Began the hike at 10:40 the beginning was smooth running as you would expect, the trillium was pretty and more flowers were in bloom the higher you got. Once we were a little ways up we began to see snow patches and occasionally had to walk over them without much trouble, a couple downed trees without much trouble getting around them. the snow began to increase as we climbed and once we got to the junction where the trail splits into a trail to flapjack and a trail to black and white lakes the snow was getting deep and more frequent. When you pass that junction you are around a half mile from the lakes however after another quarter mile of walking we faced only snow with few footprints leading in different directions, eventually we were unable to find the trail at all and had to turn back only a half mile from the lakes which was very disappointing. You may be able to make it to the lakes with snow shoes.

Warnings: all the snow is melted underneath from run off making it unstable, falls can lead to serious injuries when it gets to a few feet deep near the top. Also in the deeper snow there were snowshoe tracks leading away from the trail which  made it easier to lose the trail.

Spike Camp is near Staircase and Flapjack Lakes in the Olympic National Park. It's an easy day hike, good with children. There is an entrance fee to get into the Park. Part of the road up to the Staircase Ranger Station is not paved around Lake Cushman. This piece is filled with large potholes and some low-clearance vehicles had a difficult time navigating it. Most of the road is paved and in good condition. 

The trail is well marked and has little elevation gain, especially compared to the nearby trails of Mt. Eleanor, Mt. Rose and Staircase. It roughly follows the river and has several beautiful overlooks. Part of the trail is through old growth cedars, firs, and hemlock - very peaceful! Much of the trail is filled with flowing water or mud. In many places hikers have made the trail wider by circumventing the muddy spots. There was at least two places one has to hop over stones to cross the creek. I used trekking poles and this helped a lot. 

Overall, this was a pleasant hike, even in the downpour we had. We saw trilliums, blooming groundcover, fully leafed trees and evergreens of all types. There were many large trees down but not in the way of the trail. Several were recently cut so hikers could pass. There were many people out on the trail and some were returning from overnight backpacking further up than Spike Camp. 

I recommend this as a long-ish day hike (7.2 miles roundtrip) with beautiful scenery and lush foliage. Be prepared for crowded trails as the weather improves. Taking a swim in Lake Cushman after a long hike nearby is one of my favorite things to do in the summer! 

Hilary H. 5/28/22

Wonderful balance of the spectrum of trails right now with some very clear easy going, and some deep snow or significant trees down.   The road is totally clear and holiday Sunday turns out to be the perfect time with only 3 other cars in the main parking lot at 11am. 

Right away there are a number of trees down over the trail, but have already had some clearing done (thanks to the person who came through with a hand saw and cleared some paths through some) which I added a bit to, so you don't have to feel like you're bushwhacking or going to get poked in the eye.  There are a few large logs angled over the trail that I like to call crotch-wetters that are a slight challenge for shorter legs but everything is doable.  A few tree clusters over the trail have a recent path made around them.  See pictures for a sample.

As for snow- totally clear easy walking until about mile 4, around the trail turnoff up towards Flapjack & Black&White lakes.  There is snow on the two boardwalk sections and one with some tree branches over it (cleared a few off so you just have to walk over the rest, nice & safe now).  Around the Madeline Creek crossing is where the snow got significantly deep and I needed gaiters for my pants.  That's also about where the hiker ahead of me had put on snowshoes and made a decent compacted path to follow until about the last 3/4ths of a mile where it got wonky.  In the last 1mile up to Flapjack lakes the snow is several feet thick and you'll sink about 1 foot or more with just boots.  I never felt the need for spikes but had them in case. 

Route finding- around mile 7(ish) the snowshoes go too much up & to the right making a loop on the east side of the little ridge you can see on a topo map just N of the western flapjack but should have gone further east over the Donahue Creek.  So look for that turn & follow my lone boot path out of the trees a bit into an open valley where you'll see a big cut log up-slope that indicates the trail.  There are orange tree blazes that I partly followed where the snow-level was manageable.  I was definitely sinking above my gaiters but determined to get to the lakes when so close.  My path will get you there safely and a less steep climb.  Lakes area all snowed over and will probably all yours.  I saw some snowshoe tracks around them but NO idea how they got there because they didn't come up the "official trail" nor did I see where the snowshoer I followed connected to the lake, so... ??  It was a lovely day, great exercise and nice trail even with climbing through/over some trees and getting my pants soggy while slipping / sinking in thick snow.  I even had to excavate a bit of sections to climb up thick snow piles but made steps for the next folks to use.  ENJOY!  All in all, with the route finding and some trail clearing and dinner+drink at the lakes, I made it up & back in 9 hours, so you can probably do it in 8 or less.  Legs and knees are sore though after a bit of a hike-break (thanks weird spring weather...).  On to the next adventure, happy trekking!

Drove out to the Staircase entrance of Olympic NP and car camped at the CG. I was the only vehicle there that night. The plan the next day, which ended up changing, was to hike up the Skokomish River Trail to the Big Log backcountry camp, then the next day do a hike up Six Ridge, and return home the last day.

After relocating my truck to the overnight parking area at Staircase, I hiked the 5.5 miles so Big Log with no incident. Intermittent rain. Most stream crossings were bridged, had crossing logs, or were easily stepped over. There was one exception--an unnamed stream a few miles in (before the intersection with the Flapjack Lakes Trail) where I had to go upstream about 15 feet to find a doable crossing. An even then my pucker factor was high, but I'm a very timid stream crosser!

On the way to Big Log about 2 miles in, I passed an unsigned, unmapped boot path on the right that looks like it might go up Mt. Lincoln. Something to explore another day.

Big Log--a well signed turnoff to the left of the trail and downhill--is a very pretty camping area with a privy, easy water access, and a few different tent sites. There is a hollowed out tree in the main camp kitchen area that is still alive and appears healthy. It's big enough for a few people to take shelter from the rain.

