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ethorson
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ethorson
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PostThu Jun 07, 2007 8:18 pm 
This forum seems to be the place for hiking recommendations. I am an old hiker / new user and thought I would share some of my favorite places. I enjoy non-technical XC routes, usually done solo, and would appreciate suggestions from other users. Cabinet Creek This is an interesting route to high country north of Easy Pass. Parking is available at the wide turnout northwest of the Cabinet Creek crossing of the North Cascades Highway. Head uphill left of Cabinet Creek to find the old Granite Creek trail, turn left onto the trail and look for the long abandoned Cabinet Creek Trail. Try to follow the trail uphill and make sure to pick it up when it leaves the spur and contours into the Cabinet Creek valley. The trail should be fairly distinct until the creek crossing, where it becomes very hard to find. At this point cross the creek and head cross-country up the right side about a mile to the junction of the north and south forks. Cross the north fork and continue up the right side of the south fork to a small meadow. Cross the creek and ascend a very steep forested slope next to the waterfalls and continue to the lake in the upper basin. Keep hiking up through steep forest, meadow, and broken cliffs to Mesahchie Pass with its incredible glacier view. There are many options for camping and exploration, including an easy walk to Kitling Lake.
Mesahchie Pass
Mesahchie Pass
Mesahchie Pass
Mesahchie Pass
The Cabinet Creek north fork headwaters are also very beautiful. Reach the pass between Cabinet Creek and Gabriel Creek by continuing upstream at the confluence on the right side of the north fork. Occasionally the old trail may still be found. If returning from Masahchie Pass you can also contour from the lower meadow through open woods to the north fork. There is fine camping at the pass and may options for exploration. A good side trip is to ascend the slope to the north and to walk up Elija Ridge.
Elija Ridge
Elija Ridge
Mt Logan - Fisher Pass This route traverses very beautiful country near Easy Pass. Take the Easy Pass Trail from the North Cascades Highway to Cosho Camp. Continue downstream a little over a mile to the stream draining the lake on the north slopes of Mt Logan. Cross Fisher Creek and ascend the steep hillside to the left of the stream. There are some cliffs to work around and significant brush on the route. On reaching the lake continue SE up the valley and look for a rockslide on the left. Ascend the rockslide to the notch in the spur separating the lake drainage from Fisher Creek. Continue through the notch and gain access to a wide sloping ledge that leads SE to the pass south of point 6838. There is a fantastic campsite on the ledge that overlooks the Fisher Creek valley. From the pass descend to the meadow on the south fork of Fisher Creek. It is best to keep as far to the right as possible and use streambeds to slither though the brush. At the meadow cross the creek and make an ascending easterly traverse to the stream draining Fisher Pass. There is significant brush in the valley bottom that diminishes when you get to the forested slope. Fisher Pass is incredibly beautiful, with many camping opportunities. My favorite spot is at the tarn just south of the pass. Continue the route by ascending to the flat ridge top directly north of Fisher Pass. The slope is steep but thankfully open. Walk the ridge east and contour to the gap just south of point 7112, and then descend on open slopes to the stream flowing north to Fisher Creek. Follow the creek north to intercept the Fisher Creek Trail.
Fisher Pass 1
Fisher Pass 1
Fisher Pass 2
Fisher Pass 2
Dot Lake Dot Lake is a beautiful seldom-visited lake in the Pasayten just north of Mount Lago. Take the Lost River / Monument Trail to the junction with the Ptarmigan Creek Trail. Follow the Ptarmigan trail about 1.6 miles to the point where it turns NE. Leave the trail and hike NW towards the spur separating Dot Lake from Ptarmigan Creek. There are two obvious gullies that lead to the top of the spur. Pick the easiest one (I think to the right) and ascend to the ridge top and contour to the lake.
Dot Lake
Dot Lake
Lost River Gorge The Lost River Gorge is a rugged Pasayten Wilderness canyon only accessible by walking up the riverbed. Take the Lost River - Monument Trail to Eureka Creek. Leave the trail and start hiking upriver, entering the gorge in about two miles. There is limited camping at Monument Creek and very good camping at Jinks Creek.
Lost River
Lost River
Butterfly Butte and Louis Creek Butterfly Butte and Louis Creek are beautiful areas that can be accessed from the Napeequa valley. Both routes originate at the junction of Louis Creek and the Napeequa. To reach Butterfly Butte cross the river and ascend the brushy wooded spur to the butte. The upper basin offers fine camping and views of Clark Mountain.
Clark Mt from Butterfly Butte
Clark Mt from Butterfly Butte
The upper Louis Creek drainage is a wonderland of meadows, pumice flats, and larch groves. Ascend the steep hillside to the left of the creek to reach the flat hanging valley floor. The route can be continued NW over the ridge to High Pass Creek.
Louis Creek
Louis Creek
Lake Elsie Lake Elsie is beautiful high lake on the Napeequa - White River divide. Take the White River Trail and Boulder Creek Trail to the stream crossing at 4100 ft. Leave the trail and hike south, then SW up open slopes to the ridge top. Cross the ridge and descend to the lake.
Lake Elsie Route
Lake Elsie Route
