I really like watching valley fog up in mountain valleys as it changes and moves up the valley. It can be a constantly changing show. This is the North Fork Skokomish in Olympic National Park in November … this time of year (February) this same area can be a challenge to access due to snow.
In my last post I talked about a trip we took up the Staircase Rapids Trail along the North Fork Skokomish in Olympic National Park. This was a section of the rapids … where they are not quite so dramatic. But this spot gives a view up valley and the frost was covering the rocks along the bank (needs a close look in the photo). We hiked up to the bridge crossing the river and turned around and hiked back. The image below is taken from the middle of the bridge.
We took a trip down to the North Fork Skokomish area this last weekend and parked just outside the Olympic National Park boundary … since the road was blocked off at that point. There is a nice forest service day use park there (but it’s small). It’s a mile and a half up a blacktop road to the Staircase Ranger Station and Campground … and we brought along our bikes. It was a nice ride (i.e. flat) and once we got to the campground, the road ended and we hiked up the river for a mile and a half, to the Staircase Rapid bridge. A beautiful winter day … lots of folks out enjoying the sun … but we were the only bikes. There were a lot more cars parked along the road than were day hiking. I’m sure there were several parties winter backpacking … much heartier than I.
The image below is just by the campground where we left the bikes.
The North Fork Skokomish valley has some of my favorite hikes. The starting point is at Staircase Ranger Station and Campground at the southeast corner of Olympic National Park and access is open year round … except when the snow has closed the road. But since the elevation is less than 1000 feet (305m), that isn’t too often. The rapids are striking enough that they have built a loop trail of about two miles starting from the ranger station and crossing the river on a very nice bridge about a mile up the river. The image below shows a section of that trail.
I have visited the Staircase area of the Olympic National Park probably more than any other location in the park. My first visits were as a teenager, back in the mid-sixties. It has changed quite a bit in the last 60 years or so. Roads have been closed. Immense trees have fallen. New bridges (including more than one at one location, after nature removed one that had replaced an old wooden bridge). But in many ways the area hasn’t changed much. It’s still as beautiful as ever. The river is the North Fork Skokomish.