I've been trying to get one of my friends out hiking with me and it finally happened. I invited him and his 7 year old and 3 year old to join myself, another friend and her 7 year old. I chose the staircase rapids area because the trail is easy, flat and very pretty. I gave the kids disposable cameras and memory books to capture their time on the hike. We had a visual scavenger hunt which included identifying the plants and animal scat (if any). I think the girls got into it. The hike itself was beautiful and lush. All along the hike you can either see and/or hear the river that parallels the trail. At one point, we were next to beautiful rapids, but the children were in blissful delight over the ""waterfall"" in the water drainage along the trail. Go figure :-) The 3 year old did great on his first hike...he walked almost the entire 2 miles roundtrip except for when he tripped and needed daddy to comfort him with a ""carry."" We had our lunch break at the bridge and the 7 year olds colored and wrote in their memory books. The wind started to pick up and to get the kids moving we jokingly said a storm was a brewing...let's get a move on. The 3 year old took over and kept us moving by shouting, ""the storm is coming, the storm is coming."" ""The storm"" never arrived and it was a beautiful sunny day the entire day. The only animal scat we identified was the 3 year olds poop that we measured and took out of the forest with us for futher experimentation (to see if the public sewer system works). It was great to have the two 7 year old girls with us to entertain each other, especially on the ride back home. We adults were worn-out. I highly recommend this hike for little children. I am glad we didn't go during the height of the summer season...it can get crowded.

Traveled up to ole Lake Cushman and the Staircase Campground for a little rest and relaxation, both of which are a little harder to achieve at Staircase this time of year. The sign at the Ranger Station should read: Please turn off your car stereo while you are in the park! Thankfully the primitive dirt road up to Staircase serves to scare off our friends from LowRidersville. Spend a week in the backcountry and then venture into a State or National Park campground and you will know what I mean. Other than that, the campground was in great shape and the rangers were out in force. A recommended car camping trip if you can time it right. Anyway, we headed up the south side of the Staircase trail past the Big Cedar (which actually had fallen down a couple of years back)and up to the bridge above Staircase Rapids. Lots of day hikers on the trail but the BRIDGE IS OUT so don't plan on making the full 3 mile or so loop back around to the Staircase campground. The North Fork of the Skokomish River is lower than normal and one Ranger even suggested fording the river just above the washed out bridge to get across and actually make the loop. We didn't and I wouldn't suggest this method except for the abnormally low level of the river. The bridge is expected to be fully repaired by Fall of 2001. If your camping at Staircase, try taking the guided Ranger tour of the Shady Lane Nature Trail, which is fun for the whole family. This short trail ventures down the North Fork of the Skokomish River across from the Staircase campground and back. Forgot to mention, hardly a bug in site... Happy Trails...

crazy weather on april fools day , was snowing on the way into the trail head. fortunitly the sun was shining when we arrived on the trail. the river was spectacular w/ run off water. the bridge is still missing , so we cont.. to beaver flats and had a quick lunch in the sun with clouds rolling in fast we decided to head out, we arrived back at the parking lot with a slight drizzle.

Due to the nasty weather of the penninsula this year, we finally were able to make it out for our first hike of the season! Staircase has always been a wonderful first-hike-of-the-year outing. We traversed into the beautiful summer day on a fabulous 7 mile hike to Camp Pleasant. The flora and fauna were amazing! There were traces of snow at Donahue Creek(4.7 miles or so in), with rumors of 7-8 feet of snow .5 miles beyond Camp Pleasant. The trip was great, and all of the fallen trees have been taken care of. There's nothing like the Olympics on a beautiful summer day!

With all of the snow in the mountains I figured a trail with an elevation of 1000ft or so should be snow free. I was wrong. Even with the snow the trail is passable. Hiked up to the burn area and a little beyond. The snow was starting to get deeper and softer (late in the day) so we turned back. It was a pleasant day none the less. It was good to get out into the trees after a long wet winter. The bridge going over the river at staircase rapids has been damaged. It buckled under the weight of the snow at mid span. The bridge was made out of fiberglass. I guess nobody figured on that much snow at 1000 ft. Se ya on the trail.