The South Fork Stillaguamish river valley was the location of most of my earliest camping/hiking adventures … starting in the late ’50’s – early ’60’s. Verlot and Turlo Campgrounds, Monte Cristo, Big Four and Lake 22. These views are from the trail to Lake 22 … one of the most heavily hiked trails in the Central Cascades. That is due to its relative proximity to Seattle, Bellevue and Everett areas.
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.
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.
Regular readers will notice that I visit the same locations over and over. The North Fork Skokomish area is one of my favorites and I have gone back dozens of times over the years. It interests me to watch the changes to the valley over the years and during the year. Autumn is one of the times when things are changing rapidly.
