven days to cover 33 mile but these were not uneventful or easy miles. We started at the Duckabush River trail head and hiked into the park. Turned south at Upper Duckabush Camp, over First Divide and out the Skokomish River trail. The Trail had been cleared of wind falls through the first 15 miles to the LaCross Pass trail junction. The next two mile to Upper Duck Camp we ran into about a dozen wind falls. Mostly fairly easy to pass. About ½ mile past the LaCross Pass Jct. we encountered a LARGE avalanche debris field prob. 100 ft. across. Very impressive, 500 year old trees piled like pixy stix. A fairly easy crossing due to the underling snow. When the snow melts out it is going to be a lot tougher. ½ mile past this we encountered another avalanche path. Not as big, but a more hazardous crossing. The snow has melted out leaving a 10’ to 15’ vertical drop to the creek and then vertical back up. We crossed some 100 yds up stream through the debris and probably over an ever thinning snow bridge. The trail is showing signs of unuse. Many areas of low vegetation overgrowing the trail. A lot of nettles. Those wearing shorts were zapped a lot. If there ever was a bridge across the Duck at Upper Duck Camp (Duck Shelter) it is gone now. Two crossing, both about 30’ wide and knee deep. Cold but no problem. The trail on up to Home Sweet Home was fairly clear for the 1st mile then very heavy in blow downs. Large trees, lots of branches. Very slow and strenuous hiking with full packs. Snow started around 4000’ and was intermitted over the divide back down to 4000’ The shelter at Home Sweet Home has been demo’ed by a tree. The meadows were about 75% covered in up to 5’ of snow. One good camp right at the divide with free water available otherwise all snow. The trail down from the divide was again very choked with windfalls. Several small avalanches obliterating the trail. Be careful not to loose the trail. We stayed at Two Bear. An avalanche has invaded the camp and the central camp area was still covered in snow. The trail to Nine Stream continued to have a lot of wind falls. I would guess we crosses over 200 in the entire trip. At about a mile below Nine Stream the largest avalanche debris pile I have ever seen. Incredibly Impressive. Worth the hike up from Staircase just for this. The debris is passable by jumping logs in the river. But be CAREFUL. This is a log jam in moving water. A fall would mean being swept under the log jam and, forget it, your gone. The trail from here to Staircases is clear and easy. We had a week of blue sky and warm weather. The bees seemed to really be out this year. We suffered prob. 10 to 12 stings(I got two myself). First Divide was beautiful. I totally enjoyed the trip and give it a 4 out of 5. Moderately strenuous because of the avalanches and the wind falls. Enjoy Greg

Hiked up the N. Fork Skokomish, over the divide to Home Sweet Home, and down the Duckabush over 8/13-15. N. Fork Skokomish is in excellent shape, with no problems worth mentioning up to the big avalanche debris pile between 8 and 9 streams. This took some care and effort, but isn't that difficult. Took me maybe 15 minutes. As the snow melts out from underneath the logs, it may get more difficult. After that, there are a fair number of blowdowns all the way up to the divide. There's one small area of slid trees just as the trail starts climbing up where you might lose the trail briefly. Snow starts at about Two Bear Camp, which is still under maybe a foot or 2 of snow. The meadows there are clear, though, and flowers may be blooming in a week or 2. Several more avalanches on the way up to the divide, I lost and found the trail climbing the snowy bowl below the divide. Lost the trail again right at the top of the divide, and didn't see where it went down to the Home Sweet Home basin, so I just went straight down. Entire Home Sweet Home basin is buried in snow, probably 7 or 8 feet deep. Shelter is partially melted out, but is pretty well demolished. Snow becomes patchy just below (maybe a couple hundred vertical feet) the basin ""lip"", where I found the trail again. Descent was mostly snow-free, but again, LOTS of blow downs. Lots of slippery little stuff down, too. At least when it's wet. Upper Duckabush camp is snow free, but the outhouse might be difficult to use - it's leaning about 45 degrees. River has to be forded there, was about knee deep on me. And, not surprisingly, cold. Some patchy avalanche snow just below this, continued blow downs. Blow downs were cleared from below about 1 mile below the LaCrosse Pass trail jct. Thanks very much to those who chopped up logs. Trail was somewhat overgrown, going from ankle high to chest high as one proceeds downwards, mostly when the trail is in the floodplain. Several quite muddy spots along this trail, several of which should really get puncheon. Nice recent debris flow over trail right at Nat'l. Forest boundary. Nat'l Forest trail is in good shape the rest of the way. Oh, maybe 4 big avalanche chutes along the Duckabush, where you have to climb over piles of logs, branches, snow etc. Very impressive. Not hard to cross now, but may be as the snow collapses from underneath. Not many flowers - usual woodland ones down low: foamflower, twinflower, hedge nettles, 2 patches of tall larkspurs, 5 different saprophytes, vanilla leaf, etc. Some glacier and avalanche lilies in the upper Skokomish, and marsh marigolds. Not much else high, the meadows either haven't or have just melted out. Some phlox, fireweed, paintbrush, douglasia, penstemon on a rocky peak at the divide. A few bog orchids (green and white) blooming in the upper Duckabush. Some blue/huckleberries and red huckleberries ripe at the lowest elevations. Overall: lots of blowdowns and slippery things to climb over/under/around, but certainly do-able if _I_ did it in 3 days. I fell a number of times. A couple of bridges were gone, I think, but nothing was that difficult to get past. I didn't use an ice axe on the way up. I DID use an ice axe coming down into Home Sweet Home, and for a little bit below that, but probably could have done without if I had to. In case you somehow didn't know, there was a PHENOMENAL amount of snow and avalanching this winter. The tree carnage is very impressive. p.s. - not sure which number the main Duckabush trail is: 104 or 803'

I took my riding horse, pack horse, and my BIG saw and headed up the trail. The trail was in pretty good condition until I got to the 5 mile camp. A tree was blown across the trail which I sawed on for an hour and a half and finally was able to clear it from the trail. I sawed and cleared the trail all the way to about the 8 mile mark where I finally decided I had better quit and set up camp for the night. In the morning, I rode out. This is a great trail for hikers but not a good one for horses especially inexperienced horses or riders. Now you can get to the 8 mile mark a little easier. Sorry about the manure in the trail, I did clear a lot of fallen trees out of the trail.