[Gary-n-Jan]

Muncaster Basin has been one of our objectives for some time now. For a various reasons we have had to postpone our plans each year. Finally, this September things worked out for Jan, her brother Jeff and I to attempt this trip. Our plan was to enter from the north via Martins Park and Rustler Creek, then exit to the south via Fire Creek. The following map shows our general route and each of our camps. The closure of a six mile section of the Graves Creek road for repairs added additional complexity to the trip. Before leaving Port Angeles, we learned the road was scheduled open on 9/15/11, the day we planned to exit the mountains.

Jan, her brother Jeff and I made a 6 day trip into Muncaster Basin. This is a high alpine basin located between the 2 forks of the Quinault River. Our route was clockwise, starting at the N. Fork trailhead,and continuing to the Low Divide, From here, we followed the way-trail to Martins Park. At this point we left established trails and headed cross country via Rustler Creek to Muncaster Basin. This route proved to be challenging and rewarding. The beauty and solitude we experienced in Muncaster Basin was well worth the effort to get there. The exit route down Fire Creek presented a unique set of challenges. This group of pictures is a compilation of our collective efforts to document this trip, photo credits are noted. Although many people helped us plan this trip, our biggest thanks go to the Elk and other inhabitants of the Rustler Creek drainage. They showed us the way through some difficult and confusing terrain. Without their help, by the tracks they left, we would not have completed this route.

Day 1: North Fork Quinault trailhead to Sixteen Mile Camp. An early start from Port Angeles put us on the trail by 9:30 am. We maintained a moderate pace in the face of the persistently warming temperatures. We arrived at the Sixteen Mile river ford about 5:00 pm. The cool water was so refreshing! The remnants of what appeared to have been a trail crew’s base camp on the river bank proved to be an excellent spot to pitch our tents. After dinner we visited with a couple from the east coast who were traversing the park from south to north. These would be the last people we would see for the next 5 days.

Jeff and Jan at the trailhead. We planned to hike to Sixteen Mile Camp this day. The last time we traveled this trail was the fall of 2008. On that trip we encountered the damage caused by the previous winter's storms. On this trip, we saw the results of the Park's efforts to restore the route.

Jan and Gary at Wild Rose Creek.(photo; Jeff)

The rebuilt trail at Wild Rose Creek. Evidence of the rope ladder is still visible to the right of the big tree.

A waterfall along the way. We took advantage of many of these side streams to replenish our water supply and to wash the sweat off our faces.

Crossing the North Fork of the Quinault at Sixteen Mile Camp.

We had a luxurious stream-front campsite gratis a previous party. From the forensic evidence, our guess was it was likely one of the trail crews. (photo: Jeff)

Day 2: Sixteen Mile Camp to Martins Park Hopeful of beating the afternoon heat, we were on the trail by 8:00 am. We traveled most of the way to Low Divide on the shaded side of the valley. At Lake Margaret we headed up the way trail to Martins Park, arriving there in time for a late lunch. Jan suggested we take advantage of the relaxing afternoon to wash our sweat soaked cloths and to explore the environs around the lakes. Jeff and did have to do our own wash though ………………….

Day 2. Another rebuilt section of washed out trail in one of the gullies along the way to Low Divide.

Jeff and Jan checking out an artifact at one of the bridges (or is it a trail crewman's hardhat?????)

Approaching the Low Divide.

Blueberries near Low Divide. We only found them at lower elevations (elev. approx. 3,000').

The Lost and Found Dept. at Low Divide. Hopefully the rightful owners will claim their possessions before winter sets in........

Lake Margaret, just north of Low Divide.

Near Lake Margaret the trail to Martins Park takes off. This would be our access to the high country. (photo: Jeff)

There are a couple steep sections on this trail. Jan and Jeff making their way up through one of these.

There are also some beautiful open meadows

After crossing the creek, we followed it up into lower Martins Park.

Starting the final climb to the lakes in upper Martins Park.