Graywolf - Cameron Traverse The Graywolf - Cameron Traverse is an interesting loop route in the eastern Olympics. Hike the Dosewallips trail and Gray Wolf trail to Gray Wolf Pass and descend to the bowl on the north side of the pass. Leave the trail and head NW through the pass leading to Cedar Lake. There are nice campsites at the tarns below the pass and at Cedar Lake. From the Cedar Lake outlet head west and climb the ridge separating Cedar Lake from Cameron Creek. Descend to the meadows in the Cameron Creek basin, where a fantastic campsite can be found upstream. From the valley floor head west on a traversing ascent to the middle stream draining the Cameron Glacier. Follow the stream up to a small basin and cross to the west side. Work your way over rock and snow to a break in the spur separating this stream from the west fork. Descend the steep gully to the two small tarns below the West Cameron Glacier (about 5500 ft). From this point ascend the obvious medial moraine to the tarn and pass just north of Mount Cameron. Here open slopes lead to Cameron Basin and the trail. Hike the trail over Cameron Pass, Lost Pass, and return via the Dosewallips Trail to complete the loop.
Cameron Traverse Meadow
Cameron Traverse Meadow
Cameron Traverse Tarn
Cameron Traverse Tarn
Cameron Glacier
Cameron Glacier
Muncaster Basin Muncaster Basin and the surrounding area is a beautiful subalpine area between the two forks of the Quinault River. The Robert Wood trail guide describes access via Pyrites Creek but I find the climber's route up Fire Creek more direct. Leave the Quinault Trail after crossing Fire Creek and ascend the spur to about 4000 ft. Then make a descending traverse to the small basin at the Fire Creek headwaters. From the basin continue up steep meadow to the pass between Fire Creek and Rustler Creek, and then descend to excellent campsites in Muncaster Basin. There are many opportunities for exploration to the NW, including continuation of the route to the Low Divide as described in Wood's guidebook.
Muncaster Basin
Muncaster Basin
Muncaster Basin
Muncaster Basin
Six Ridge - O'Neil Creek This route, as described in the Robert Wood trail guide, provides a shortcut from the Skokomish to the Quinault and is part of a nice loop originating at Staircase. Hike the Six Ridge Trail and take the unmaintained trail to Lake Success. Climb from the lake to the gap just east of Mount Olson using the old trail if possible. Descend the old trail to the north and then contour to the left and descend the steep wooded spur to the O'Neil Creek / Quinault junction.
Lake Success
Lake Success
Nine Stream - Lake Ben This route provides access to the basin at the head of Nine Stream and a shorter alpine approach to the O'Neil Pass / Heart Lake area. Hike the Staircase trail to the crossing of Eight Stream, then leave the trail and ascend the wooded spur between Eight Stream and the Skokomish. There is a small step at the bottom to negotiate and the route becomes quite steep at the top. Contour to the basin and lakes at the head of Nine Stream where there is a great campsite. From this point hike north through open country, cross the ridge, and descend to Lake Ben at the head of O'Neil Creek. Continue north, crossing the spur connecting O'Neil Peak to reach O'Neil Pass. Goat Lake - Royal Basin The Goat Lake - Royal Basin route is a great day hike with fantastic views. Hike the Dungeness to Camp Handy, cross the river, and ascend the steep trail to Goat Lake. The trail can be located just north (right) of the stream draining Goat Lake. Climb west from the lake to the low point of the ridge and traverse SW to upper Royal Basin. Appleton Traverse The route from Boulder Lake to Appleton Pass, described in the Climber's Guide to the Olympics, passes through beautiful subalpine country. Blue Lake and the headwaters of the N Fork Sol Duc are particularly nice.
Blue Lake
Blue Lake
Upper Sol Duc
Upper Sol Duc
Lake Lillian - Cameron Pass The Olympic climber's guide describes this route. It passes by scenic Lake Lillian and continues SE through beautiful subalpine meadows to Cameron Pass. The segment just across the ridge from Lake Lillian traverses the slopes of McCartney Peak on a remarkably well-preserved abandoned trail.
Lake Lillian
Lake Lillian
Haigs Lake Haigs Lake is a nice respite from the metropolis of Seven Lakes Basin. It can be reached from the Appleton Pass - Cat Basin high route (described in the climber's guide). From Swimming Bear Lake above Cat Basin ascend the slope to the north. Cross the ridge and descend steep slopes to Haigs Lake.
Haigs Lake
Haigs Lake
Haigs Lake
Haigs Lake
Crazy Creek Lakes These subalpine tarns are accessed from the Duckabush River Trail. Hike to the Crazy Creek confluence and cross the river a few hundred yards upstream. Ascend SW up the steep wooded spur to the right of Crazy Creek to the beginning of meadows at about 5000 ft. Leave the spur and descend south to the lakes. It looks possible to continue SW to the pass at the head of the basin and on the Mt. Hopper.
Crazy Creek Tarn
Crazy Creek Tarn
Putvin - Scout - Lena Loop This long day hike is described in the climber's guide. I like to do it clockwise because of the glissade opportunity on the north slope of Mount Stone. Park at the Lena Lake trailhead and walk the road up to the Putvin trailhead. Continue about 1/4 mile up the road to a junction with a logging road on the right. Hike up the logging road to its intersection with the Putvin trail, and then take the trail to the Lake of the Angels. Leave the trail at the lake and ascend north up the slopes of Mt. Stone to St. Peter's Gate. Descend northerly to the tarns and continue to the pass overlooking Scout Lake. Pick up the trail to Upper Lena Lake and continue the loop on the trail.
St Peters Gate
St Peters Gate
Scout Lake
Scout Lake

