Staircase to La Crosse Lake

In September 2017, we did a six-day, five-night backpack trip in Olympic National Park, Washington. We started at Staircase, located in the southeastern corner of the park. John was 64 and I was 63.

This hike starts out in the woods and crosses lovely streams …

… as it threads its way through the rainforest. This was such a treat and quite a contrast to our previous backpack trips that spring in Grand Canyon.

It was late September, and I had hoped to see some fall color, but it first came from an unexpected source: these bright red roots along a stream.

The vine maples were just beginning to turn …

… but colorful fungi provide year-round contrast to the innumerable shades of green in the rainforest.

The weather on the Olympic Peninsula is always a little iffy, and the sky was unsettled that evening. We are always on the lookout for lightweight and effective rain gear. On this trip, we brought our new lightweight cagoules and lightweight rain chaps. This trip would undoubtedly provide us with our first good opportunity to test our new rain system.

Unfortunately, after setting up our camp, John made a discovery. He had accidentally grabbed his short, hoodless running jacket rather than his cagoule (they are the same color). He tried to figure out a way to make it work. His thought was that if he wore his wind shirt with the hood up, with his cap (or my extra warm hat) under it, his head would stay warm enough while we were moving.

We considered all options, including just turning around and hiking out the next day, but neither of us wanted to do that. That night in our tent, we both racked our brains and mentally went through every piece of gear we had with us. I mentioned I had a Mylar emergency bag, and John realized he could cut it in half and use it as a rain kilt to protect his lower torso.

We headed out in welcome sunshine the next morning …

… and started a steep climb out of the valley. The Olympic Mountains are “young” mountains and are quite steep. We were both carrying bear canisters, so our packs were heavier than on our earlier trips that season, and it showed in our slow pace.

When we reached First Divide …

… we stopped briefly to take in the views …

… before heading down the other side.

We were back among the giant trees and headed to Upper Duckabush to camp.

Upper Duckabush Camp is adjacent to a lovely stream.

We headed out again the next morning, making the steep climb out of the valley …

… and through the forest.

However, the views from higher up were more than worth the effort it took to get there.

While we can enjoy woodsy hikes and trails through meadows …

… we both love mountains!

We love seeing jagged peaks …

… and in this, the Olympic Mountains don’t disappoint.

We did a short side trip over to Heart Lake, but we didn’t plan to stay there as our destination was La Crosse Lake.

We continued along the trail until John was startled when a large black head popped up over a rise in the trail directly ahead of us. A black bear had been making his way along the trail in our direction, eating blueberries as he went. We all stopped and just stared at each other for a few moments. Then the bear politely veered off to the right to give us a wide berth.

The meadow was full of blueberry bushes laden with fruit, so the bear undoubtedly had no trouble finding another place to resume gorging. It made us happy to see him. He was a beautiful bear and looked fat and glossy.

We saw two more bears in the distance as we approached La Crosse Lake, but they were too far away to photograph.

We could hear elk bugling in the distance and spotted this small herd across the valley. From what we could hear, there were at least two bull elk taunting each other back and forth. It reminded us of the time we were backpacking in Glacier National Park in October 2010 and were serenaded all night by bull elk in rut.

We camped next to La Crosse Lake that night.

We had the lake to ourselves apart from a solitary old bull elk sleeping in the far meadow.

We had been expecting rain, and the next morning we got it. We had originally planned a more ambitious trip that included a loop and camping in Enchanted Valley, but we had since revised our plans so we did not have the time pressure we might have had. The rain would stop briefly, but then start up again, so we spent a leisurely morning snug in the tent listening to the rain and sipping tea.

However, during one break, we decided we had better get moving.

John had fashioned his Mylar rain kilt the night before and now it was time to give it a test drive.

We hiked in the rain for a while, and I found my cagoule and rain chaps to be comfortable and effective.

One big advantage a cagoule has over a parka is the flap in front that goes over your pack’s hip belt, helping to increase ventilation.

John’s makeshift rain gear served him well enough.

We camped that night at Upper Duckabush in the same site we had used before.

The next morning was clear and warm, a nice change from the previous day.

As we hiked out, we did a short side trip into an area known as Home Sweet Home.

This is a lovely meadow …

… that was full of ripe blueberries.

Normally, I am averse to taking food away from wildlife that needs it way more than I do. However, I had made some changes to my backpacking diet that weren’t working out, so I was short of calories. I was hungry and couldn’t resist, but I still felt guilty.

As we started up toward First Divide …

… we paused to take a last look at these mountains.

I was fascinated by the way the sun caused all the water droplets to shimmer like thousands of diamonds. Unfortunately, this photo does not capture the effect, so you will just have to use your imagination.

Back in the valley, we once again crossed creeks …

… and walked through forest …

… past colorful fungi …

… and delicate ferns.

We hiked past more crystal-clear streams …

… and through more trees …

… that were laden with epiphytes.

In the six days since we had begun this trip, it appeared the vine maples had made progress toward attaining their fall glory.

With its temperate rain forests, glaciated mountains, and rugged coast, Olympic National Park offers a unique variety of terrain and opportunities for those willing to do what is necessary to get there.

While this trip ended up being shorter than originally planned, we were happy with it. I still want to see Enchanted Valley, though, so I suppose we will just have to come back here again someday.

All photos from this trip are on Flickr.