Mt Christie

Enjoying a shady break at upper Martins Lake. (Photo: Jeff)

The Elwha Snow Finger from Martins Park. It's still full of snow!

Our campsite at Martins Park, for night 2. Mt Christie in the background.

The warm afternoon temps provided a good opportunity to do our wash. Our improvised cloths line.

The lower meadows on the route to Martins Park. Mt Seattle in the background.

Upper Martins Lake.

Lower Martins Lake, Mt Seattle in the background.

Day 3: Martins Park to “Rustler Creek Flats” From Martins Park we headed in a southerly direction towards the ridge separating this basin from the north branch of Rustler Creek. The views from the top in all directions were fantastic. The jagged ridge line between us and Mt Delabarre was clearly impassible. We quickly dropped a couple hundred feet to a series of benches interconnected by easy talus slopes. Periodic cairns were evidence of other human travel along this route. As we approached Mt Delabarre, increasingly difficult terrain finally forced us to descend through steep forest towards the confluence of the two major branches of Rustler Creek. There were several tricky route finding challenges through this section. A couple hundred feet above the creek our progress was stopped by a series of cliff bands. After evaluating our options, we decided to bushwhack upstream, parallel to Rustler Creek in hopes of finding a route down. Again, luck was with us. After reaching the creek, we were able to travel upstream along its rocky bank. Several times we were forced to leave the stream due to impassible obstacles. These detours took us through beautiful old growth forest benches. Finally we reached a broad, flat area we called “Rustler Creek Flats”, our camp for night 3.

Day 3; Morning coffee at Martins Park

The branch in the foreground is pointing the way to the uncertain route ahead.

Christie Col with the mountain in the background.

We climbed to the summit climber's left of the Col. The views from here were fantastic! This picture is looking west towards the Elwha Snowfinger and adjacent terrain.

This view is looking east towards Mt Delabarre from the same high point.

We descended from the jagged ridge line to gentler terrain. Gary and Jan carefully dropping down this steep, slippery slope. (photo: Jeff)

Our first good view of the route ahead. Mt. Delabarre on the left, Mt. Muncaster on the right. Muncaster Basin is stretched between these two peaks. This is we're headed.

After descending from the ridge line, we traveled through a series of benches and talus slopes to the flanks of Mt. Delabarre. Jan and Jeff on one of the benches.

More easy terrain.

As we approached Delabarre, the easy travel was interrupted by more challenging sections.

This was the last meadow we crossed before starting our descent to Rustler Creek.

We explored several exits from the meadow in the previous photo, each dead ended in impassably steep terrain. Finally, Jeff found a route down a steep gulley past the snow patch.

Looking back up our exit from the meadows above.

From this point we traveleded through old growth forest to near the confluence of the two major branches of Rustler Creek. Some sections were open old growth forests.

Other sections were complicated by the lush underbrush.

As we neared Rustler Creek, we came to a band of cliffs. This forced a decision to either traverse down stream towards the confluence of the two branches of Rustler Creek, or attempt to bushwhack upstream through dense vegetation to advance our route. We decided to head upstream.

After 'shwacked our way through a couple hundred yards of Slide Alder, we exited at this feeder stream. We refreshed ourselves in the cool waters then continued through moderate terrain to Rustler Creek.

Jan and Jeff climbing into welcome shade.

As we continued upstream, the terrain become more challenging. We were thrilled to be be able to stay near the creek.

Gary climbing one of the steeper boulders. (photo: Jan).

We knew eventually the terrain would mellow out and the valley would widen. This was our first view of "Rustler Creek Flats", we hoped to find a campsite in this area.

We found an excellent site for night 3. As evidenced in the foreground, we were not the first group to stay here this year.

Fearing possibile of snake bite, Jeff and I vaccinated ourselves against this potential (photo: Jan).

