[Ski]

Sams Loop Trail - Kalaloch Wednesday March 12, 2014 Sunrise: 7:37 am PDT - Sunset 7:19 pm PDT - Low Tide 5:05 pm PDT - USGS Gaging Station 6610 cfs @ 05:30 PDT - Central Park 39° F @ 8:55 am PDT - Amanda Park 54° F @ 10:00 am PDT - Amanda Park 62° F @ 6:45 pm PDT A long drive to the trailhead. The top of the Olympus massif is all white from the peekaboo view at Neilton. Looked like frost on the grass in the shady spots past Humptulips. From the Queets Ranger Station, I started the south half of the loop in a counter-clockwise direction. The first half mile of the south loop (from the Ranger Station) is pretty wet. A good portion of it is under running water after all the rains. There's a bit of punky blowdown on the trail, but nothing too big to step over.

Cowan Field is pretty soggy. Looks like they put a dent in the blackberries.

Just past Cowan Field there's an ephemeral stream that meanders all over and the trail is lost. Head east and north until you either connect to trail or find the Sams. Do not wander south. The trail breaks out onto the Sams and then up to the confluence of the Queets and the Sams.

A quarter mile down the road finds the eastern end of the north half of the loop. The trail parallels the road, sometimes breaking out to views of the Queets. From the right spot you can pick out Kloochman Rock up on the ridge.

About a third-mile east of the Ranger Station, there's a 24" hemlock down across the trail which is pretty easy to get around, and an 18" hemlock that made a heck of a tangle. All the footbridges are in good shape, though.

The trail passes through a couple more old meadows before returning to the Ranger Station.

Drove out and north a few miles to ask about a fish, but they said they had to pull their nets on Wednesday morning, so I had to settle for a package of Quinault smoked salmon from the Trading Post.

Drove up and had lunch at Ashenbrenner [1] and enjoyed the view.

Had to go take a look at the Spruce Burls, where I met a man from Lynnwood who was out looking for antlers. He had taken a lot of photos of the burls as well.

Went down to the beach and took a nap in the sun. Woke up after the tide had changed and a bank of clouds had crept in from the northwest.

Got back home about 10. Critters: Belted Kingfisher; Hooded Merganser; Bald Eagle. Little sign of elk. - The fancy Fjallraven pants worked quite well on this fairly short little walk. Kept the mud off me, and didn't rip to shreds when I fell into a hole trying to get a better look at the big spruce. They're quiet, too- even wading through wet sword fern and vine maple.

fjallraven_keb_trouser_031214

[1] spelling of "Ashenbrenner" corrected in text. caption on photo is incorrect. 083114 bk

[Phil]

Great TR, Ski

[Ski]

addendum / report / Sams Loop Trail / Queets / 03-12-14 I believe I may have mentioned this somewhere before, so excuse me if this is old news. The record Sitka Spruce near the Queets Campground (considered world's largest in terms of living biomass by Dr. Robert Van Pelt) lost its top during the last few years. Looks to be about two feet in diameter at the top where it's broken off. Recently dropped a huge limb off on the south side, which has made a huge tangle at the base of the tree. My attempts to email Van Pelt have been without success. Maybe he already knows about it.