Buckhorn Wilderness

Saturday Washington time, four of us decide to take a relatively easy hiking trail in the Olympic National Park in an area called Buckhorn Wilderness North. This trail is rated three out of five in difficulty, and considered the easiest trail in the Olympic National Forest. As the weather is beautiful, we, Rexplorer, Capt. CC, John, and Alice, pack up sandwiches from Safeway, snacks, and water, drive from Port Townsend to Sequim, and ten miles on old logging roads to the trail head. This is the same trail head taken by R & C two weeks ago to Royal Basin, except this time we veer left and cross the Royal Creek to hike along the Dungeness River. After signing in at the trail head, along with quite a few hikers already on the trail, we begin our hike.

 

Sign post for our hike into Buckhorn Wilderness as we enter the old growth forest.

 

 First log bridge across the Royal Creek. This is where the trail splits up between the Buckhorn Wilderness and the Royal Basin. This creek is the one that flows along the trail that goes up to the Basin. We will approach toward the Dungeness River. A nice hiker takes this photo for us.

 Walking the plank above the rushing river.

 

 Alice taking a shrimp chip break. 

 Devil's Club. Very thorny with large leaves, looking a bit like the papaya leaves. One would not want to stumble into them, even though these bushes are supposed to have medicinal values. 

 

 Crossing the second log bridge over Dungeness River. 

 The Dungeness River is crystal clear from mountain runoffs, not glacier runoffs.

 Rexplorer, Alice and John resting by a dried creek bed. We are near the destination for lunch.

 Not to neglect the importance of eating a good and healthy lunch, we have brought sandwiches, sliced apples and cucumber, kettle corn, nuts and rice crackers, chocolate and candies. Feast for starving hikers.

 

 We find this little stream along a rocky shore, perfect spot for a picnic. With the sun overhead, and the gentle stream alongside, this is as good as it gets.

 View from our picnic "table".

 An unusual cloud formation.

 The shelter near where we have our picnic. This is a nice little structure for hikers who are caught in a rainstorm. It is very solid and well protected from the elements.

 We take a photo break on the way back.

 Tree Hugger.

 The boys are looking for shrimp in this very calm and deep pool.

 We have to take this "thorn between two roses" picture.

 A poster at the trail head reminding everyone the impact of leaving anything on the trail. The amazing thing is, we find absolutely no trash along the 6.8 miles (round trip) hike, or any of the other hikes we have taken.

 

Buckhorn Peak.

Because of the recent rain, numerous mushrooms appear along the trail, many of them are still pushing their way out from underground. Here is a collection of the more interesting ones we find.  

 

 

 

 

Hurricane Ridge & Port Townsend

This week Handy and Cutie have arrived at Port Townsend to join in a few walks in the neighborhood woods of Fort Townsend and Fort Worden, and a serious hike in the Olympic National Park. 

FORT TOWNSEND

 We note this interesting mushroom in Fort Townsend.

 This state park is just four miles south of Port Townsend. It has some of the virgin evergreen forest with lots of mushroom and fungi growths.

 

Handy gets on his elbow and knees to get a closer look at this mushroom that appears to have been eaten by this little slug at the base of the stem.

Even though it is sunny, the air in the shades of the tall cedars and evergreens is quite chilly.

Handy is dwarfed by this large structure still standing in Fort Townsend. It is an enemy-munition defusing building. Now it has picnic tables on the grounds for campers.

 

FORT WORDEN

 Cutie standing in front of a shaft of sunlight piercing through the afternoon fog at Fort Worden. This fort is just one mile north of Port Townsend. Built in the 1890's as one of three forts to protect hostile navy fleet from attacking Seattle, Tacoma and Everet. No action ever takes place and it is closed in 1953, re-opens as a state park in 1955.

 

 Handy and Cutie on top of the the Fort, looking quite happy and content.

 

HURRICANE RIDGE

 

After an early morning yoga class on Thursday, Handy, Cutie, Rexplorer, and Capt. CC load up heavy jackets, mufflers, hats, totally armed for cold temperature. We pick up four sandwiches from Safeway, with snacks from home, we are ready for the hike. We head toward Port Angeles, stopping at Blynn for a lavender mocha. Yumm. From Port Angeles the road turns to Hurricane Ridge where we intend to have lunch and then drive an unsaved road to Obstruction Point to begin the hike.

As we reach the parking lot to start our adventure, we are surprised at how hot it is outside. Even the breeze is warm. The rangers agree that it is unusually hot. We leave all our warm weather clothes in the car and lighten our load for a "sweaty" trek. At the lodge of Hurricane Ridge, we dig out our sandwiches to fortify ourselves before tackling the hike. The Olympic Mountain Range is visible in the background, some peaks are still snow covered.

 After a nerve-wrecking drive on this narrow, unpaved, washboard road, we arrive at Obstruction Point. Thank goodness Rexplorer is a good driver even as CC white-knuckled all the way. There is still some snow left on the north facing slopes.

 

Wild flowers and snow patches share the mountain sides. The air is quite hazy due to the Wenatchee fires that is affecting air quality all over the state. 

Rexplorer and CC on the trail from Obstruction Point. The trail begins quite mildly, but slowly narrows with loose rocks and steep climb. The view, however, is unbeatable.