Day 4: Rustler Creek Flats to “Mushroom Lake” (Lake 4353) This morning would be the crux of the trip. The pictures and captions capture the incredibly good luck we had in finding our way through the complex terrain upstream from the flats. Our first views of June 10th Peak from the open meadows above Rustler Creek made us hopeful that we would soon be in lower Muncaster Basin. We were very excited and relieved to finally arrive at “Mushroom Lake” (Lake 4353). We elected to make camp here on some level ground at the confluence of the exit creek from the lake and the creek draining from the upper basin. After lunch we spent the afternoon exploring the upper basin and planning our route for the next day. By early evening, clouds rolling up over the ridge from the Rustler Creek Valley signaled a major change in the weather.

Day 4; After leaving camp, we had easy travel to warm up our cold, stiff muscles.

Rustler Creek

As we encountered obstacles along the creek, we ascended through moderate old growth terrain to work our way around them.

Each time we were rewarded with safe passage back to the creek.

At this point a slide blocked upstream travel. We ascended a rugged slope to a bench high above the water. We could see the route ahead of us on this side of the creek was impassible. Our only choice was to drop back to Rustler Creek and look for a place to cross. (photo: Jeff)

At the bottom of our descent, we found safe way to across Rustler Creek. This allowed us to continue towards the high country. Jeff walking the high log . (photo: Jan)

Gary crossing the less challenging lower route. (Photo, Jan)

After crossing Rustler Creek, we climbed steep, but passable terrain.

After some effort, we arrived at this stream. The cold water was refreshing.

Soon after, we found this major game trail . We followed it upwards through a series of benches and moderate climbs.

Our route was interlaced with several creek crossings.

Eventually the route left the creek and steepened.

Our first view of the high country of the Muncaster environs. This peak is June 10th.

Finally, the forest transitioned into open alpine meadows.

Jan and Jeff arriving at "Mushroom Lake". Although this lake is only at about elev. 4350', it was still mostly snow covered.

Mushroom Lake with Mt. Delabarre in the background.

Later in the afternoon, we climbed into the south end of the basin scouting our route for the next day. The steep terrain encouraged us to explore further for an easier route.

As we descended, we found a potential exit route. Some later map work at camp confirmed this the right way to go.

June 10th Peak

"Grudger Basin", north of June 10th Peak

The suncups on the steeper snowfields gave us an opportunity to refine our mogul skiing technique. (photo; Jan)

Our campsite for night 4. June 10th Peak in the background.

Evening in the alpine.

Day 5: Mushroom Lake to near Mt Muncaster Our original plan for this day was to climb to the ridge bisects Muncaster Basin. At this point, we were going to drop our packs and day hike north past June 10th Peak to an area called “Grudger Basin” and possibly continue on to the Godkin-Rustler Col. After returning to our packs, we’d continue south to near Mt. Muncaster and camp close to the exit route to Fire Creek. Unfortunately, we awoke to foggy conditions. Hopeful that the sun would burn through this early in the day, we headed off into the mist. After arriving at the ridge, we waited for 3 hours for the sky to clear. Finally in early afternoon conditions improved, but by this time it was too late to visit the north half of the Basin. Our mild disappointment was soon forgotten as we traveled south through the main section of the basin. We found an excellent campsite on a flat bench a few hundred feet below the pass which leads to the Fire Creek drainage.

Day 5: We awoke to moist marine air from an approaching front rolling up out of Rustler Creek into the basin.

We were glad we had done some scouting yesterday. This picture is looking up our planned exit from the basin.

The final climb to the top of the exit slope.

Jan and Jeff arriving at the col.

The flat upper basin was obviously popular with the local Elk herd. These flat slopes were covered with their tracks and droppings.

Climbing towards the next col.

Not much further!

At the col we were greeted with an abundance of wildflowers (Photo: Jan).

Jan and Jeff with our ascent route in the background. We had climbed from our campsite to the col in middle of the picture, then continued up to where this picture was taken.

We waited at the col for almost 3 hours for the marine layer to subside. This is one of our first views of Muncaster Basin.

