Forum Index > Trip Reports > ONP Heather - Deception - Milk - Royal Basin 9/24-25 2010
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newtrout
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newtrout
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PostSun Sep 26, 2010 10:34 am 
9/24-25 2010 Dungeness River Trail - Heather Basin - Deception Basin - Milk Creek - Royal Basin. ~22 miles ~6000 feet of elevation gain not including side trips. We selected this hike based on this trip report, with a slight variation through the head of the Milk Creek drainage: Dungeness Loop I'd been in to Royal Basin, but was interested in seeing some less traveled country in the Olympics. This proved to be a beautiful example; bear, deer, lingering snowfields, a bit of route-finding, interesting geology... The forecast looked like we'd have one good day of weather, with rain returning Saturday night. It never did clear off on Friday, but Saturday was clear (though blustery). We set off from the upper Dungeness TH under a light drizzle. We were the only vehicle in the parking lot (of course, there was one cheap a$$ parked above the bridge so they didn't have to contribute $5 toward these well-maintained trails). It's a beautiful, mellow trail up to Camp Handy. After Camp Handy, it gradually gets steeper up to the end of the trail in Heather Basin. At the Park Boundary, there was evidence of a climbers trail heading up toward the saddle into Deception Basin. We left the trail here and began the off-trail portion of the trip. Heather Basin
Looking back down to the end of the trail at Heather Basin
Looking up the ridge toward the saddle into Deception Basin
We crested the saddle looking into Deception Basin under continued wind, mist and cloudy skies. Deception Basin
We sat down to look at the map for a few minutes, and when we looked back up, the clouds had settled in around us and dropped visibility to a few hundred yards. Rather than drop into Deception Basin, we thought we would take a peek into the Milk Creek drainage. It was hard to tell from the map if we would be able to climb out of Milk Creek into Royal Basin, but we had lots of daylight, so we thought we'd give it a shot. The saddle into the Milk Creek drainage is at the far right of this shot.
The traverse to this saddle was one of the more irritating sections of the whole trip. It was an unpleasant mixture of loose, sharp rock. Two steps forward, one step sideways..... From the saddle above Milk Creek, it looked like the route should be a go. This drainage felt very raw, geologically; as if the glaciers had only recently receded. No soil to speak of, and very little vegetation. We continued to be surprised about the amount of snow remaining above 6000 feet. Lots of snowfields that we were not prepared for. This limited our route options in several places. Milk Creek Drainage
A few hundred feet of gain brought us out of the Milk Creek drainage and up a saddle looking down into Upper Royal Basin. The clouds were still low, but we could see the bright blue tarn where we intended to camp. Upper Royal Basin
We found an established camp near the tarn and set up camp in continued blustery conditions. We assumed the wind would drop off soon, as the skies were clearing and the forecast was supposed to be much improved for Saturday. I don't think the wind dropped below 20 mph all night. Gusts hit 40 easily. Even with 2 tylenol PM and a few nips of good tequila, sleep was hard to come by. We woke to sunny skies, but continued cold wind on Saturday. We had a few deer in camp to keep us company during breakfast.
We decided to get ourselves warmed up with a scramble up to the traditional route between Royal and Deception basins. Beautiful views of Royal Basin, Deception Basin, Baker, Rainier, Fricaba, etc.
Deception Basin
Royal Basin
After lunch the wind finally dropped off, just in time for us to pack up camp and head out. The well-maintained Royal Lake trail was appreciated by sore feet, knees and hips.

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Luc
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PostSun Sep 26, 2010 11:06 am 
wow. didn't ever completely melt-out. as suspected. thanks for the tr!

GNGSTR
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FungiFan
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PostSun Sep 26, 2010 3:36 pm 
Thanks for the TR and pictures. Some variation of this is on our to do list for 2011. FF

Stupid isn't illegal...but sure comes with consequences. Famous last words: 'Here, hold my beer and watch this.'
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Tag Man
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Joined: 20 May 2008
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Location: Where the roots all twist...
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PostSun Sep 26, 2010 3:45 pm 
Nice report! up.gif up.gif Still want to check out Deception Basin a little more.

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