[meck]

I had the pleasure of hiking from the Dosewallips washout over to the Duckabush this last weekend over LaCrosse Pass. I left the "TH" at 10:30am on Friday morning with the intent of making it to at least the LaCrosse Pass Trail Jct. Camp. I encountered a couple of parties at Dose Forks (one group was just about finished with 9+ days in the Olys!). There were a couple of pretty large blowdowns on the way up the switchbacks to the pass that required crawling under while dragging my pack. I was able to make it all the way to the pass (elev 5566') by 8:00pm. I was very thankful that there was a semi-level spot to put up my tent. It was a long day.

Dose falls

Blowdown event aftermath near Honeymoon Meadows camp

last easy to access water for the next 6 miles, I filled up w/ 4.5 liters here.

interesting fungi

entering the upper meadows on the way to the pass in the clouds.... better get to camp fast, its getting dark!

I spent the Saturday morning meandering around the pass area. The clouds were passing around the mountains so the views were only intermittent. I considered trying to climb Mt. LaCrosse, but the closer I got along the ridge goat trail from the pass to the peak, the steeper the summit block looked... I decided to go back and hit the benchmark 6206 high point above the pass instead (looked much mellower). Point 6206 provided some good views around the area. As noted elsewhere, the pass area has no easy access water sources. The lake on the other side of Pt 6206 has plenty of water.... but involves another 1+ miles hiking and several hundred feet of gain and loss. The puddle just above (NE) of the pass, in the large rock basin, was just damp mud. There was small (~10' long, 2' wide) snow patch about 300 yards above and NE of the pass, the only other nearby snow was a small patch on the N side of Pt 6206.

Mt LaCrosse just as the sun was hitting it.

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looking back towards the meadows north of LaCrosse pass.

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Looking up at Mt LaCrosse from my turn around point.

looking NE towards the saddle north of the pass

Point 6206 above LaCrosse Pass.

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Stonecrop (?) flowers along the ridge goat path

bear down in the meadowed basin below the pass

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Looking at Mt Anderson from above the pass.

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Pt 6206 from the first high point above the pass. The rock in the basin was pretty fun to ascend.

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Mt Lacrosse and White Mtn from above the pass.

One of the benchmarks on the summit

The ridge to Mt LaCrosse, looking like a giant natural wall....

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the rock basin above the pass

tent site at the pass.

After reaching Pt 6206 and circling back around and down to the pass I left at 1230 and headed down to the Duckabush river trail. It warmed up significantly as a I dropped down. The wildflowers in the meadow section were still present. There were a couple of significant blowdowns on this side of the pass as well (~4) that required some work to get over. About halfway down i found a couple of flat spots that could have been used as tent sites. I was in the process of breaking in my new pair of boots on this trip, and at this point my left ankle really started hurting with every step (going downhill, but not up) so I ended up slowing down a lot. I called it quits for the day at a nice camp site along the Duck, about 1/4 mile before reaching the ONP/ONF boundary. I'd forgotten how much of the Duckabush River drainage had burned between 10-Mile and 5-Mile camp! I did not encounter another person on this day.

yeah, made it down to the Duckabush!

reminds me of rock along the coast

where the river crossed and eroded a rock-band... very cool erosion patterns

looking back at the trail regrade above a steep dropoff into the river.

one of the old boots above (at least it slicked to rock pretty well), new boot below

On Sunday I got up and made the trek out to the Duckabush TH. There were a few backpackers here and there at the sites on the way out. It was good to be back over Big Hump before the sun got too high. I was able power down the road to my waiting wife (with only minor ankle swelling)!

morning sunshine on the way out

When I get to spend a weekend every now and then exploring mountains like the Olys, it sure puts a lot of other things in perspective. I am so thankful to live in this part of the world and enjoy the trails that so many folks past and present have put so much effort into making and maintaining.

[kitya]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_abietis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_coralloides Your fungi is either one of the above, depending on the type of the tree it was growing on. Either way both are edible and very tasty (and taste the same).

[Double_E]

Way cool! A few years ago me and a friend went up the EF Quinault, over Anderson and Lacrosse Passes, and down the Duckabush... we were soo tempted to camp at LP, but in the end the desire for a fire trumped the desire to camp high up. Love the curvy rocks in the Duck; had lunch there, if its the place I'm thinking of.

[cascadetraverser]

Nice shot of Mt. Lacrosse! Always appreciate your posts...

[reststep]

It has been a few years since I have been there. Hope to make it to Dee Lake one of these times. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the labels also.

Blowdown event aftermath near Honeymoon Meadows camp

Wonder if this could maybe be from an avalanche.

[RAW-dad]

Nice TR of a beautiful section of the Olympics. I camped in the rocky basin above the pass last year on 19 July and there was plenty of flowing water.