Handy and Cutie take a break while R and C continue on the trail. Note the trail snaking up the slope on the left. That is one of the alternative routes one can take. It is nine miles long and steep. We decide not to take that route as it could take many more hours than we have time for. While waiting for us to return, Handy and Cutie see a cougar in the valley below.

We want to reach the ridge overlooking the other side. As the trail is leading further than we have time for, we begin to climb off-trail to get to the top. Not wanting to step on the plants, we choose to scamble our way over the rocks.

CC very happy to have made it to the top of the ridge and able to see down to Port Angeles. We continue our descend over the volcanic rocks back to the trail.

Beautiful valley, endless mountains.

Indian Paint Brush, one of the few bright color flowers remain on the slopes.

Not sure what these fluffy "bottle brush" looking flowers are.

We cannot hike by the snow fields without dropping down the slope to have a closer look. Some of the snow turns red from the plants below. Then instead of enjoying the snow, Rexplorer attacks the photographer with a flying snowball! There is a child in everyone of us...

 

These tall pine trees look like they are wearing skirts. The skirts are very full and green, apparently grown to cover the roots of the trees and preserve moisture.

A large field of red-leaf ground covers. We stop the car to get closer for a better look.

 

There are several hiking trails from the trail head. The one we are on is the Deer Park trail but we have turned around way before reaching Deer Park.

We are happy to make it back on the narrow dusty road to the lodge and return home. The Obstruction Point is a less traveled area as most visitors hike up to Hurricane Hill, starting about a mile from the lodge.

All our walks and hikes are most enjoyable. We give five sneakers to all of them.

It is Saturday in Washington, but Sunday on Saipan, so Rexplorer and Capt. Charlie go on a hike in keeping with the Sunday hike tradition. After some careful consideration in choosing which hike, and there are many, we decide to try a medium distance trail for our first hike this time around.

We get up at 6 for an early start. But by the time we are ready to leave, it's past 8. We have to drive to Sequim, a town about 40 minutes away. It is the start of many hikes. From there we drive on an old logging road for about 10 miles to reach the trail head. There are many cars in the parking lot, a sign that this is a popular trail. We hang our park pass on the mirror, sign in at the register, a must-do for all hikers for making sure everyone makes it back.

Our destination is Royal Basin. It is rated 5 stars for scenic beauty, 4 stars for difficulty. The total distance is 14 miles, with an elevation gain of 2,450 ft., from 2,650 ft to 5,100 ft. It sounds reasonable.

Starting on the Dungeness River Trail, we begin a gentle winding path through tall forest and moss covered fallen logs, we notice this log bridge that leads to Dungeness Trail, we have to take a picture with Rexplorer balancing on the log. We don't cross this bridge, instead we veer to the right and start to follow the Royal Creek on our left. The creek crashes quite loudly and we have to hop over several tributaries that bring water from the mountain to the creek.

 There are many mushrooms, large and small. This fellow looks like spotted stag horn.

 We are bundled up in the beginning of the hike. The temperature is in the 50's at the parking lot. Fortunately we have brought extra clothing which we quickly put on. After four layers, we feel a little warmer, but regret having forgotten the gloves. This is one of several wooden bridges we cross.

 This is part  of the narrow creek, which sometimes is as much as 100 feet below the trail, and sometimes right next to the trail and camp sites.  The trail starts to climb quite steeply.

 This is part of the moss covered ground with many fallen logs sleeping under the mossy blanket.

 In keeping with the tradition of bringing lots of food and snacks, we pack up sandwiches, boiled eggs, kettle corn, rice crackers with peanuts, apple and orange slices, and candies, and spread them out on our faithful tablecloth for a quick 15-minute refueling. At this point, the trail turns rocky and the view opens up. From our rocky vantage point, we can see tall mountains across and deep valley below.

 Remaining glacial in the distant mountains, which is actually not that far from where we are head to. 

 This section of the trail is a bit tricky, as it is covered with fallen talus. Fortunately it is only a short stretch. Rexplorer is plowing ahead, keeping a close watch on the time to keep our pace steady.

 One last log bridge before we arrive at the camp site that is half a mile away from the Royal Lake, our intended destination. Alas, upon checking our time, we realize that if we continue on to the lake and spend any time there, we will not be able to make it back to our car before dark. At this point, we have already hiked for 4.5 hours. We have met many people who are camping at this meadow area and up by the lake. They have to carry large packs with camping and cooking equipment, food, and extra clothes. After chatting with some of them, finishing our sandwich and snacks, we start our trip back down. We figure we will save the lake for next time when we can start the hike earlier.

 On our way down, we stop to admire the view around us. Rexplorer takes this short video to record the scenery.

 One of the mushrooms.

Another mushroom that looks like a puppy's head. We plan to take three hours for the return trip. Going downhill most of the way proves not as easy, with lots of roots, loose rocks, and steep steps. The last two miles are quite a challenge. We drink all the water and eat all the candies before we finally, with a giant sigh of relief, end our 3.75 hours hike back. We sign out at the register, and drag our tired bodies into the car. Our total time is 8.25 hours ant total distance is 13 miles . 

Despite sore feet and tired legs, we enjoy the hike tremendously. We definitely rate it a FIVE-SNEAKER HIKE.