[Ancient Ambler]

With a sense of foreboding verging on dread, took off through the rain toward the Olympics . Weather service had issued dire warnings of an inch or more of rain, plunging snow levels and danger of hypothermia. Things were not looking good. Except for the blue sky we saw to the west as we passed the Port Townsend turnoff. Except for the blue sky overhead as we pulled in to the amazingly empty parking lot for the Dungeness trails. Less than 10 cars parked at this massive parking lot, on the first day of the Labor Day weekend? Looked like almost everyone else got the memo about how horrible the weather was going to be.

Almost empty Dungeness TH parking lot

Almost empty Dungeness TH lot

Our destination was the not-often-visited Charlia Pass, about 7.5 miles distant and about 3800 feet higher than the TH.

Route to Charlia Pass

Travelling under partly sunny skies with not a hint of rain, we quickly reached the log bridge across Royal Creek and turned south, heading up the Dungeness valley toward Camp Handy.

bridge across Royal Creek

The trail to Camp Handy is for the most part level and gains very little elevation. Past Camp Handy, the trail starts to ascend. A few tenths of a mile past Camp Handy you reach the intersection with the Heather Creek trail, which heads right. Keep left here, as indicated by the sign for Marmot Pass.

Stay left here

The trail between Camp Handy and Boulder Shelter gains about 1800 feet over several miles, making it a very pleasant ascent, which was enhanced for us by sunshine along the way.

sunny trail

upper Dungeness trail

blue sky over Petunia Peak

sun on the upper Dungeness

We arrived at Boulder Shelter to find no one else there or in the vicinity.

Boulder Shelter

Boulder Shelter 2

After a short break, we took off on the trail toward Constance Pass.

Trail toward Constance Pass from Boulder Shelter

After a few hundred yards you come to a junction, with the trail sign indicating that Home Lake is to the right. Turn left at this point for the Charlia way trail.

turn left here for Charila way trail; Constance Pass to right

The Charlia way trail is unmaintained but in very good shape, except for being overgrown with brush that gets you soaking wet in no time. Where there had been little evidence of rain on the trail up to Camp Handy, rain had definitely fallen in the Charlia Pass area, although it wasn't raining when we ascended the trail. It isn't long after you start ascending the Charlia way trail that you are rewarded with great views.

Trail toward Marmot Pass viewed from Charlia way trail

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Needles from Charlia way trail

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upper Fricaba basin from Charlia way trail

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Gray Wolf Mountain from Charlia way trail

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Cloudy Peak (6974) from Charlia way trail

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Constance Pass from Charlia way trail

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Warrior from Charlia way trail

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Inner Constance in clouds

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nearing Charlia Pass

The higher you go, the better the views.

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Mts Johnson and Clark from Charlia

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Clark, Adelaide, Walkinshaw from Charlia

From the pass itself, there are nice views off to the east of Hood Canal and Puget Sound, as well as down to upper Charlia Lake and beyond to Boulder Ridge.

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Hood Canal and Puget Sound from Charlia Pass

upper Charlia Lake

Boulder Ridge from Charlia Pass

As we sat down to eat lunch at the pass, we got our first rainfall, though it wasn't the torrential drenching we had feared. The temperature, however, was dropping, and the wind was picking up. Got a few more shots from the pass, including a nice view of the route I'd taken a few years ago into Deception Basin from Heather Creek over the pass between Hal Foss Peak and Mount Fricaba.

Incoming weather from Charlia Pass

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backdoor route to Deception Basin viewed from Charlia Pass

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Fricaba, Hal Foss from Charila Pass

Nice views to the north down the upper Dungeness valley toward Mount Baldy as well.

