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Phil
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Joined: 02 Jul 2003
Posts: 2025 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline, WA |
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Phil
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 Mon Nov 26, 2007 1:24 pm |
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| pest wrote: | | [You might be able to get that book at the Shelton library . I used to own it but I seem to have left it somewhere in Oregon this month. Expensive little books too. |
yeah, in terms of $ per page for sure. Looked it up on amazon and bids start at $5 not bad!
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF LAKE CUSHMAN
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mossy mom
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Joined: 29 Dec 2006
Posts: 1852 | TRs | Pics
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geobob
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Joined: 29 Sep 2007
Posts: 183 | TRs | Pics
Location: seattle |
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geobob
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Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:16 pm |
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I just today got my computer up and running again after having my hard drive crash a week ago Monday, so I am just now catching up on some of the topics here. Fortunately, pretty much all my data was recovered, thank goodness. I had gotten pretty lax about backing things up. Next on the agenda is getting an automatic backup system in place.
Anyway, this post is about the old Promise Creek Trail. I was reading Robert L. Wood's book "The Land That Slept Late" last week and came across some info about the trail. It appears on Pages 149 and 150 in the Chapter "The Olympic Summer Outings" This refers to the Mountaineers outings on the peninsula in the early 1900s. The outings included climbing attempts of Mt. Olympus for those who were interested. There were outings to the peninsula in 1907, 1913, and 1920 as well as several others in the 30s and more recently. They went up either the Elwha or Dosewallips and out the Quinault (or via adjacent ridges), including canoeing down the Quinault to the ocean, hiking south along the coast to Moclips and taking the train (or later the bus) from moclips back to "civilization".
Anyway, prior to the 1920 outing, the Promise Creek trail apparently didn't exist, but was constructed by the forest service sometime between the 1913 outing and the 1920 outing at the recommendation of the Mountaineers. The 1920 outing went in via the Dosewallips and as Wood's states on Page 150 "The 1920 outing would come out of the mountains via the North Fork Quinault and - by utilizing the new Promise Creek Trail - the divide between the Queets and the Quinault." So, it appears they crossed from the Elwha over Low Divide, went down the North Fork Quinault to Promise Creek, went up Promise Creek and followed the Skyline Trail (also known as the Knife Edge Trail) to Lake Quinault.
I really enjoyed reading 'The Land That Slept Late" and highly recommend it. Also, many photos of the Mountaineer's Olympics outings can be viewed on the U of Washington digital collections library (I think I used "olympus" as the search term).
I think there's an easier way on the far side
I think there's an easier way on the far side
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RodF
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Joined: 01 Sep 2007
Posts: 2593 | TRs | Pics
Location: Sequim WA |
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RodF
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Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:19 am |
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| goats gone wild wrote: | | When we were passing through Three Lakes, I saw a well worn boot path that took off in the direction of Finley Peak. I wondered then, if it was maybe part of the old trail. Didn't have time to explore it....but next time I hope to camp at Three Lakes and take a look-see. Wondered if you ever saw that path or know where it goes. |
I just stumbled across a map depicting this trail fragment. As you suggest, it depicts it following the ridge southwest for 2.5 miles to Finley Peak.
(The map is the Olympic National Forest Access and Travel Management map for their Pacific South Area. Apparently they picked up an old ONP trails datalayer when they built this map. Warning: each of these maps is about a 2 MB PDF file.)
Robert L. Wood's trail guide (3rd edition, 2000) lists the Finley Peak trail as trail #146, and says only the first 0.6 miles of it is still clear, the rest a bushwack.
At that same spot, Three Lakes, it'd sure be interesting to hike due west and drop over the saddle into Paradise Valley. This is the upper end of the long-abandoned Tshletshy Creek trail. The old books describe this basin in glowing terms.
| geobob wrote: | | Anyway, prior to the 1920 outing, the Promise Creek trail apparently didn't exist, but was constructed by the forest service sometime between the 1913 outing and the 1920 outing at the recommendation of the Mountaineers. |
R. L. Wood's trail guide (3rd edition, 2000) page 275 also says this about the history of the Skyline Trail. And thank you for the wonderful map and photos you've posted!