zimmertr
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Grizzy
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Grizzy
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PostThu Jun 07, 2007 9:49 pm 
WOW! Thanks up.gif up.gif up.gif and welcome! smile.gif

All the birds have flown up and gone; A lonely cloud floats leisurely by. We never tire of looking at each other - Only the mountain and I. ~Li Po~
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Magellan
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Magellan
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PostThu Jun 07, 2007 9:54 pm 
Welcome, and thanks for throwing out some less traveled ideas!

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Stefan
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PostFri Jun 08, 2007 9:35 am 
ethorson wrote:
Lost River Gorge The Lost River Gorge is a rugged Pasayten Wilderness canyon only accessible by walking up the riverbed. Take the Lost River - Monument Trail to Eureka Creek. Leave the trail and start hiking upriver, entering the gorge in about two miles. There is limited camping at Monument Creek and very good camping at Jinks Creek.
Whoa. You hiked the Lost River Gorge? Amazing. I have a specific question. Jinks Creek. Do you have any pictures to the west? Did you see the abandoned trail coming down from Jinks/Drake creek? How good of shape was it? The reason I ask is becuase I would like to climb the peak called Three Pinnacles by coming down the trail from Jinks/Drake creek, cross the Lost River, and then ascend. But I cannot tell from reading the map if the base of the mountain just west of the Lost River where Jinks/Drake creek if there is a wall. Your help is appreciated!

Art is an adventure.
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ethorson
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ethorson
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PostFri Jun 08, 2007 1:00 pm 
I have been to this area three times - twice up the gorge and one trip down the Jinks Creek trail to camp at the river. I did not reach Jinks Creek on the upstream trips. This was 15 to 20 years ago so any comments about the trail condition are probably invalid. As I recall Jinks Creek joins the Lost River at the upper limit of the gorge so you could walk upstream and cross to avoid cliffs. It is definitely cliffy right at Jinks Creek. Unfortunately I don't have any photos. The gorge trip is really interesting, but you want to make sure you do it in a period of low water and no thunderstorm activity. At one point in the gorge the riverbed was completely dry, with all of the flow underground and gushing from springs on the right bank. An alternate early-season route to Three Pinnacles would be to take the Monument Trail. I have reached the meadow below Pass Butte in one day, and climbed to the pass overlooking Johnny Lakes the next day. The terrain was open and moderately steep, and I expect the slope up Three Pinnacles to be the same.

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Mount Logan
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Mount Logan
Canada's Highest
PostFri Jun 08, 2007 10:05 pm 
Pure, unadulterated awesomeness. up.gif slobber.gif

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Sore Feet
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PostFri Jun 08, 2007 10:29 pm 
ethorson wrote:
Clark Mt from Butterfly Butte
Clark Mt from Butterfly Butte
Do want. eek.gif

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BirdDog
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PostSat Jun 09, 2007 7:53 am 
Excellent, I'm going to have to do some of those. Thanks for sharing!

"There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country." Teddy Roosevelt August 6, 1912
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wamtngal
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PostSat Jun 09, 2007 8:32 am 
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Always looking for those paths least traveled. Have been wanting to do the Putvin/Scout/Lena trip for a long while now after visiting LOTA -- spectacular area. Definitely need to get that Robert L Wood book as well.