We had hoped to be able to travel north to June 10th Peak before heading south into the Muncaster Basin. Unfortunately, due to the persistent marine layer the sky did not clear early enough for us to do this. Jan and Gary with June 10 in the background. (Photo; Jeff)

After lunch, we headed south into the main section of Muncaster Basin. Mt Muncaster is the tallest peak in the background.

Again, we found major elk trails to follow.

Looking back at our route from the col in the upper-center of the picture.

More September snow!

Jan found several faces in the rock ridge in the background. How many do you see?

The route ahead through the upper basin.

Mt Muncaster and the upper basin

This shot is looking back at Christie Col, the start of our off trail travels 3 days ago.

We continued south through moderate terrain towards Mt Muncaster.

One of many waterfalls in the basin.

This fractured boulder was unique to others in this area, it caught our attention.

We had to descend into the lower basin in order to continue our route towards Mt Muncaster.

I tried my best to move this one out of our way. Eventually we had to hike around it!

More September wildflowers in the lower basin.

Looking back up the slopes we had just descended.

Our route ahead, another great game trail to follow.

Our camp for night 5 would be on this rocky knoll. There was a great creek nearby.

More wildflowers near camp.

Looking back into Muncaster Basin from camp.

Looking further north into the basin from camp.

As the evening temps cooled, the fog returned. Mt Muncaster gradually disappeared into the mist.

Pretty soon all we will have to look at is each other!

Night 5 This was one of the more interesting nights we have spent in the mountains. Sometime before midnight strong winds from an approaching front woke us from a sound sleep. Once this passed, the gentle splash of the trailing rain showers on the tent fly lulled us back to sleep. Just before 4:00 am, we were again awakened by the thunderous roar of a major rock fall. The next morning Jan found the source of the event.

Jan found the debris from the previous night's event. It was a combination of ice and rockfall from this peak. The main debris pile can be seen near the center of the picture.

A closer look at the ice and rock debris.

Day 6: Muncaster to Graves Creek Trailhead via Fire Creek Although not as foggy as the previous day, it was clear last night’s front would bring more weather changes. The addition of thick, high clouds suggested rain might be in our future. We packed up camp and headed for the ridge line and our descent route down Fire Creek. As we crossed over the pass into the south facing Fire Creek basin, we were greeted by the expected rain drops. From here we descended 4,000 ft of steep, slippery terrain through a mixture of open meadows, sub-alpine brush and old growth forest. We were very excited to hear the sounds of the Quinault’s east fork as we approached the valley floor. The 3 miles of trail passed quickly on our way out. It was after 5:00 pm when we reached the Graves Creek trailhead.

Day 6: We awoke to somewhat improved visibility.

The sun trying to burn through the dense marine layer.

Jan checking out the route ahead as Jeff and I finish packing up.

We climbed through mixed rock and snow towards the col. This would lead us to the Fire Creek drainage and our route home.

The lake in the upper basin at about elev. 4,800 ft., still frozen solid.

A last view of Muncaster Basin, June 10th peak in the distance.

The route steepened as we climbed higher in the basin (photo: Jeff)

The final steep rock section had a series of ramps which provided a safe route through this difficult section (photo: Jeff).

The final climb to the col was up this steep snow section. Our micro spikes proved handy for this section.

Our first view of upper Fire Creek Basin.

As we crossed the col, we were greeted by light rain. These trees provided welcome shelter to transition from uphill to downhill travel.

Once more, the elk showed us the way to go. Jan and Jeff on another great trail.

This descent would present a number of challenges. The first of which was some steep, hard scree near the top of a potentially long slide to an uncertain landing. We crossed it carefully in the wet conditions (photo: Jeff).

Back on the "trail".

The route eventually lead us to a steep forested section. Again, we followed the game trails rather than our instincts.

The trail lead us to this meadow, our instincts would have lead us to a cliff.

The next section would be a series of benches ........

Separated by forested sections.

The final bench

This steep gulley was an important find. The terrain on both sides would have been difficult at best.

