A Grand and Not Crammed Third Yearly Trip

 

Jed was a hoot. I spoke with him, I believe, three times. I had to keep calling back the Olympic Park Permit Office to change my reservations, because nothing seemed to be working out. (You are supposed to make these online…which I did…badly. So I needed help. But be warned, getting someone on the line is not easy.) Anyway, somehow, every time, I got Jed on the other end. 

This was our third year doing a week long hiking trip together–not Jed and I, of course–I mean the gals I met three years ago on a Facebook hiking page. (see here) Previously we have had the privilege of doing sections of the PCT – which blessedly don’t require permits. We were going to continue our tradition by tackling Section L that takes you all the way to the Canadian Border…but y’know…Covid. Going to the border and then turning around did not seem terribly logical, so we had to come up with a different plan. 

My current obsession with the PNT (I know, only one letter difference makes this confusing, but a VERY different trail than the PCT) gave me a new focus as I labored over a strategy to cram in as many miles of it in seven days as humanly possible; my human, that is ;) But all these miles depended on getting the right permits within the Olympic National Forest, and every plan I could muster was coming undone by a permit deficit somewhere along my route. 

Jed saved me with a simple question: “Why do you have to do all the miles on the PNT?” And the simple answer was, “I don’t.” From there, Jed helped put together a much more simplified six day trip that included the best and got rid of the rest.

Later I discovered this loop has a name: “The Grand Loop.” And anything that is as truly grand as this loop is should have nothing to do with “cramming.” Thank God for Jed. (Who also made sure I didn’t attempt to go from Dose Meadows to Moose Lake in one day. Ugh, will I ever learn to pay close attention to elevation gain?) As always, a detailed itinerary below if interested, but don’t leave without my trail blessing: Happy “new, improved, and less crammed” trails!! 

HIKING LOG:

Day One: (Does not count in the “6 day plan”) A very early morning to get to my 6:30 am ferry reservation which inadvertently gave me an important lesson–a Port Townsend to Coupeville reservation is not the same as a Coupeville to Port Townsend reservation. Duh, right? So anyway, $10 reservation fee wasted, but I got on the 7:15 and was still able to secure a campsite at Deer Park on a Saturday.

I used this day to enjoy the half mile Rain Shadow Loop (drive Deer Park Road till you can’t drive no more) plus do a six mile up and back going east on the PNT from the campground.

View on Rain Shadow

 

Day Two: The girls arrive! Warning: the parking situation here is dismal. Our solution was to park back to back (stacked in one spot) since we would be leaving at the same time. But be kind to yourself and others and carpool here if at all possible. This loop begins at the Three Forks Trail parking lot, which is within the Deer Park campground. We started with the 4.7 miles DOWN to the Three Forks Camp. Overall I think counter clockwise was the best way to do this loop and this was reason #1. To end with these never ending switchbacks going UP would have SUCKED.

Three Forks is a great camp

Day Three: 8.6 miles to “North side of Gray Wolf Pass” which is not a really a camp, but apparently you can get a permit to stay there if you talk to someone like Jed. There is something like established spots around a lake (maybe tarn?) that you come to just before the final push up and over, but we had 5 tents (yes we are all Divas and like to have our own) so we just sort of made our own spots a little further up. Also, I almost made a HUGE mistake this day, thinking I was on the right trail when I wasn’t because there’s a trail that goes to Cedar Lake off of the Gray Wolf River Trail I wasn’t aware of. I won’t bother to explain my reasoning in the moment, but I am happy to say I stopped not too far in to dig out the map even though I didn’t want to. Thank you lesson #1!

Great place to camp if you only have a few tents

 

Up and over Gray Wolf, the easiest of the passes

Day Four: 8 miles to Dose Meadows. This was the first day I was really glad to have my hiking umbrella, and not to be my last! A few of these miles are in direct sun, and it was HOT. So sweaty when arriving at camp that I dunked in the stream–there is a great spot behind the farthest site. This is the one day Jed kind of did me wrong by hyping up the “Thousand Acre Meadow” that is supposedly just around the bend and the only reason people go to Dose Meadows. Cool Jed, I’ll have to check that out! Information not given: It’s a thousand foot gain in that little extra mile and a bushwack besides. Thankfully we actually ran into a ranger (who asked if we had permits — so don’t try to go without getting them!) who filled us in and told us we would get a good view of it when we hit Lost Pass the next day. FYI it appeared to me that the glorious Thousand Acre Meadow is exactly like every other meadow — just bigger. I don’t really understand what the big deal is, but I sure am glad not to have pushed another thousand feet that day to try to find out! 

Beautiful (and hot!) open meadows

Day Five: 3.4 miles to Upper Cameron Camp, by going over both Lost and Cameron Pass. This took me almost 5 hours, just to give you an idea of how punishing these “short” miles are. I shudder to think I had considered combining them with the next day to make a 10.4 day– because y’know, 3.4 is too easy! OMG, I would have DIED, because Grand Pass was the worst of all. WHY CAN’T I LEARN LESSON NUMBER #39 !

