DRY CREEK TRAIL Length 7.3 mi/11.8 km Access FS Road 2451 USGS Maps Lightning Peak; Mount Tebo Agency Olympic National Forest The Dry Creek Trail originally began at Staircase Ranger Station, but the part in Olympic National Park—detached from the remainder by FS Road 2451— is known today as Shady Lane. The trail now begins on the south side of FS Road 2451, just beyond the causeway at the head of Lake Cushman. The route starts as a Cat track in the midst of summer home development that is still under way. The forest is second- growth fir, but huge stumps are scattered through the woods—all that remains of the big firs and cedars that once stood here. The trees were cut when the City of Tacoma built a dam on the North Fork Skokomish in the 1920s, thus enlarging Lake Cushman. Primitive roads branch out in various directions from the bulldozer track, and the trailhead (750 ft/229 m) is just beyond them. As it follows the lake, the trail alternates between skirting the driftwood-dogged shore and traversing the hillside above. Then, beyond a viewpoint where the hiker can look across to Mount Rose, the path starts to climb, and in places it is covered with old puncheon. A spur trail (0.9 mi/1.5 km) goes downhill to the left to Dry Creek (0.6 mi/1.0 km from the junction). The ascent is seemingly interminable as the trail follows the grade of an old logging road. The forest here is composed mostly of alder and maple. After descending to a campsite (3.0 mi/4.8 km; 1543 ft/470 m), the trail crosses Dry Creek— except it is not dry but a shallow stream about 15 feet wide. However, with care one can cross on a wobbly log and slippery rocks. The trail now climbs again, but it is in poor condition and so little used that it is carpeted with thick moss. The path then enters the virgin forest (3.5 mi/5.6 km), consisting of stands of silver fir, west- ern red cedar, and western hemlock, with a little Douglas fir. Deer ferns grow thickly beneath the trees. As it switchbacks, the trail climbs steadily, and at one point the hiker has a good view across Dry Creek Valley to Lightning Peak. The trail then attains the crest of Prospect Ridge (5.5 mi/8.9 km; ca. 3000 ft/914 m). Here one can look both to the north and south, and signs of logging operations are visible ahead as the trail follows the narrow ridge westward through gloomy forests of silver fir and Alaska cedar. Presently, one sees clearcuts in every direction—the hills appear to have been shaved by Paul Bunyan's razor. The trail switchbacks as it follows the ridge until it reaches the pass (6.7 mi/10.8 km; 3650 ft/1113 m) between Dry Mountain and the west end of Prospect Ridge. After topping this gap, the trail—which is now much better— descends into the basin at the head of LeBar Creek, ending where it comes out to FS Road 2353-200 (7.3 mi/11.8 km; ca. 3200 ft/975 m). (See the description of FS Road 23 in the South Flank chapter.) On a weekend all is quiet and peaceful here. The solitude is undisturbed by the grinding of logging trucks or the whining of chain saws. But on weekdays they create a cacophony of sound. The trail formerly extended down to and across LeBar Creek, and connected with the South Fork Skokomish Trail at Camp Comfort, but logging has obliterated that portion.