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[TR] Olympics - Skokokomish Traverse 7/17/2014


curtveld

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Trip: Olympics - Skokokomish Traverse

 

Date: 7/17/2014

 

Trip Report:

Another one for the ‘better-late-than-never’ bin - a few Iphone shots of a sweet loop Andy and I did on the heels of the wettest day of the summer. After decades obsessing on the North Cascades, just starting to explore the Olympic high country. As others say, the Olympics are equally intriguing, thick with varied vegetation and wildlife. Being smaller in scale, the alpine scenery is constantly changing - talus slopes that take an hour in the Cascades are over in 15 minutes.

 

Day 1 – Drove and ferried through the rain, stopping for a great burger at the Eagle Creek Saloon. Finished the day with four easy miles up the Skokomish through dripping old growth.

 

Day 2 – Trail Day – a long haul up the Skokomish valley, including broad valley bottoms resembling the Hoh, then steady climbing to First Divide. From there, followed the ‘Hopper Mtn route’ (it’s marked) through various burns to a sweet heather basin.

 

Day 3 – Traverse Day - woke in the fog, followed the friendly ridge eastward to Rock Arrow Pass, then south through talus to the divide above Lake of the Angels. Climbed snow southward, crossing two eastern spurs of Mt Skokomish. During a break, a family of goats passed 30' from us! Dropped 1200 brushy feet into Hamma Hamma headwater meadows, then thrashed back up to Gladys Pass, camping beneath the looming Mt Cruiser.

 

Day 4 – Breakfast panoramas on Mt Gladys, then down the trail to Flapjack Lakes and out. After all that solitude, encountered 60+ visitors in the last two miles before Staircase!

 

Lush Skokomish valley bottom

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Putting on rain gear at First Divide

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Traversing a recent burn on Mt Hopper

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Mt Stone from camp

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Meadow stream in the fog – natural color, not B/W!

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Money shot of Mt Skokomish

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Rock Arrow Pass – pointing back toward Hopper

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Talus, wildflowers and end of Iphone charge

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Gear Notes:

Ice axe, topo map

 

Approach Notes:

Staircase Ranger Station

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