Oh, and if you find my old phone (the one I used only for taking hiking pics because I wisely worried I’d drop it) on the scree field coming down from Cameron Pass where I slid down on my ass because folks on top advised me to “cut across under the snow field” even though that’s not what they did, please excuse the naked beach pics I took on my birthday hike. Fireball is to blame. But (or should I say “butt” ;)) I sure would like my phone back just the same.

My phone's burial ground...RIP

Upper Cameron was worth the struggle

BERRIES!

I am the clear winner of the dorkiest head net prize

 

Going for the over-all biggest dork championship

 

Day Six: 7 miles to Moose Lake. Like I just said, Grand Pass is no joke. But there is a great stream half way up, and a tarn on top, so don’t load up on pounds of water and make your life easier. 

Moose Lake Camp

Day Seven: 12 miles back to Deer Park. We talked incessantly about the upcoming miles while at Moose Lake; mostly trying to wager just how bad they were going to be, because that’s how you get after the days we had. I was, as usual, in denial about the elevation gain. “We have the difficult assent to start, but once we get up–easy 7 miles of ridge walking. No problem.” Never listen to me. I am elevation gain incompetent.

See? Easy!

Uh oh

But the views? Worth it. So my friends still love me…I think. We all went to Bar N9NE for the usual beer and burger reward. A total dive, in the right kind of ways, with great food. But don’t expect homemade ranch dressing, because it is a bar after all. (I will never live that down! ;)) I did extend this trip with a solo overnight at Flapjack Lakes on my way home, which I will write up soon.

Forgiven

Cheers to us! Until next time

P.S. I was just contacted by another hiker that my phone has been found and he is mailing it to me! Hikers are the best. Follow me on Instagram kellbell.500 to see more pics and silly videos. (Though I will keep the naked ones to myself ;)) 

Good and Bad Decisions on the Wonderland

 

What do you do when you don’t get the permit you so painstakingly planned to obtain? In my determined quest to secure a spot at the most popular camp on the Wonderland, I committed and invested by:

1. Taking a day off work.
2. Paying for a campsite close to the ranger station so I could get up super early and be in line an hour before they open. 
3. Snatching yet another campsite at the trail’s start where I could leave my car and have my support team come and camp before they had to drive another hour next day to pick me up at where I planned to end. 

So when it all falls apart, you contemplate cheating and stealth camping without a permit – if you are naughty like me, anyway. My determination (or you might call it stubbornness) can sometimes get in the way of my better judgement. But I reluctantly decided to be a good girl and just stay at the White River campsite by myself and day hike instead — call Amber and Chuck and tell them they don’t have to make the three hour drive after all. 

“Go with the flow, Kelly, and just be grateful you’re here,”…I tried to talk myself into having a good attitude, even though I was still recovering from seeing the coveted “Summerland” get crossed off the walk up permit list taped to the Ranger’s door just minutes after they opened it. Sheesh, what’s a girl gotta do to be first in line? I missed it by two people.

Then the “flow” took another turn. I overheard two other hikers who were doing the whole Wonderland talking about how they were staying at Summerland that night, and before I knew it I had invited myself along. Who does that? But they were SO welcoming…"Party at Summerland!” they announced jovially. But how was I going to make this work now that I no longer had a support crew coming?

ZERO cell service meant using the “emergency/urgent” pay phone at the campground (yes it will work for a mere $16) and as I was having no luck with anyone answering, my chance at Summerland started walking away.

“Are you coming?” they asked.

I stood with phone in hand, nobody on the other end, and yelled back, “I’m just trying to make a good decision.”

They laughed in unison as one of them called back, “Screw that!”  These were my people! I had to go … good decisions be damned. 

Those 19.3 miles were well worth the stress of not knowing how I was getting back to my car. And though my first EVER attempt at hitchhiking could have been worse, I would not recommend it. Standing in the hot sun and getting the “hell to the no” look for over an hour is more demoralizing than I could have imagined.

But the trail provided once again, and a young lady road tripping by herself decided to head north instead of south, as she had originally planned, so as to help me out. She ended up staying with me at that campsite I had snagged back at White River that had been sitting dormant for two days; so it was a win-win. My good and bad decisions aside – it all worked out in the end. May your happy trails do the same. (More detailed hiking log below if interested.) 

HIKING LOG:

Day 1: 7 miles to Summerland. Passed FOUR rangers, so I’m glad I didn’t cheat! These miles are all up, but it’s not bad until the final mile or so. Funny story–as we were just getting snuggly in our tents, we heard a voice asking “Are you in there?” Ummm…why? Turns out we were being “evacuated” by a fellow camper because he saw a bear roaming through camp. We all gathered around the bear pole like it was some kind of fire drill. But just look at it!! (Pic below) A veritable motherload of jerky and God knows what barely above our heads – no wonder a bear came sniffing. Actually, I couldn’t help joking to my new hiking friends that it was the aroma of my Smellyeos that had lured our furry intruder.

