To most climbers I know, Washington’s Olympic Peninsula protrudes like a sore thumb, bereft of the imposing volcanos or the clean granite curtains of the Cascades. The region lacks the solid rock needed for technical climbing and its mountains, while remote, are demure in comparison to their Cascadian cousins. It’s tallest peak, Mt. Olympus, sits at a lowly 188th place in the list of Washington’s tallest peaks.
The ultrarunner in me, however, cannot get enough of the Olympics. It’s some combination of the lack of crowds, that familiar PNW dampness, the ease of high alpine travel, and the proximity to my home— as the crow flies, the front range of the Olympic Mountains rise just 45 miles east of downtown Seattle.
When the stars aligned and my fellow USC students Carson, Kiva, Audrey, Anant and JD were able to meet in Seattle for the same weekend, we set out for the best Pacific Northwest introduction that I could think of: a three day traverse of the Northern Bailey Range.
Day 1: The High Divide
After some convoluted car shuttling, we arrived at the Sol Duc trailhead made our way up, past the Seven Lakes Basin, and out along the the High Divide Primitive Trail.
Since there was some group anxiety about the challenge of the Catwalk—the short class 3 ridgeline between that marks the start of the Bailey Range— we opted to camp early and spend the night on the Southeasten Flank of Cat Peak.
Day 2: The Catwalk To Ferry Basin
Saturday morning, Carson and I took a “quick” run up Cat Peak which actually ended up taking about an hour. When we returned to camp, we were met with an unfortunate group discovery: we had about 50% less food than would be desirable for the next several days.
Oh well… chalk it up to the hazards of tasking the lowest BMI’d group members with the food shopping. Lessons learned, we immediately instated a strict rationing program: all snacking must be preapproved by group consensus.
After the Catwalk– widely agreed to be quite manageable to non-climbers after all– the thin trail sidehills along steep grassy slopes below Stephen Peak. We travelled east on narrow singletrack with the Mt. Olympus Massif soaking up the foreground across the Hoh Valley.
We dropped down toward Cream Lake, hoping to avoid some of the challanging terrain I had experienced previously. This worked, but as soon as we reached Cream Lake we were ensconced by a horde of vicious mosquitos.
We high tailed it up towards Ferry Basin, maintaining a constant manic-type motion to prevent extreme mosquito-caused blood loss.
Once we arrived, the sun was setting and the mosquitos began to abate. We even swam in some of the small ponds–shockingly warm despite snow patches that sat melting nearby.
After a dinner of green curry, we decided to lighten my pack by cracking into the Admiral Nelson, which also happened to be our greatest remaining store of calories.
These lakes are one of the gems of the High Olympics, and it would be a great place to set up a basecamp for a few days. Unfortunately, responsibility necessitated our return, so we savored our single night in the solitude and peace of Ferry Basin.
Day 3: Dodgers Point to the Elwah
Heads pounding, we broke camp at first light, wary of the miles we’d need to cover in order for Carson to get to work on Monday. By now, breakfast was maximally portable (read light) so we were on the trail in minutes.
A quick swim in the lake below Pulitzer enlivened all. After a pause for sno-cone ingestion as Carson and I raced to the top of Mt. P, we carried on.
Due to our limited schedule, our route would take the escape route, dropping off of the Bailey Range and exiting east over Dodger Point. The route gets very washed out and tricky north of Ludden Peak, so the group took a break while Carson and I scouted for the best path.
At Dodger Point, we divvied up the remainder of our food– 4 squares of Ghirardelli 72% dark chocolate, a bag of candied ginger and 1 apple and began the 20 mile on-trail trek back to the car.
Finally we reached the mighty Elwah and consumed our final calories.
Around 11 PM we arrived at the Madison Falls trailhead, absolutely pooped and ready for bed. Carson and I returned to the Sol Duc to retrieve his car, so 2 hours later the group (sans Carson) threw our sleeping bags in the dirt along the Elwah and…..
…woke to the toe of a OLYM ranger’s boot.
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