achykneesplease

I'm really sorry to hear you got turned back on the bypass. I feel like I let you down. I had more snow on my trip so perhaps that made a difference. From your pictures, It looks like you followed close to the route I did. However, your track appears to have passed above two treed crags before hitting the high point. I actually went just below these crags and contoured farther around to the North flank. Everything on my right seemed steeper so it kept pushing me to the left. Once I was over to the north side, it was just a matter of following some gentle snowfields to the east ridge a few hundred feet below the summit. This photo is looking down toward Stephen Lake with Ruth in the background. I wonder if you were hung up on the steep bits in the left of the picture. The next photo shows my route until disappears around the North side. Do you have a photo showing where you turned back?

I gave this route a lot of thought when I did a Baily/Skyline traverse a few years ago. If you are very fit and ready for a hard day, it should be doable. Being neither, I took the easy way and came around through low divide. There is a decent size stream that comes down between Seattle and Noyes. I would probably follow it up at the spot where it joins the stream being fed by the Elhwa snow finger. Once you drop off the snow finger, you will get a nice look at the route and can decide if you want to cross the Elwha sooner lossing less altitude. It looked like the bottom section was going to be some hard bushwacking up slide alder. The photo above shows the route up from the bottom of the snow finger. It didn't strike me as a place where you would find a place to pitch a tent so make sure you have enough time to get all the way to Seattle basin. The Seattel basin side looked a lot easier. The peak on the left is Noyes and Seattle is on the right. The treed notch to the right of Noyes is where you will cross. If you want to connect the Bailey and Skyline, you might consider sidehilling around the West side of Queets joining the Skyline near Lake Beauty. If you do a search, you will find other discussions on that route. Good Luck,

This coming July a friend and I are considering a traverse that would take us up the South Fork Hoh to the Valhallas then follow the ridge between the Valhallas and Athena. From Athena, we would climb East Peak and then decend the Hoh glacier to Camp Pan ultimately making our way over to the Bailey range. I've crossed the Bailey so I know what to expect there, but worry about the ridge between the Valhallas and Athena. Specifically, I'm concerned about the second half of the ridge as it ascends to Athena. The two trip reports I've read about this section make is sound very sketchy. In one TR, they abandoned the ridge entirely and ascended the Hubert glacier until they reached the ridge between Mount Tom and the West Peak. In another report, they reached Athena, but only after traversing over to Jeffers glacier (this TR was a little vague regarding this section and sounded like they got into a very dangerous situation at one point). Following are links to the reports... NWMH Issue 3 Sebegg - Olympic Mountain Traverse I'm hoping there is someone out there that could post some pictures from the ridge or offer some beta. Any help would be appreciated.

As you pass through Ferry Basin I would try not to lose much altitude staying high on the slope as you contour the basin. There really isn't what I would call a "wall" that you need to climb to get to the shoulder of Stephen Peak. There is a ridge that runs between Stephen and Mt Ferry. This is the actual crest of the Bailey range. Once you round the west side of Mt Ferry and enter Ferry Basin you will want to climb onto this ridge at the earliest reasonable point. It is possible to contour up through sparse trees and steep grassy slopes (many elk trails). The last little bit is a steep slope of screen and dirt. It isn't any more than 100ft and puts you on the ridge. I believe it was a little north of peak 5616 or 5826. The Olympic climbers guide has an excellent description as well as GPS coordinates if you care to cheat. Once you’re on the ridge you go north for about 1 mile. The picture below is looking South down the ridge. I lost count of the little peaks I needed to go left or right to avoid summiting. The next picture shows of Stephen lake basin from the north slope of Stephen Pk. The lowest point of blue sky you see on the left is the notch you need to pass through. That is the location of the campsite I showed in an earlier post.

Early August of 2007, I did the "cream lake bypass" section detailed by Hoosierdaddy. To gain the saddle between Ruth and and Stephen I think I departed from the standard Bailey route close to where hoosierdaddy describes. I recall a good size stream erupting from the rocks about 100' below the standard trail. It was hidden in some avalanche alder so you couldn't see if from the trail, but it was very audible. I was happy to find it because this streach of the trail had no water when I made my trip. It is a good place to fill your bottles before headed straight up the steep cirque. The ground cover wasn't any taller than my shins so it was actually an easy climb/walk. The saddle between Ruth and Stephen is fairly obvious on a good topo (greentrails). The place where you depart from the main trail is pretty much due west of the saddle. I very glad I didn't take the cream lake route. I camped at the saddle described above and enjoyed the best site of my trip. Route finding is straight forward if you have good weather. I did well until reaching the peak of Stephen. At that point the clouds came pooring up out of the Ho valley and obscured my visibility. Traversing the ridge SE of Stephen you need to deside whether to go left or right around a series of crags that block the way. I'm sure it would have been easier if I could have seen the route ahead. I ended up in some very exposed sections wondering how long I would wait until a customer visited my impending yardsale. If I was doing the full loop you proposed, I would consider going the other direction. If you wait to do Olympus until the end of your trip the weather might be a problem. It's tough to find a weather window where your entire trip will be perfect. If you do Oympus at the start, you can adjust your departure to make sure you complete that section before things get messy. When I did the trip in August, I ran into two young guys doing the same loop you proposed. The weather got so bad they had to abandon the Olympus section of the trip and exit the Bailey via the Elwa snowfinger. I still wonder how they got back to their car. Below is a shot of the "saddle camp". Looking SW toward Olympus.

Last August, I did the Bailey and Skyline from North to South. I had the same plan as you and was given some beta from Mt Mouse (who had done the "shortcut" some years earlier). Unfortunately, the visibility was terrible when I got to Queets basin so I went with plan B and dropped down the snowfinger. It was disappointing, but after having just spent the last two days wandering through the clouds, I couldn't bring myself to attempt the shortcut. On the Bailey, you can generally find a boot track to let you know your on route. I doubt if the "shortcut" is done more than once or twice a year. In any case, Mt Mouse posted his beta on a thread I started back in October of 2006. Try doing a search with the terms "Bailey Skyline" and you will come up with the thread. I'm sorry, I don't know how to post a link directly. I think I will give it another go in 2009, but will budget 2 days to go from Upper Queets basin to Beauty Lake. Five hours seems way too optimistice (at least for an old geezer like me).

I have read that Herb Crisler used what he called his “secret route” between the Queets Basin and Lake Beauty. Like me, he wanted to find a way to connect the Bailey Range to the Skyline trail without dropping down the Elhwa Snowfinger. The crux seems to have been Saghalie Canyon. In the late 40’s, after some years of exploring, he found a ledge and crevice used by elk passing through a cliff on the south side of Saghalie Canyon. Apparently, the crevice was so narrow as to be difficult for a mature elk to get through. After not visiting the area for about 16 years, he tried to find the route from the South side. He was hurt in a fall and spent several days trying to rediscover the crevice. Ultimately, he came to believe it had been destroyed in a rockslide. I’m encouraged to hear that “Mtn Mouse” was able to find a way and appreciate the details he shared in his post.

I am curious if anyone has tried to connect the Bailey Range Traverse with the Skyline Trail without descending the Elwha Snowfinger and then going back up to low divide(Class 3 or lower). The “Climbing Guide to the Olympic Mountains” shows a number of routes that could be connected together. From Dodwell-Dixon pass go up the north ridge of Mt Queets, then traverse a ridge to MT Meany then to Mt Noyes. Finally, descend into the Seattle Creak basin from the low notch between Mt Seattle and Mt Noyes. I’m planning this route for next summer and would appreciate any insights anyone might share. I'm afraid there is a good reason I haven't found more information on this "Potential" route.