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view N down upper Dungeness valley from Charlia

route down from Charlia Pass

We made good time heading back, and were subject only to some light rain while we were descending the Charlia way trail. Heading north from there we had no more rain and enjoyed partly sunny skies. Saw that a couple of tents had been pitched by the Boulder Shelter, and once we reached Camp Handy, we found that there was a total of one tent pitched in that entire area. Spent some pleasant minutes basking in the sun in the meadow at Camp Handy before taking the easy walk back to the TH, where there were now about 12 cars. All in all, a far more pleasant day in the Olympics than we had any reason to hope for. Capped it off by restoring our drastically depleted calorie and cholesterol levels at the Longhouse deli just past the Seven Cedars casino on the way back home.

[El Dooder]

Nice route and glad to see the good luck with the weather. I've done that route a couple of times but came in via Marmot Pass. That's one great view looking down the Dungeoness valley and up to Inner Constance. Nice pix too. I like that route shot of Heather Creek to Deception Basin.

[RodF]

Our experience Saturday, clearing the Little Quil trail, was much like yours! The Promise: 100% chance rain, gusts to 25 mph, temps 40s. Special Weather Statement updated 4 pm Friday: RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT DEVELOPING OFFSHORE WILL SPREAD ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON LATER TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF A HALF INCH TO AN INCH WILL BE COMMON ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE MOUNTAINS BY SATURDAY EVENING. THIS WEATHER PATTERN WILL HAVE THE GREATEST IMPACT ON THE MOUNTAIN BACKCOUNTRY...AND PEOPLE PLANNING TRIPS THERE SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS COLD AND WET WEATHER. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL FALL TO AROUND 6000 FEET BY SUNDAY...AND ONE TO TWO FEET OF NEW SNOW IS EXPECTED TO FALL ABOVE THE SNOW LEVEL. WINDS OF 25 TO 40 MPH SHOULD BE EXPECTED ON HIGHER EXPOSED RIDGES AND SLOPES...AND THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES ABOVE 4000 FEET WILL REMAIN BELOW 50 DEGREES. The Reality: none of the above, very pleasant!

Little Quil towards Mt Townsend, by Mark

Ah, the joys of the rain shadow... when we get it!

[Ancient Ambler]

