Anderson Pass Duckabush Main Fork Dosewallips River O'Neil Pass - The Olympics - Three of us left Duckabush trailhead Thursday 8am. Spent the first night at 10Mile camp and made Upper Duckabush Camp at 1:00pm the next day. Saw only 2 parties on all of Duckabush. The trail is in great shape. Saw weasels and a little bear sign. It was too dreary and buggy at Upper Duck so we headed uphill to Marmot Lake Friday afternoon. It was a bit hot, and brought the total elevation gain for the day to 3300 feet, but a swim in Marmot Lake and spending the night at lovely Lake Lacrosse made it well worth it. Saw two bear in the basin and heard coyotes nearby at night. The only other party up there awoke that morning to elk bugling in their camp. Beautiful place. Saturday morning we abandoned our plan to hike back down the Duck to our car. Instead we headed out O'Neil Pass for the trip along the southern rim of Enchanted Valley to Anderson Pass. Wildflowers were intoxicating and we saw a BIG bear (and sign of plenty more.) Trail from O'Neil to junction is in great shape, no snow to speak of. Only saw two people headed up to O'Neil. Cleared Anderson Pass in sweltering heat around 4pm and headed down the Dosewallips to Honeymoon Meadows. Saw more folks in the first hour on the Dose trail than we did the whole 3 previous days. Left Honeymoon Sunday morning and got to the trailhead at 11am and hitched a ride back to the car. Dose trail in great shape. This is a nice route. 44 miles and about 6800 feet all together. StallingsFamily@worldnet.att.net

On Saturday, we set out on the Dukabush (#803) for a quick over-niter. The weather, predicted to be clear, was drizzly with fog at 8:30 am. A note was posted at the trail-head that there had been numerous car break-ins, and that the Jefferson County Sheriffs had recently (6/2/98) arrested two individuals regarding the vandalism. (My car was untouched). The trail was in good condition, and there were recent improvements especially on the west side of little hump. The climb up big hump was, as predicted, long, with many switch backs. We had planned to stop at the top for a snack, so we passed up a large rock overlook, near the top with wild flowers and a view of the valley. This was a mistake. The ""top"" of big hump is very unceremonious as it passed through the old growth forest. We passed the 5 mile camp where there were about three tents set up, and room for a few more. There were others camps just up the trail. The hike at this point, although relatively flat on the map, is full of ups and downs. The weather was mostly overcast, but dry. We camped at about the 6.5 mile point, and walked up the trail into the park. Of note, there is a large very slippery log that crosses the trail at about the 7 mile point. This log was on a steep slope and would be difficult to cross safely with a full pack on. A notch cut into the log, for a foot hold would greatly improve the safety of the crossing. The return trip to the trail-head took about the same amount of time, and little hump was more difficult going back. In general a very nice hike and good weather to boot.

We started Friday eve and camped at a site about half way between Little Hump and Big Hump. Sat. morning beautiful as we packed our way to Ten Mile Camp. National Forest trail in good shape, National Park trail could use some work. A few small blowdowns and some trail damage. Ten Mile camp nice area. Two other partys there besides us. Just up trail a ways from Ten Mile is a large blowdown. There is room to crawl under it without your pack on. Horse traffic would not get around. The hike out was a long one but beautiful weather made for a great trip.

Started Saturday 5/23/98 morning. The road leading to the trail is in fine condition. The ranger at Hood Canal Ranger Station warned about breakins; I left the car unlocked and had no problems. By 11:30 AM the trail register had about twelve parties signed in for the day, ten of which indicated a plan to stay at Five Mile Camp. Little Hump is easy, it's done before you know it. Big Hump is a pain in the neck (or, more accurately, the quads) but you get a nice view of St. Peter's Dome. After Big Hump there's no more big gain but it would be a mistake to say it flattens out - there's plenty of up and down along the river bank. There were a lot of people at Five Mile Camp so don't expect any privacy (or even a site) if you plan to go there. The trail is generally good but there are a fair number of muddy patches and a handful of streams to ford. This got worse on Sunday because it rained. Good campsite at about 7mi, on the Park side. On the way back, Big Hump is much easier, but Little Hump is harder. Overall an easy, enjoyable hike. In the river valley you can grab a peek at The Brothers.

We hiked to Big Hump in good weather, minus a few sprinkles now and then. The trail is in good condition and we saw a handful of other hiking parties. This is a great hike to do in early spring. A few trilliums were in bloom. A word of caution -- reportedly, three vehicles were broken into at the trailhead parking lot on Friday, 4/10. The perpetrators even took a car battery. Most people we encountered on the trail were nervous and wanted to know if we had seen any damage to their cars. It looked like there weren't any additional break-ins since Friday.