It was still early so after making camp I decided to explore further north on the Skokomish River Trail. Almost immediately after rejoining the main trail and turning left, I encountered a huge blowdown. It's hard to tell but the "easier" way is to the right. Shortly after that the trail reaches a bridge over the river. Turn left to go to Six Ridge and turn right to continue on SRT. I turned right and followed the trail as it meandered alongside the river. In one low lying area the trail was a bit difficult to follow as it was flooded and there were some social trail detours established. After that, the reroute in the vicinity of Camp Pleasant goes uphill for a few hundred feet. I made careful visual notes on both of these areas, knowing with the early sunset I'd be returning in full dark. As before, all stream crossings were bridged, logged, or rock hoppable. Between Hammer Creek and Eight Stream I decided I'd killed enough time to avoid sitting around camp in the dark for hours (which I'm not a fan of) and turned around. Hiking back in the dark with a headlamp I ended up missing the turn to the reroute near Camp Pleasant, and ended up facing an unfamiliar, undoable river crossing. A bit unsettling in the dark but I turned back and found the intersection very shortly. From there it was a fair amount of trial and error picking my way through the reroute and an uneventful hike back to camp.

The next morning I set off for Six Ridge. Shortly after crossing the river and turning left, there was a boot path up the hill to the right, which from the map looked like it was the trail. So I set off up the booth path, which promptly faded into nothing, but I persisted bushwhacking to find the trail for quite a while.

It was not the trail! The booth path is a red herring. The trail continues generally straight until it reaches a low lying area with some camping spots on the river. However, where the trail crosses Seven Stream there was no safe way to cross without doing a full-on ford though knee deep water, which I wasn't prepared to do. So scratch the Six Ridge plan.

On the way back I assessed my options. Take the Black and White Way trail, which was at the same intersection with the Big Log turnoff and SRT? Looking at the map the B&W looked very steep and I didn't feel up to tackling it after spending the morning bushwhacking. So I decided to backtrack on the SRT to the Flapjack Lakes Trail, and possibly loop back on the B&W trail via the Smith Lake Primitive Trail.

When I got to the Flapjack Lakes Trail I encountered a couple coming down with their toddler son in a carrier--they were the only other people I saw the whole trip! The trail to the lakes was fairly easy up to the intersection with the Smith Lake trail, although there were some big blowdowns that I had to heave myself over.

When I got the intersection with the Smith Lake connector trail, sunset was approaching, so I had to decide between enjoying the sunset on the ridge it would lead to, or at the Lakes. After negotiating the Smith Lake connector where it crossed Donahue Creek, immediately upon getting to the other side I could see that with the patchy snow and no footprints that it would be difficult to follow. So I decided to go the lakes. As I turned back to recross Donahue, I was promptly reminded that crossing a creek in one direction is not necessarily the same level of difficulty as when you go back over in the other direction! So the pucker factor was again high and I got my feet wet but I made it across.

Returning to the Flapjack Lakes Trail and heading up to the lakes, the trail became more technical. The snow was patchy and became continuous about 1/4 mile from the lakes. I had spikes but didn't need them. The lakes themselves were beautiful with 4-6 inches of snow. There is a map posted at the lakes showing several campgrounds and a bench between the lakes, where no camping is allowed. However the bench made a nice spot to sit, enjoy a snack and change into dry socks, just as the sun was setting. I didn't linger too long because I wanted to get back down the technical part of the trail before dark. I should note here that I don't know what the avy risk of this trail is in full winter, but the with the low amount of snow I encountered I never had any concerns.

I returned to camp, again in full dark but this time the trail was much easier to follow.

The next day, I hiked back out, only this time I crossed over the river on the bridge about a mile from the TH, and returned via the Staircase Loop portion of the trail on the west side of the river. This trail is much more popular (I did see several people on this segment) and I can see why. It is much more scenic than the portion of the SRT it parallels, and there is a short side trail to a 14-foot diameter fallen Western Red Cedar.

Returned to my truck and when I passed the Ranger Station, looked to see a permit box so I could fill one out after the fact since I had forgotten to do so prior to setting out. I could not find one, so if you're supposed to self-issue a backcounty permit I don't know where you're supposed to get it.

A good trip in the off season at a very popular spot!

Note: Google Maps says the road to the trailhead (FS-24) is closed Nov-May and in fact it would not give me navigation instructions to the TH. But I checked the Forest Service web site and confirmed that FS-24 was open.

I definitely overdid it by tacking on almost every possible side-excursion on this extremely long day-hike, but it was such a gorgeous day that I let myself get carried away. Being said, doing the full hike up to Gladys Divide and further onto Mt. Gladys was absolutely worth it and I have zero regrets. OTOH, hiking up to Black and White Lakes afterwards was anticlimactic and honestly, kind of a slog in the end. The trail between Flapjack and B&W is really overgrown in places and there's a lot of open areas where I the sun was absolutely roasting me. Then you have the hike down from B&W to Big Log and it's steep and miserable. So yeah, enthusiastic thumbs up to Flapjack and Gladys and forget about the rest unless you're a total masochist.
As mentioned above, it was a stunningly beautiful day and I really don't know what I did to deserve such pleasure, but it was almost entirely bug-free too. Some of the backpackers I encountered said they were brutalized by bugs the day before, yet somehow I lucked out? They also mentioned seeing bears around Flapjack, but I didn't have any run-ins myself, so I can only confirm that I saw evidence of their existence (does the Pope wear a funny hat?). Also, note that Flapjack is still quite cold despite the neverending streak of hot weather this summer and it was a welcome respite after summitting. The berries were abundant as well, as much as the wildflowers are waning.