Category: Valley

Enchanted Valley Trail

Enchanted Valley Trail 1

The Enchanted Valley Trail runs up the East Fork Quinault River valley in the Olympic National Park. It is one of the most heavily used trails in the park. The big attraction for hikers is in the spring and early summer when they hike in to see the abundant water falls (some claim a thousand) flowing off the ridge to the north side of the valley as the snow melts out of the high country. In the summer, many hikers cross the Olympics using the North Fork Quinault trail up to Anderson Pass and then continuing on the West Fork Dosewallips trail. Below is one of the many stream crossing.

Enchanted Valley Trail 2
View from the East Fork Quinault Trail

0

Gray Wolf Ridge and the Upper Gray Wolf Valley

Gray Wolf Ridge and the Upper Gray Wolf Valley

This is taken from the Slab Camp trail out of Deer Park in the Olympic National Park. The valley you are looking directly up is the Upper Gray Wolf. The ridge line on the left side of the image is Gray Wolf Ridge. I was stuck by the regular ridges running down from the main ridge to the right of the Gray Wolf. Cameron Creek runs along the base of that ridge.

1

North Fork Skokomish

Lake Cushman and the North Fork Skokomish Valley

The North Fork Skokomish valley (in the distance, left of center, above) is one of my favorite hiking locations in the Olympic National Park … and a frequent subject in this blog. It’s 12.6 miles (20.3 km) hiking from the trailhead at Staircase Campground to First Divide, the pass between the N Fork Skokomish valley and the Duckabush Valley.

Looking Down the North Fork Skokomish Valley

The photo above is looking back down the valley from just below First Divide. My longest day hike ever was to First Divide (back in the mid-90’s). My feet were very tired by the time I got back.

First Divide Trail Marker
2

Kestner Homestead Nature Walk

Log and Pond

The Kestner Homestead is near the Quinault National Park Ranger Station. Depending on your choice of route (there are several loops), the distance is a couple miles. It is a beautiful spot to appreciate the lush growth of this temperate rainforest.

Overgrown Pond
Kestner Homestead Nature Trail

3

Quinault River Views

Quinault River (Downstream)

I have published shots from this spot before, but I was there last week again and took these from the middle of the bridge that connects the North Shore Road and the South Shore Road. While the river looks well behaved here, it recently washed out the South Shore Rd. That means a longer drive on a road that has foot deep potholes in places to get to the East Fork Quinault Trail. It is also a special treat to visit one of the major temperate rain forest valleys with such wonderful sunny weather.

Quinault River (Upstream)
3

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