I paid my way in Smellyeos

 

A bear might be thinking, "Fresh meat, or jerky?"

Day 2: 12.3 miles to the Box Canyon parking lot. These are tough miles, though I think they would be more challenging going the opposite direction. The other extremely popular campsites at Indian Bar are just as beautiful, and could also work in splitting this long hike into two days. But if you are a bad ass like Glen, you don’t worry about permits and you just day hike the monster. (From Sunrise actually – an almost 23 miles day!) I would also suggest a key swap would work really well for this hike, and I almost convinced two ladies I met while eating lunch who were going the opposite direction into giving me their keys! Except Glen put the kibosh on that as he interjected stories of having his garage door opener stolen out of his unlocked car…thanks a lot, Glen! ;)

I still love you, Glen ;) 

 

The fact is, I’m still not done with the damn Wonderland! (First attempt here and videos of both these trips here) I still have those 5 miles from Reflection Lakes to Longmire. Who knows when that will get done, but there’s dinner at Longmire for anyone who will drop me off AND pick me up 

How could anyone say no to this face?! ;)

PS - Finally finished er' in October 2021, thanks to my friends Heidi and Julie 💗

Cheers to finally crossing this one off the list!

Royal Basin F-Bombs

Permit #4 is in the books. Since I’ve got my special “local pass,” I’ve done Bogachiel, Oil City to Third Beach, Enchanted Valley, and now Royal Basin – all in the Olympic National Park. Plus I have four more classic trips booked before the end of the season; all for $45! I'm getting my money’s worth! Fingers crossed they all pan out.

Many of these miles are on the PNT…many are not, including this trip’s miles. I grabbed this permit simply because I could, and because I figured it must be beautiful if it was so popular. I think it was the last spot available, and I secured it months ago.

We pulled up to the parking area after nine miles of some pretty serious potholes and I foolishly drove past the only parking spot thinking maybe it wasn’t big enough. The car behind me did not hesitate to squeeze in. F***. Okay, keep going and see what we can find.

The actual HUGE parking area (room for 75 cars?) is past the first non actual parking area (20 cars, maybe?) and it was full as well. Holy moly, it’s only 9 am!…but it was a Saturday. Thankfully Julie had the brilliant idea to back in at the far end, essentially creating a new row. (Don’t worry, we were careful not to block anyone in. Very nice vault toilet in this lot, btw.) 

When I snagged this permit, I was a little disappointed. At just under 4 miles in, the “creek” spots seemed inferior to the what I was sure would be spectacular camping at Royal Lake or Upper Basin. Plus not having the option of hiking up the 8 miles one day and out the 8 miles the next day meant a whole lot of hiking on day one. But something is better than nothing, so we were going to have to make it work.

We expected serious crowds after seeing that parking lot, but to our delight we saw only a handful of other hikers. I suppose the majority of people were crossing the bridge at the one mile mark to go across the Dungeness and into the Buckhorn Wilderness where trails aplenty await; including PNT miles…next time! 

We found our lovely creek spot to be far from inferior – besides seclusion (good for the ukulele concert to come) the water was steps away, plus there were NO BUGS! The one thing we could have done without were the obvious pee puddles right next to the fire ring. Is it so hard to point it toward the bushes, guys?

But now it was time to tackle the rest of the increasingly upward miles – though now thankfully without our heavy packs. I like to think I could have done it with those 35 pounds on my back without crying, but the f-bomb count that last half mile to the lake (with maybe a pound in my little day pack) suggests there would have been serious tears if not for our blessed “inferior” creek spot. 

Take off shoes? Who has time for that?

Though having to return to our camp meant dealing with a bit of a worry if we could do the steep seven-tenths of a mile past Royal Lake (bug infested and not where we wanted to hang out) to the upper “lake” (tarn actually–also mosquito infested) and back the five miles before dark. But no risk, no reward, right?

The F bombs at the end where the good kind…the “are you f-ing kidding me?” kind. After a “happy birthday!” shout to the lucky party peeps across the lake, we quickly took a few pics and turned right around. One thing to always remember is down is way faster than up. Literally I think it took half the time, so it wasn’t an issue. Was it worth the push and the f-bombs and the bug bites and the wet feet and going over the scary log bridges twice? The pictures show the obvious answer. Happy f-bomb trails! Condensed hiking itinerary below if interested.

Heidi's not scared of no log bridges!

 

HIKING LOG:

Day 1: 3.5 miles to Royal Creek camp (there are many spread out over a mile or so) plus the 10 miles to upper basin and back for a total of 13.5 miles. 

Day 2: An easy stroll out of just 3.5 miles. I have to say as much as I LOVED those views the day before, this hike out might have been my favorite part. Going slow while enjoying the stream views and moss and quiet – it was sublime. And an easy day meant lots of time to spend in Port Townsend, which was also glorious. And thank God we had a reservation on the ferry. We might have been setting camp on the beach if we didn’t! ;)