3 day / 2 night trip to Sundown Lake with the intention of staying both nights. Really, this trail is not suitable for most hikers. The blowdown starts right away and doesnt stop until the park boundary. Where there isn't blowdown right in your way, there's vegetation reaching out across the trail. The horse flies were on me from the minute I opened my truck door till the minute I shut the tent fly 8 miles later. I'll try to break down the obstacles in order:

First mile - blowdown at steep angles across the trail. You have to get up and over some, and there's not much footing possible on one log. You can get under some, but with a pack it was hard and killed my knees.

Second mile / second crossing - blowdown persists but not as frequent. Vegetation crowding trail. Second crossing of Skok too deep to rock hop. Rocks are fairly slippery and it would be easy to fall without poles.

Miles 3-4 - Devils club and salmonberry growing right in the trail. You'll have to choose between wearing long sleeves and pants to avoid getting cut. It was 95 degrees, so I chose to get cut. Walk straight up the overgrown meadow.

The worst blowdown is just above the last creek crossing (where there's a nice pool). The log is too big to get over or under - you have to go around. I fell here and cut my arm. The mess continues all the way to first large meadow with a campsite (Riley).

The trail takes on a different character here - narrower and harder to find (stay straight through meadows). The way is marked by ribbons and enormous piles of cougar scat (about the size of a 12 boot). The horse flies here began to get worse. Several elk were serving their blood in a little pond near Sundown Pass. Sundown Pass is very steep - I fell here also.

The trail after Sundown Lake to Six Ridge Pass is delightful and absolutely free of any obstruction - the only section of enjoyable trail along my entire journey. I know the Skok was logged out and brushed really well just a couple years ago and it saddens me to see the state of the trail now. It's no wonder there were no other people along the entire way on Friday and only two hearty folks coming up Saturday afternoon.

This is not a trail I would do again or recommend. It's dangerous in its current state, and even after clearing, I'm not sure the reward (Sundown Lake) is best reached by this route.

I only started the trail, from Sundown Lake. It soon disappeared under continuous snow. There was no evidence of any previous passage this season; the trail cannot be seen and much of the snow is steep with dangerous runout. Only passable with ice axe and associated expertise. Did not continue, exited via Graves Creek.

CAVEAT PLEASE READ THIS! This trip report is **specifically** covering the east flank of Six Ridge, NOT Six Ridge proper that runs east / west along (over and over and over) the ridge. This is the trail section that starts at the N. Fork Skok big bridge, where if you're going up the N. Fork Skok trail and you turn LEFT off the bridge, you are heading towards Six Ridge. That is where our work began.

So when I checked "trail in good condition" know that I mean this 1.75 mile section NOT THE REST OF SIX RIDGE WHICH IS STILL EXTREMELY HEAVY WITH BRUSH AND LIKELY LOGS TOO (though we did clear all the logs on the ridge in 2019, for what it's worth ...). 

(ps) the road was HORRENDOUS with potholes when we drove in, but it was graveled and graded while we were in there working! So now it's perfectly fine. We couldn't believe it when we drove out!

Here is my report:

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.

Six Ridge wasn't too hard to follow, but Graves Creek was really pretty rough. Lots of rough trail and trees down took a toll on my knees. By spring Six Ridge will be hard to navigate again because there won't be any tracks in the grass. Saw 3 bears up on ridge and heard several somethings crashing around in the trees. There's no water for eastern 6ish miles of Six Ridge. Very lightly trafficked for good reason with a plenty of elevation change along ridge.