[bobbi]

THREE TRAIL HIKES IN ONE~ Big Creek, SKYLINE, North Fork Quinault hubby Mark and i, along with our very own nwhikers lurkers, planned on hiking the trail last year but there was too much snow (good excuse) so we rescheduled for this year and dang, all weather reports called it good to go the problem is that we all aged one extra year...i finally joined the 60s club! right on! but hey, what's age got to do with hiking?

alpine start 9:30am, ha!

day 1-the Big Creek Trail... nothing but trees along this trail it was a hot day so the gain to our first camp site at Three Lakes, made the 7 miler feel like 10 miles.

day 2-made our way on the Skyline Trail to Kimta campsite... getting to three prune creek was a pull, too, and in hind site, the gang thought maybe this would be a good place to stay but...you see, the heat and the pack weight were calling the shots and the brain is starting to play havoc big time! 3 Prune is about 4 miles from 3 Lakes...too soon for me! from all reports, the next 5+ miles to Kimta would be dry. hubby Mark was still recovering from a case of Shingles and i was eager to get to kimta so i hauled the extra half gallon of water! is that an extra 4 pounds? lurker Lisa thought it would be fun to bring along some prunes

i'm not a fan of too many trees-these just block the view but with the heat of the day, we all enjoyed the shade the trees provided but it was still an uphill and downhill battle with our heavy packs! lots of breaks and kimta was still a ways to go. some views including the queets river snaking along the valley floor

there was a point where hubby said that the first place we see water even if we are not by kimta, he was calling it good! as we made our way down this icky switchback, Mark noticed some water trickling and said, there's the promise land! (hee hee) i looked off to the left of the creek and saw what looked like a camp site. is this Kimta? who cares? it's flat, there's water, we are staying! this is the icky section coming down to our camp site and a cairn marking it!

we logged in about 9+miles this hot day. skeeters were a pain! dinner and lights out! oh, Mark checked his gps and guess what? we were at Kimta day 3...off to Lake Beauty and drama at Hee Haw Pass did i mention that this trail can be described in FOUR words? UP and DOWN, REPEAT! the trees are mostly gone and the landscape is just magnificent! WE LOVE THIS AREA OF THE SKYLINE despite the heat and choice of words along the trail, this was by far our favorite section. leaving Kimta and contouring the burn area and switchbacks up and switchbacks down, we finally made it to Promise Creek Pass. oh my! what a great view of Mt. Seattle and other peaks!

we enjoyed a lunch here and contemplated our next destination-MOONSCAPE

thanks to the cairns for showing the way well, back to reality and off to Hee Haw Pass some photos along the way

trail makers thought it would be fun to just build the trail heading to Hee Haw Pass from this side to be up up up along a muddy small stream! Mark and i led the way and we waited for the lurkers. about 5 minutes later, Lisa arrives, drops her pack, jacks her top up to cool off, and promptly declares: I AM DONE IN and lays herself right down on the trail! to respect her short drama, i didn't take a photo! i wish i did though, ha!

Hee Haw Pass

it was difficult to tell her that 'break time' is up but we still had a ways to Lake Beauty! thank goodness the lake was worth the effort to go down down down the .3 mile despite the thought of having to go back up up up the next morning! this would be about 6 miles for the day!

panorama-backside of mt. olympus, or is it the front side

day 4...the home stretch to Low Divide lots of switchbacks up and down, creek crossings, and yes, another sunny hot day! great view of mt. seattle!

WE MADE IT TO LOW DIVIDE

NOTE: the Trail Crew were staying at Low Divide after finishing lots of work along the Skyline...No trees to go up, over, or under but on our way out via north fork quinault trail, two trees were down. the mules will be returning soon (next week) so these trees should be off the trail! (i'm tired...will finish this tomorrow )

[Ancient Ambler]

Great trip, report and photos, bobbi. And welcome the "60s club". Your observations really capture the experience of aging hikers lugging heavy packs up and down the high country under a broiling sun: "the heat and the pack weight were calling the shots and the brain is starting to play havoc big time!"; "there was a point where hubby said that the first place we see water even if we are not by kimta, he was calling it good!"; "despite the heat and choice of words along the trail"; "5 minutes later, Lisa arrives, drops her pack, jacks her top up to cool off, and promptly declares: I AM DONE IN and lays herself right down on the trail!". I had to chuckle at your reference to "choice of words along the trail". Maybe next time you'll get some video and audio of that and include it in your TR? And why is it that you guys are looking a little less chipper in your "we made it to low divide" photo than in your "alpine start at 9:30am, ha!"? Really enjoyed your TR and photos and am looking forward to your narrative and photos of the "all downhill" North Fork Quinault section of your trip.

[Hikingqueen]

You are all awesome! Loved the report and pics! Great job! My 40 year old butt would have slowed all you DOWN had on been on this one!

[bobbi]

AA... i wish i did record all the grumblin' i got just to get that photo at the 'finish'. you see, the three had to get down and sit or squat by the sign (unlike the alpine start where standin' was easier!) heck, they wanted to 'rest awhile'... i was like, 'we did rest (for the photo ), onward to camp!' thank goodness the sites were nearby ... unsure what 'choice words would be spewin' Hq... you wouldn't have enjoyed this hike at all but you have to wait until you're 60 yo to do Skyline!

[half fast]

That hike seems like a lot of work and with your hubby being the only youngen' (and not really that far behind) you old coggers did great!! Thank you for the TR and wonderful photos...

[bobbi]

best photos...introducing Maynard and his dental floss digital watch!

fun along the north fork quinault trail F Troop decided to head out after lunch at Lake Margaret. we wanted an easy hike so Twelve Mile Camp sounded like the best place to relax after an easy crossing of the NF Quinault. the next day we humped out 12 miles! Whew

AT THE FINAL END OF OUR THREE TRAILS IN ONE ADVENTURE!

all clean

the best part about finishin' a head spinnin', butt kickin', nail bitin', feet stumpin', body sweatin', leg crampin', nose drippin', unrelentin' hike is THE POST HIKE MEAL! DELICIOUS~AT THE SALMON HOUSE, QUINAULT

that's it!

[Ski]

Salmon House? Where? New? Great TRs and pics as always, Bobbi. Excellent shot there of my favorite river.

[Ravenridge]

Wow, great trip! Wonderful looking meal! Isn't the Trapper Shelter a really dark and gloomy place?! I love that bridge at Stalding Creek.

[reststep]

Thanks for the great report bobbi. It brings back lots of memories. Where are the jumping for joy photos?

[RodF]

Bobbi, Mark, Lisa, Neil - way to go! Thanks for sharing these great photos!

[Lotus54]

It was a fun trip, tough though! It didn't help I was so out of shape. If I had it together ( yeah, sure) I would have taken pics at the old three lakes and three prune shelter locations and had the old pics from 1970 included. I did the design work on the Kimta and Three Prune Bridge stronger setup (and hooked them) but didn't do any of the wood work on those. I did go in (poring rain too) and get the winch working... Used a GPS for the first time. Pretty fun, although the screen is too small and I find it easier to just read the topo map. After getting back I found a 7.5 minute topo for the GPS I wished I had. Those are so much easier to read the terrain. It said some 18k ft elevation change for the trip. Not sure if that is accurate, but is certainly felt like it! Way more change than the Bailey Range I think. Mark

[bobbi]

[bobbi]

[Lotus54]

Oh yeah, Trappers wasn't supposed to be built there- but the contractors found cedar there so built it. (So Jack N. Told me many years ago)

[bobbi]