From this point we carefully descended a couple thousand feet through steep, wet, slippery forest. The travel was slower than we had anticipated. (photo: Jeff)

Again, at about elev 3,000 ft we encountered lush patches of blueberries. Jan enjoying berries on the go.

Let's keep going down!

Good call Jeff

Finally back on the East Fork Trail!! (Photo; Jeff)

Fire Creek!

But how far is it back to the truck? Best guess ............ 10 miles.

Graves Creek trailhead to North Fork Quinault trailhead The last leg of our trip was the 10 miles back to our truck at the North Fork Trail head. A couple day hikers we had passed shortly before reaching Graves Creek confirmed that the road was open. They made a vague commitment to help us if we were still around when they returned from their hike. They empty parking lot was not encouraging. As we walked down the road towards the ranger station a pickup truck came around the corner and stopped. The friendly driver, wearing an ONP volunteer shirt, asked us where we were headed. We told him our plight and he happily offered to give us a ride all the way back to our truck! On the way, Barry explained that he has been the volunteer “Camp Host” at the Graves Creek Campground for many years. His love for this valley was apparent from the stories he shared about happy times with his family and friends over the years. His cheerful help was a fitting end to a memorable trip.

After a short walk down a long road, we ran into Barry, the "East Fork Camp Host". He volunteers up here every summer, mostly at his own expense. He acknowledged the road had opened only hours earlier. He kindly gave us a ride all the way back to our truck. He talked nonstop about his love for ONP and the Quinault River Valley. His help saved us hours of walking and potentially a very late return home. This was the perfect end to a perfect trip. PERFECT!!

Gary, Jan and Jeff

[Magellan]

Very cool trip. Those elk trails are amazing.

[Ancient Ambler]

So much for my plan to start working very early this AM! I've been looking forward to your TR, and the wait was definitely worth it. What a great trip you guys had. Really enjoyed your engaging account and looking at your excellent photos. Quite a lot of snow has melted since my trip to Delabarre from Martins Park in late July, and looking at your photos of that portion of the route, I'd say we probably had it easier travelling that section in snow. I really like the route you chose to get to Mushroom Lake from the flanks of Delabarre. Sounds like a stimulating test of your superb route-finding skills. Amazing how much snow remains at the lake at such a low elevation. You guys are really getting out there this year. Thanks so much for sharing your adventure with us.

[silence]

having a preview yesterday .. you already know what i think .. pure awesomeness

[Barefoot Jake]

Epic Adventure. Making us 'Young Guys' look bad

[boomheist]

Excellent report. It's now been five years but I remember that area well, though you sure had ten times the snow we did and our trip was in August. That Rustler Creek route seems to be the way to go. It seems you came down Fire Creek right down the creek valley? Were you on the north or south side of the creek? When we did that route we came up Fire Creek and we ended up coming over all the ridges and knobs to the north, which got pretty interesting, then we traversed under some peaks to the creek. I would guess you came down the steep meadows a ways then crossed the creek beneath those steep slabs to the north, but that's just a guess. Great trip!

[Trail Angel]

dang, you guys are hard core!! I was exhausted just looking at the pics! Job well done

[Phil]

I think I just found my favorite TR of the year, thank you! I love how you guys post the map with route, too.

[Dayhike Mike]

Ditto! This is a great trip! True adventure in some really wild country. Thanks for sharing the details and pics of your adventure with us!

[Parked Out]

Geez Gary, after reading your report I feel like I've barely gotten away from the parking lot with my little ramblings. Great story and great adventure! Glad you were able to keep the snakes at bay.

[Lotus54]

Blaine D. & I were going to go into Muncaster basin this week. But a flyover a bit ago convinced me there was more snow than I wanted to make it fun. I've been on some of that route, but I'm going to look through all the pics carefully. Looks like fun! Mark

[RichP]

That is some really wild country. It looks like a trip that will be in your memory for a long time.

[Gary-n-Jan]

We are appreciative of all the replies to this post. I'll try to respond to the questions and comments ............

[Lotus54]

[Phil]

Brilliant now-versus-then shots!