Opinions expressed here are my own.
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pink flamingo thief
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pink flamingo thief
Stops for any cave
PostSat Jun 09, 2007 8:35 am 
Yea Daddy up.gif ! The only thing missing is pics of your scars and bad trips.

usfs land of the fee home of the paved
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Foist
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PostSat Jun 09, 2007 8:56 am 
Can I throw on another "awesome"?? So how do you deal with all the brush? Do you bring a machete or something? It sucks, I don't think I have the guts to do a trip like that solo, but there's also no way I can get any of my family or friends to go with me.

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Backpacker Joe
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PostSat Jun 09, 2007 9:29 am 
Outstanding! Yes, welcome. Keep up the posting.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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ethorson
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ethorson
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PostSat Jun 09, 2007 1:33 pm 
Foist wrote:
Can I throw on another "awesome"?? So how do you deal with all the brush? Do you bring a machete or something? It sucks, I don't think I have the guts to do a trip like that solo, but there's also no way I can get any of my family or friends to go with me.
Generally I try to choose a route where the brush is light, such as dry wooded spurs in large timber. You want to stay out of valley bottoms and gulleys if possible. I also find it easier to go straight up or down a brushy slope - contouring across a brushy hillside is much more difficult. The only thing sharp I bring is a jackknife. Swinging a machete or axe on a solo hike is not a good idea, not to mention the impact on the environment. I also carry a personal locator beacon, leave a detailed route map with my wife, and don't hesitate to turn back if the terrain gets too difficult.

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ethorson
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ethorson
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PostSat Jun 09, 2007 1:48 pm 
HJT wrote:
wamountaingal wrote:
Definitely need to get that Robert L Wood book as well.
Definitely a must buy. up.gif
I have the 2nd edition of the "Olympic Mountains Trail Guide" by Robert L. Wood, which describes a number of the routes that I have used. I am not sure if the later edition has all of the information regarding cross country routes. It is something to check into. Another out-of-print book I can recommend is "Routes and Rocks" by Crowder & Tabor. I bought my copy when it was published in 1965 but I have seen copies available on used book sites such as Alibris. It described the Butterfly Butte and Louis Creek high routes, along with many other routes in the Glacier Peak area.

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Ancient Ambler
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PostSun Jun 10, 2007 8:26 am 
Great topic and super routes, Ethorson. Aren't you the fellow who posted elsewhere about doing the Obstruction Point-Lake Lillian-Cameron Pass-Grand Pass-Grand Lake-Obstruction Point loop in one day? Jeez. Just doing the Cameron Basin-Grand Pass-Grand Valley-Obstruction Point run in one day would knock me flat, especially the run up to the ridge from Grand Lake after already doing Grand Pass. Your Gray Wolf Pass to Cameron Basin route is very intriguing. From the USGS 7.5' map, looks like you threaded your way through some interesting terrain west of Cedar Lake. As for other XC routes, around 1964 did a variation on your Lk of the Angels XC route by going from Upper Lena to St. Peter's Gate to Lake of the Angels and then to Great Stone Arrow Pass and out the Mt. Hopper way trail and down to Staircase. Another good one, but not for solo, is the XC from Glacier Meadows on Mt. Olympus, up the Blue Glacier to Glacier Pass, across the Hoh Glacier to Camp Pan, over Blizzard Pass, down the Humes Glacier, up Queets Basin to Dodwell Rixon Pass. There are various options from this point. There's north up the Bailey Range, out the High Divide and then down the Hoh Lake trail and back down the Hoh to the Hoh TH, or there's down the Elwha snow finger and out the Elwha to Whiskey Bend or one can complete a west-to-east traverse of the Olympics by heading up to Hayden Pass and out the Dose. The west-to-east traverse is particularly enjoyable. I'm sure you're familiar with these shorter XC routes: the Long Ridge-Ludden/Scott Saddle-Mt Ferry route into the Bailey Range and the pleasant XC run from Appleton Pass to Cat Basin. It's been many years since I've done it, but there is a good XC route in to the Eel Glacier on the north side of Mt. Anderson from Hayden Pass--not too many folks have been in this way. A decent XC day hike can be had on the Obstruction Point-Moose Mountain-Low Pass- Peak 6701 route. Great views from Peak 6701 (just a hair south of Grand Pass), including Rainier, Baker, Olympus and a bird's-eye view of Cameron Basin and the Lake Lillian area. One XC I have my eye on but have not done yet is a trip up the Elwha to Leitha Creek, XC up to Mt. Norton, then along the ridge to Crystal Lakes and Crystal Peak, down to the Hayes River basin, up to the ridge that runs north from the West Peak of Anderson at about Point 6608, past Iceberg Lakes, and then out the ridge to Hayden Pass and back down to the Elwha and Whiskey Bend. The last XC part of this route is described without a lot of detail in the Clmber's Guide, Crystal Peak Route 1, Variation.

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