MOUNT HOPPER TRAIL

Way trail, limited maintenance
Length 6.0 mi/9.7 km
Access North Fork Skokomish Trail
USGS Maps Mount Skokomish; Mount Steel
Agency Olympic National Park

Mount Hopper was named for Roland and Stanley Hopper, two 
brothers who settled on Lake Cushman in the 1890s. The peak 
stands near the head of the North Fork Skokomish River, and 
the trail leading to it begins at a junction (4540 ft/ 1384 
m) with the North Fork Skokomish Trail, just below the 
First Divide. The trail, which receives only limited 
maintenance, is characterized by numerous ups and downs as 
it traverses around the western and southern sides of the 
peak.

At first the trail descends a bit through stands of 
mountain hemlock, then levels and climbs slightly. 
Windfalls are numerous, and they have not been cut out; 
thus one has to clamber under and over logs. The 
undergrowth consists largely of huckleberry. Most of the 
way, the trail alternately traverses forest and patches of 
meadowland. The latter become predominant toward the end, 
and the hemlock changes to subalpine fir. During the summer 
the meadows are wildflower gardens, where beargrass and 
lupine are abundant. The vistas from the open areas look 
across to the peaks beyond the North Fork Skokomish. Mount 
Skokomish (6434 ft/ 1961 m) stands in full view. The tiny 
Skokomish Glacier, the source of the North Fork, occupies a 
depression on its northern slope. Mount Henderson is 
visible to the right.

Beyond a grassy, boulder-strewn meadow, the trail climbs 
sharply, ending at Fisher's Pass (2.0 mi/3.2 km; 5040 
ft/1536 m), which overlooks Elk Basin, the subalpine 
country at the head of Crazy Creek. One can walk from here 
to the summit of Mount Hopper in about an hour by following 
the south ridge. The view of mountains in every direction 
makes it well worth the effort—not to mention the delicious 
Olympic onion, found in abundance on the higher slopes.

Lieutenant O'Neil's scouts named Elk Basin in 1890, when 
they surprised a large herd of elk here and killed about a 
dozen animals. Lying at the southeast base of Mount Hopper, 
this cirque is bounded on all sides except the northeast by 
rugged cliffs. The place is quiet and peaceful, isolated 
from the well-traveled paths. Aside from the wind in the 
trees, or perhaps the bugle of an elk, one hears few sounds 
other than the gurgle of the little streams and the rush of 
the bigger ones down below. The basin has three levels, and 
a game trail along the north side provides the best means 
of going from one level to another. A good camp is located 
on the upper level beneath mountain hemlocks on a knoll 
beside a little stream.

The trail becomes an indistinct way path beyond Fisher's 
Pass and traverses meadowland and subalpine forest as it 
follows the ridge between Mount Hopper and Mount Stone to 
the Great Stone Arrow (5.0 mi/8.Okm; 5350 ft/1631 m). This 
pass is located at the western base of Mount Stone, between 
the headwaters of the North Fork Skokomish and the branch 
of Crazy Creek that heads in the Hagen Lakes. The lakes lie 
on the north side of Mount Stone, and one can see the 
largest one from the pass.

Beyond the Great Stone Arrow, so-called because rocks have 
been placed in the heather to form a directional sign, the 
route crosses talus slopes on the western side of Mount 
Stone, and then climbs to another pass (6.0 mi/9.7 km; 5250 
ft/1600 m) that overlooks Lake of the Angels on the Hamma 
Hamma side of the divide. A rough way path, broken in 
places, then descends the heather-covered slopes to the 
lake.