RodF, Looks like we got lucky and dodged a bullet by heading into the northeastern Olympics on Saturday. The National Weather Service was right to warn hikers about bad weather for the Labor Day weekend, based on the weather stats from Hurricane Ridge since Saturday. While we had strong winds and cold temps above 6000 ft on Saturday at Charlia Pass, it was nothing like the 60 mph gusts recorded at Hurricane on Saturday. And given temps at Hurricane in the 30s on Sunday coupled with very strong winds, I'm thankful I wasn't up in the Olympics overnight this weekend. Weather Conditions for: HURRICANE, WA (HURW1) Elev: 5200 ft; Latitude: 47.9706; Longitude: -123.4983 Current time: Mon, 07 Sep 6:43 am (PDT) Most Recent Observation: Mon, 07 Sep 6:00 am (PDT) Time Temp. Dew Relative Wind Wind Wind Solar Solar Precip Precip Precip Precip 24 Hr 24 Hr Quality Point Humidity Chill Direction Speed Radiation Pct Accumulated 1 hour 6 hour 24 hour Max Min Control (PDT) (f) (f) (%) (f) (mph) (W/m*m) of psbl (inches) (inches) (inches) (inches) Temp Temp 07 Sep 6:00 am 36 36 100 WNW G20 0 -- 16.14 0.02 0.03 0.44 OK 07 Sep 5:00 am 37 37 100 SW 1G17 1 -- 16.12 0.01 0.01 0.42 OK 07 Sep 4:00 am 35 35 100 WSW 7G18 0 -- 16.11 0.01 0.41 OK 07 Sep 3:00 am 35 35 100 NE 7G20 0 -- 16.11 0.01 0.42 OK 07 Sep 2:00 am 36 36 100 29 NNW 9G21 0 -- 16.11 0.03 0.47 OK 07 Sep 1:00 am 36 36 100 NW 8G23 0 -- 16.11 0.08 0.48 OK 07 Sep 12:00 am 34 34 100 26 NNW 10G22 0 -- 16.11 0.08 0.56 OK 06 Sep 11:00 pm 34 34 100 W 7G28 0 -- 16.11 0.01 0.11 0.58 OK 06 Sep 10:00 pm 34 34 100 25 ENE 12G29 0 -- 16.10 0.18 0.58 OK 06 Sep 9:00 pm 34 34 100 25 ESE 12G30 0 -- 16.10 0.02 0.20 0.58 OK 06 Sep 8:00 pm 36 36 100 27 N 13G34 0 0 16.08 0.05 0.20 0.56 OK 06 Sep 7:00 pm 37 37 100 27 WSW 17G30 13 4% 16.03 0.19 0.51 OK 06 Sep 6:00 pm 37 37 100 27 WSW 17G29 35 6% 16.03 0.03 0.19 0.51 OK 06 Sep 5:00 pm 35 35 100 26 ENE 14G30 6 1% 16.00 0.08 0.17 0.48 OK 06 Sep 4:00 pm 36 36 100 27 NW 15G33 25 3% 15.92 0.02 0.10 0.40 OK 06 Sep 3:00 pm 37 37 100 29 NW 12G36 45 4% 15.90 0.02 0.08 0.38 48 36 OK 06 Sep 2:00 pm 35 35 100 24 N 18G31 19 2% 15.88 0.04 0.10 0.37 OK 06 Sep 1:00 pm 37 37 100 29 E 13G39 79 7% 15.84 0.14 0.34 OK 06 Sep 12:00 pm 37 37 100 28 N 16G42 59 6% 15.84 0.01 0.14 0.34 OK 06 Sep 11:00 am 36 36 100 26 NW 17G48 213 24% 15.83 0.01 0.13 0.34 OK 06 Sep 10:00 am 35 35 100 22 SW 26G46 108 16% 15.82 0.12 0.33 OK 06 Sep 9:00 am 34 34 100 22 SE 23G35 47 10% 15.82 0.04 0.13 0.33 OK 06 Sep 8:00 am 37 37 100 27 SE 18G38 14 8% 15.78 0.08 0.14 0.29 OK 06 Sep 7:00 am 37 37 100 27 NNW 18G33 1 -- 15.70 0.07 0.21 OK 06 Sep 6:00 am 36 36 100 26 SE 16G37 0 -- 15.70 0.15 0.22 OK 06 Sep 5:00 am 37 37 100 26 SW 21G30 0 -- 15.70 0.17 0.23 OK 06 Sep 4:00 am 36 36 100 27 SSE 15G44 0 -- 15.70 0.01 0.18 0.23 OK 06 Sep 3:00 am 38 38 100 29 SW 17G46 0 -- 15.69 0.05 0.17 0.22 OK 06 Sep 2:00 am 39 39 100 28 WNW 23G37 0 -- 15.64 0.01 0.12 0.17 OK 06 Sep 1:00 am 38 38 100 28 S 20G34 0 -- 15.63 0.08 0.11 0.16 OK 06 Sep 12:00 am 40 40 100 32 N 13G39 0 -- 15.55 0.02 0.03 0.08 OK 05 Sep 11:00 pm 39 39 100 29 SE 21G33 0 -- 15.53 0.01 0.01 0.06 OK 05 Sep 10:00 pm 39 38 98 30 SSE 18G32 0 -- 15.52 0.05 OK 05 Sep 9:00 pm 39 37 94 30 SSE 16G30 0 -- 15.52 0.05 OK 05 Sep 8:00 pm 41 37 87 SSE 15G26 0 0 15.52 0.01 0.05 OK 05 Sep 7:00 pm 42 38 86 N 13G24 31 10% 15.52 0.02 0.05 OK 05 Sep 6:00 pm 46 37 71 SSE 11G24 58 10% 15.52 0.02 0.05 OK 05 Sep 5:00 pm 45 39 79 S 12G31 165 21% 15.52 0.03 0.05 OK 05 Sep 4:00 pm 44 40 87 S 12G29 163 17% 15.52 0.03 0.05 OK 05 Sep 3:00 pm 45 40 82 S 16G28 198 18% 15.52 0.01 0.03 0.05 64 41 OK 05 Sep 2:00 pm 43 41 93 S 14G30 424 37% 15.51 0.01 0.02 0.04 OK 05 Sep 1:00 pm 46 41 83 S 13G28 465 41% 15.50 0.01 0.03 OK 05 Sep 12:00 pm 45 45 100 SSE 14G39 302 29% 15.50 0.01 0.02 0.03 OK 05 Sep 11:00 am 43 43 100 SSE 15G47 109 12% 15.49 0.02 0.02 OK 05 Sep 10:00 am 43 41 92 S 21G58 139 20% 15.49 0.02 0.02 OK 05 Sep 9:00 am 42 42 100 S 22G60 133 29% 15.49 0.02 0.02 OK 05 Sep 8:00 am 42 42 100 S 34G45 14 7% 15.49 0.02 0.02 OK 05 Sep 7:00 am 44 44 100 S 23G48 1 -- 15.49 0.01 0.02 0.02 OK 05 Sep 6:00 am 42 42 100 SSE 20G36 0 -- 15.48 0.01 0.01 OK 05 Sep 5:00 am 42 39 89 S 14G42 0 -- 15.47 OK 05 Sep 4:00 am 42 35 76 S 19G40 0 -- 15.47 OK 05 Sep 3:00 am 44 31 60 S 20G32 0 -- 15.47 OK 05 Sep 2:00 am 47 26 44 S 18G32 0 -- 15.47 OK 05 Sep 1:00 am 50 32 49 SSE 14G30 0 -- 15.47 OK 05 Sep 12:00 am 48 35 60 S 19G16 0 -- 15.47 Suspect