"of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt" - John Muir
"the wild is not the opposite of cultivated. It is the opposite of the captivated” - Vandana Shiva
"of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt" - John Muir
"the wild is not the opposite of cultivated. It is the opposite of the captivated” - Vandana Shiva
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captain jack
Serving suggestion
Joined: 25 May 2004
Posts: 3389 | TRs | Pics
Location: Upper Fidalgo |
| RodF wrote: | | goats gone wild wrote: | | When we were passing through Three Lakes, I saw a well worn boot path that took off in the direction of Finley Peak. I wondered then, if it was maybe part of the old trail. Didn't have time to explore it....but next time I hope to camp at Three Lakes and take a look-see. Wondered if you ever saw that path or know where it goes. |
I just stumbled across a map depicting this trail fragment. As you suggest, it depicts it following the ridge southwest for 2.5 miles to Finley Peak.
(The map is the Olympic National Forest Access and Travel Management map for their Pacific South Area. Apparently they picked up an old ONP trails datalayer when they built this map. Warning: each of these maps is about a 2 MB PDF file.)
Robert L. Wood's trail guide (3rd edition, 2000) lists the Finley Peak trail as trail #146, and says only the first 0.6 miles of it is still clear, the rest a bushwack. |
The trail to Findley Peak from Three Lakes is clearly marked on Richard Pargeters map of the Olympics as well.
You can find the Pargeters map at any REI.
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics
Location: Inexorable descent |
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
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Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:18 pm |
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Reading this thread is a truly humbling experience. I've been hiking ten years and camping most of my life, yet I know so little about the penninsula that I am almost sick to my stomach. I vow to take a whole summer and spend all of it rambling around the Olympics.
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mossy mom
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Joined: 29 Dec 2006
Posts: 1852 | TRs | Pics
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| Magellan wrote: | | Reading this thread is a truly humbling experience. I've been hiking ten years and camping most of my life, yet I know so little about the penninsula that I am almost sick to my stomach. I vow to take a whole summer and spend all of it rambling around the Olympics. |
I can think of no better way to spend the summer.
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RodF
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Joined: 01 Sep 2007
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Location: Sequim WA |
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RodF
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Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:40 pm |
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| goats gone wild wrote: | I'm so excited.  I see Promise Creek trail really did exist and it crossed back and forth across the creek on the way to high camp. |
Here's a photograph captioned "Men and horses crossing Promise Creek, August 16, 1920" from the 1920 Mountaineers' Summer Outing.
The full caption reads "Camp 7: Promise Creek - August 16, 1920 (elevation 5,000)
Two miles west to Promise Creek near its junction with North Fork of Quinault, four miles up Promise Creek, on excellent new trail completed by Forest Service for this trip. Camp was made on site used only a few days earlier by trail crew. [Bailey, Winona. Third Olympic Outing. The Mountaineer 13, no. 1 (1920): 11.]"
The following photos in the album document their progress through the Promise Creek Basin to the Skyline Trail. It looks like a small army!
"of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt" - John Muir
"the wild is not the opposite of cultivated. It is the opposite of the captivated” - Vandana Shiva
"of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt" - John Muir
"the wild is not the opposite of cultivated. It is the opposite of the captivated” - Vandana Shiva
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reststep
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Joined: 17 Dec 2001
Posts: 4757 | TRs | Pics
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reststep
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Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:36 am |
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| RodF wrote: | | Two miles west to Promise Creek near its junction with North Fork of Quinault, four miles up Promise Creek, on excellent new trail completed by Forest Service for this trip. Camp was made on site used only a few days earlier by trail crew. [Bailey, Winona. Third Olympic Outing. The Mountaineer 13, no. 1 (1920): 11.]" |
What I am curious about is how the Mountaineers managed to get the forest service to build trails specifically for their trips.
"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
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Malachai Constant
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Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
It was a different time when the government used to serve the people 
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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reststep
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reststep
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Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:49 am |
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I think there was more to it than that.
I would like to go back and to talk some people from that time and see if they agree with you.
"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
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goats gone wild
Mr. Goat
Joined: 19 Aug 2007
Posts: 2524 | TRs | Pics
Location: Vampireville |
Rod F, Thank you very much for sharing all those pictures with us!! They were a real treat.
I'm guessing the Forest Service built the trail for the Moutaineers for a number of reasons:
1) Forest Service was in a general mode of building new trail systems at the time. Though there were no fire lookouts around Kimta (that I know of) they were still in the process of networking various parts of the trail system. Maybe they were considering putting a lookout on Kimta?
