Favorite Olympic Rainforest hikes?

[JoshK]

Hey guys and gals,

 

My girl and I are heading over to the olympics this weekend to do an overnight up one of the big river drainages. Due to her lack of ski gear, we're looking to stay in the low elevations and enjoy the big ass trees and some sunshine. The Hood Canal bridge is closed so we'll be taking the ferry out there and it would be nice to stay on the east side of the range to cut down on drive time. The only major drainage I've been up is the Quinalt (Enchanted Valley). Can anybody recommend another one of the rivers to check out? The only requirements are that the road is accessible, offers nice hiking and a good place to camp in the valley.

 

Thanks!

[Llarian]

Not sure if I'd call it rainforest, but there's a lot of nice hiking around Graywolf and Royal Basin that should be accessible now. (Check TRs)

 

There aren't any nice destination valleys along the Elwha River Trail really, but its still a nice hike up to Elkhorn and further if you want. Again, not sure about the snow conditions now, I don't usually hit that area until later in the summer.

 

And, of course, there's always Glacier Meadows.

[ivan]

josh, i've seen yer girl - watcha worried about how things look OUTSIDE the tent when you know you just gonna be in it the whole time?

 

have you hiked the hoh before dude? it's the only olympic trail i've done - the long flat section to the base where it'd start getting snowy would be multiday and very chill....

[Le Piston]

I've always been fond of the Sand Point trail (Lake Ozette to Cape Alava). It has rainforest and ocean both. You can do it as a day hike (long drive) or overnighter. If you have a canoe or kayak, you can go from Ozette to Erickson's Bay to camp and hike to the beach. If you absolutely want a river hike, check out the Hoh. Cheers!

[shaoleung]

JoshK,

 

The Hoh Valley is one of the coolest ecosystems in the Northwest. Well worth the drive around. Plus you get to go through Forks... bring your vampire fangs.

 

The Hoh Rainforest is the only temperate rainforest in the US. There are tons of camp sites all the way up. The Olympus Guard Station (about 8 or 9 miles up) is pretty cool. When the weather's good, you can hang out on gravel bars and swim, though the water level might be high right now. Past OGS it gets steep and they may not have cleared the windfall yet.

 

The Quinault is somewhat closer, and pretty cool too... though I would go the extra miles for the Hoh.

 

Have Fun!

 

 

 

[ivan]

i suprised a herd of probably 50 elk on one of those sandbars at dusk - i nearly shit meself - the light was very dim, and they were within only a few yards of me when we noticed each other - the ground shook as they hauled ass away - there were so many of them it took probably a full minute for them to take turns swimming across the river and crashing up the far bank - insanely cool

[JoshK]

i suprised a herd of probably 50 elk on one of those sandbars at dusk - i nearly shit meself - the light was very dim, and they were within only a few yards of me when we noticed each other - the ground shook as they hauled ass away - there were so many of them it took probably a full minute for them to take turns swimming across the river and crashing up the far bank - insanely cool

 

I had that happen to me on the trail up to Mt Adams Meadows. I was jogging up the trail to avoid the hellish bugs at twilight when I ran in to a clearing and let loose a stampede. I thought I was going to be trampled.

 

The Hoh definitely sounds awesome. With the Hood Canal bridge out it looks to be about a 4 hour drive each way. Going to the Duckabush River would be about 2 hours, but it doesn't look nearly as amazing as the Hoh. Who knows, maybe it would be ok to suck up all the extra driving and just enjoy that as part of the trip. I imagine the stretch of 101 along the coast is pretty rad.

[shaoleung]

The 101 drive isn't that hot... lots of clearcut... national forest etc. Still worth it though. Have fun. Post pictures!

[ivan]

josh, are you telling me you don't have that key ingredient that makes any road-trip, no matter how long, just meeeeeeelllllt away?

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Probably too late for ya, but the Dungeness is nice this time of year, hike up to Camp Handy for a mellow trip, or farther to Boulder Shelter. I went up to Goat Lake with my girl a couple weeks ago, got up there without putting the snowshoes on at all (but the lake was still totally frozen). Have fun, should be a great weekend to be out here!

[JoshK]

We ended up going to the Hoh, and it didn't dissapoint. What incredible trees. We were also treated to wildlife, seeing a bear at short distance near the olympic guard station, complete with a deer 30 feet from the bear and people camped 30 feet further past that. The bear, the deer, nor the people seemed very concerned with any of the others. We came across a small group of Elk on the way back. The campsite was the best part of it all, in the middle of one of the massive gravel bars on perfectly flat and soft sand. Private beach, loads of firewood, views of the rainforest and a clear view up river to large snowy peaks beyond. Thanks to everybody for the suggestions.

 

Oly, I may give the Dungeness a shot next time, as I have a friend who wants to do a low elevation overnight later this week.

 

-josh

[shaoleung]

Sweet! Climbers around here get so into the Cascades (with good reason) that they often miss out on the gems in the olympics!