[ethorson]

Great report and photos! It was a good call to head for the NE Olympics. I frequently see the effect of the Olympic rain shadow where I live in Port Townsend. Many times when rain is forecast we end up under a ragged blue hole with a view of Mount Townsend. Charlia Pass looks very pretty and I am definitely going to add it to my list of day hike destinations.

[goats gone wild]

Ambler, Thanks for the beta on the Charlia Lakes route and the back door route to Deception Basin from Heather Creek. Not only did you take the trip less travelled, but also at a time less travelled. Smarty Pants! Do you know, does Heather Creek receive any maintenance at all?

[bobbi]

thanks, too, for the info on charlia lakes. on the list i'll wait for the next 'great' weather weekend

[reststep]

Thanks for the report and pictures AA. I really like that area. GGW, as for Heather Creek here is a quote from a post RodF made earlier this year so it sounds like you are good to go to Deception Basin.

[goats gone wild]

Thank you very much for the info, reststep. Much appreciated.

[bobbi]

goats.....let me know when you are going to do deception basin via heather creek...i am inviting myself along thanks in advance! btw: where are my photos?

[Timmie]

[RodF]

[bobbi]

so is it Bruce that wanted the ipod? if yes, you should have grabbed from what's his face hey back to you Bruce! how goes the mt. jupiter area. b

[Sabahsboy]

Very nice trip, Ancient Ambler! I went there via Marmot Pass route thence onward to farther beauty spots. Lots of years ago! Thank you for sharing....I love seeing old places I visited...my photos seems forever lost in boxes and boxes marked and stored and stored again. Probably those would be when I was shooting 35 mm slide film (likely, Kodachrome). I had a nice day up there and was surprised at the less than inviting appearance of the lake (you show in photos....kind of a puddle). That area has remarkable botanical displays "in season". Buckhorn Wilderness, too....wish I could do it all, again.