North fork Skokomish to 9 stream
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| Bat at Slide Camp |
We went backpacking in Olympic National Park for a change.
Olympic National Park is a vast area that has been set aside just for the enjoyment
of folks who have the means to afford the entrance and camping fees.
I was hoping to get an annual backpacking pass but no dice,
they don't sell them at Staircase, and so I had to pay the nightly fee instead. I was not too
happy about that. But, if I catch the bus next time instead of driving, that will make up
for the extra cost.
We started on the four stream trail and somehow I missed the
bridge, I did not see the arrow on the sign... hmmmm we back tracked to the bridge
and all was well. Just before camp we crossed paths with a ranger. She was a
youngish woman, she was polite and efficient and the encounter was pleasant. She asked to see my permit.
My daughter was dragging at first, then I gave her an mp3
player and I could not keep up with her!
Then the battery went dead. I
need to get a solar charger so she can always have music.
We hiked into Big Log camp. I wanted to show my daughter the
hollow tree there, but first I had to find it, it had been chopped down! Oh no!
But wait, I was on the wrong path. I just did not recognize the place without a
blanket of snow. The big cedar is still there and my daughter wanted to sleep
in it.
I wanted to sleep in the tree too but, I pitched the tarp
tent because I also wanted to sleep without being eaten alive by mosquitoes. In
the evening I discovered that there is a water fall at big log camp. I think maybe
the water level of the creek is too high for waterfall viewing in the winter.
The next morning we packed up and left camp at about 9am
with nine stream as our goal. As a day hiker, I've never been past camp
Pleasant, so I was looking forward to seeing new areas. I was not disappointed;
the area after camp pleasant was very nice, probably nicer than anything before
the bridge over the Skokomish at the start of the six ridge trail.
When we reached nine steam it was very hot and we were tired
and we wanted to swim, but a big man with a big knife came running up to us and
asked us where we were going. This frightened me. What was with this guy?
We
found a very poor campsite at nine stream and we waited there hoping that the
guy was just lunching there and would move along soon so we could take the spot he
was in. But no, he was there for the duration and he began to pitch his tent.
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| Crossing 9 stream on the scary bridge |
So we went up the trail a bit and we were trying to decide
what campsite to take, none of them were perfect. Only one was on the water and
it was too hot and sunny there, we would be sure to get sun burned in that
site. There was a very nice site away from the water, but my daughter had lost
her water bottle so we only had the capacity carry one quart of water, not
enough to even cook dinner with.
We were still deciding where to camp when the same ranger we
saw the day before showed up with my daughter's water bottle in her hand. She
had found the bottle and was going to haul it out. The day before she found my
daughter's deet and had already hauled it out. With two water bottles the decision to take
the camp away from the river was easy.
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| Couple from Chicago |
That evening we met the man with the huge knife and found
out that he was okay, he was just a noob who never thought it might be alarming
for a lone women with a child to be approached in such a way ten miles from a trailhead.
He had
never been backpacking before, so he brought canned chili, bear
spray, a big knife and probably a bunch of other silly stuff "just in
case". Okay, okay, sometimes I pack bear spray too, but it's not for the bears..
That night we sat at the campfire with the noob and with a
couple who had flown in from Chicago just to hike at ONP on their 3 year
wedding anniversary. Must be nice! We yogied some TP off off the nice couple from Chigaco in the morning.
I did not sleep very well, my duaghter kept rolling over onto me an in the night and waking me up.
The next morning we hiked out at about 9am and soon the
couple from Chicago passed us. We were tired so we stopped and took a 5 hour
lunch break at Camp Pleasant. Then at about 4pm we packed up and hiked in to
Spike camp, but Spike camp was just awful with mosquitoes and no pretty water
source. We also checked out the campsites near Madeline creek before we checked out Spike camp and found them to
be very poor.
On the way to spike camp we ran into an older couple who were
headed for big log. The man so was overloaded with stuff that he could not stand
up straight. He wanted to know if I had been to Flap Jack lakes and if the way
was steep. I told him that yes it was steep and he looked to be a bit overloaded
for the hike. I suggested he do a day
hike to the lakes. He suggested that we
camp at Slide camp rather than Spike camp.
Exhausted, we stumbled onward and finally found slide camp and the best campsite ever. Such a pretty campsite! I had never set foot in slide camp
before because it's too close to the trail head for me to want to bother with
it. We had it all to ourselves, it was probably
the best night of our trip. I slept well and the campsite was so pretty and we go to eat all the food.
We saw a flock of bats at bed time and there were ducks on
the water. On the way out at about ten
the next morning we saw the same ranger heading in without a pack but with a
pick axe. We told her that my daughter
had now lost her water bottle cap.
I’m really happy with our ULA packs. At first I thought my circuit was not big
enough for the job, but I think it will be okay as long as I carry the tarp tent
in the outside pocket. Since I am
cooking for two my cook pot is a bit bulky, so the tent has to go on the
outside.
On this trip I carried all the breakfast and dinner and my daughter carried all the lunch stuff.
My base packweight is around 15 pounds. New foods we tried that worked out well, boxed sweet potatoe soup 2 for a buck from the expired food store. I dehydrated the soup and then we had it with rice noodles. We also packed a big bag of chips. One dinner was a no cook meal of home made dehydrated split pea soup that we dipped corn chips into. It was VERY filling.
I planned the food perfectly and we had no food at all by
the time we hiked back to the car. I’ll
pack more food next time.
I'd like to get the dial-a-ride to drop us off at the South Fork Skok and pick us up a the North Fork Skok so I can do a loop.
19 miles with 1,300 feet elevation gain
Things my daughter
lost in this trip:
Deet
Water bottle
Water bottle
cap
Empty
nutella jar
Highlights of the trip:
Bats at
slide camp
Cool breeze
at Eight Stream Bridge
Camp
Pleasant
Slime molds
Nutella
Low points of the trip:
Knife
wielding maniac (an exaggeration)
Mosquitoes
Deerflies
Dirt
Camping fees
Things I wish I had brought with me:
Mosquito head
nets
A cotton
cloth
Hand lens
More TP
More Coffee
More wine
Big heavy
horrible camera that takes great pictures
Silnylon
water bladder for dry camps
My
inflatable sleeping pad
Things I will leave behind next time:
Big heavy
horrible camera that takes great pictures
One of my
extra shirts
One of my daughters
extra coats
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| A Japanese painting showing a misty mountain with trees on it |
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| Slime mold on the prowl at night |
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| Butterfree palace before Camp Pleasant |
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Big banana slug and baby banans slug
with Ryidiadelphus loreus moss |
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| Camp Pleasant |
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| Ripe berries between Camp Pleasant and Nine Stream |
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Dinner at nine steam was two boxed of dehydrated sweet
potato soup with rice noodles and two tablespoons
of veggie oil. I forgot to pack the meat but it tasted
great anway! |
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The Skok near nine stream, I really need my
big camera for these kinds of shots |
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| Our campsite at nine stream |
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8 stream, we ate tortillas with nutella on them both times we crossed
as there was a nice cool breeze here, it was a pleasant place to stop |
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| Lunch at Camp pleasant with tent caterpillars |
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| View at Slide Camp |
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| Moon rise and sunset at Slide Camp |
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| Slide camp |
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| Slide camp bat |
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| Our tarp at Slide camp |