2) There were mutual friends amongst the Moutaineers and FS personnel. The "who you know" phenomena.
Given the large size of the Mountaineer party, I'm guessing their influence was pretty pervasive. I'm guessing the early Moutaineers were generally "people of means"...people who had time for lesuirely pursuits...people who had a say in what the government was doing.
Okay, enough of my wild guesses. 
Now the question begs: Who/when did they decide not to maintain the Promise Creek trail?
.....leaving me wanting to return over and over in what ever capacity that may be, even if one day my knees are too old and I can only see the mountains from my porch.
Jason Hummel
.....leaving me wanting to return over and over in what ever capacity that may be, even if one day my knees are too old and I can only see the mountains from my porch.
Jason Hummel
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Malachai Constant
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Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
I was being fallacious but only slightly so. Thehat time they were trying to increase access and not restrict it it. FS in the early 20th century was organized to preserve the forest lands under federal supervision for future use. It was only after WWII that that they effectively became a branch of the forest products industry.The FS was there to protect and to increase access not to restrict. This was well before the wilderness act and the area was still largely unexplored.
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Phil
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Joined: 02 Jul 2003
Posts: 2025 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline, WA |
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Phil
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Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:20 am |
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| RodF wrote: | | More interesting (and puzzling) is the trail shown from Lake Success, north down O'Neil Creek to the east fork Quinault, where it follows the south shore downstream two miles before crossing to join the Enchanted Valley Trail. ..... |
I'm re-reading Chris Morgenroth's autobio and he mentions a trip up the south fork skokomish for trail building. His group built the graves creek trail, and also hacked a minor trail between Lake Success and the Quinalt. This was around 1900, not too long after the Oneil expedition. Funny thing about the account is he refers to Lake Sundown and Lake Success as if they were named already. That may just have been a function of his language, ESL etc.
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goats gone wild
Mr. Goat
Joined: 19 Aug 2007
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| Phil wrote: | | RodF wrote: | | More interesting (and puzzling) is the trail shown from Lake Success, north down O'Neil Creek to the east fork Quinault, where it follows the south shore downstream two miles before crossing to join the Enchanted Valley Trail. ..... |
I'm re-reading Chris Morgenroth's autobio and he mentions a trip up the south fork skokomish for trail building. His group built the graves creek trail, and also hacked a minor trail between Lake Success and the Quinalt. This was around 1900, not too long after the Oneil expedition. Funny thing about the account is he refers to Lake Sundown and Lake Success as if they were named already. That may just have been a function of his language, ESL etc. |
Phil, are you re-reading Crisler's book "Beyond the Trails" ? That's funny. because I just picked it up and am re-reading it also. What a coincidence. I just got to the part where he was sent to jail for poaching.
On a trip several years ago, we went and visited his Cats Cradle shelter before it fell down/was destroyed. Wish I had taken some pictures of it. At that time you could still walk around inside. (1995, I think)
I started re-reading his book because I wanted to remember what he had to say about Lake Beauty (I'd like to do a trip from Lake Beauty to Queets--Hee Haw). I'm thinking/kinda remembering he had a shelter or something around Lake Beauty as well. I just can't remember what route he took from Queets Basin to get there????? The first time I think he came down off the Snow Finger and back up over the Divide and then up Promise Creek??? But then I'm thinking he made a short cut somewhere???? Also, I want to see if he mentions his "tree house" in Cream Lake Basin.
RodF, I did not know (or forgot) that Crisler's group had built the Lake Success-Quinault trail. We searched around for it when we went that way a couple of years ago. We had hiked out from McGravey's Lakes with the intention of going to Big Log (via Six Ridge) and got sidetracked with the sign to Lake Success. Ended up being a totally unplanned trip to Mt. Olsen and down the old route of the abandoned trail to O'Neil Camp.
Crisler was definitely an interesting character.
.....leaving me wanting to return over and over in what ever capacity that may be, even if one day my knees are too old and I can only see the mountains from my porch.
Jason Hummel
.....leaving me wanting to return over and over in what ever capacity that may be, even if one day my knees are too old and I can only see the mountains from my porch.
Jason Hummel
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