UPPER GRAYWOLF TRAIL Length 12.9 mi/20.8 km Access Lower Graywolf Trail: Cameron Creek Trail USGS Maps Maiden Peak; Wellesley Peak; Tyler Peak Agency Olympic National Park The Upper Graywolf Trail begins at a junction (2125 ft/648 m) with the Cameron Creek Trail and the Lower Graywolf Trail, not far from Three Forks. The trail leads south, along (he east bank of the river, climbing gradually through stands of fir, hemlock, and cedar. Because it is not a glacial stream, the Graywolf River is clear, and its swift waters make a chain of cascades, rapids, and waterfalls, with deep, clear pools intervening. The riverbed is filled with large boulders, and fallen trees often span the stream. At Nameless Camp (1.0 mi/1.6 km) the trail crosses the river to the west bank and climbs high above the stream in order to get by a big slide. The trail then closely follows the river and ascends to a bench, where a few old firs, the survivors of an ancient forest, stand among the hemlocks. The undergrowth here is sparse, the ground covered by thick pads of emerald-green nuns. Beyond Camp Ellis (2.7 mi/4.3 km; 2900 ft/884 m), which is located among tall cedars and hemlocks, the trail winds its way through the forest, then traverses an area ravaged by avalanches. Here it climbs above a deep ravine carved by a creek that cascades down the cliffs in a double waterfall (one above the other). The growth of slide alder is thick, but one can look up and down the valley and also across to a silver forest-a grove of fire-killed trees-high on the far mountainside. The path then enters the track where an avalanche swept down to and across the river, demolishing trees on the opposite slope. Leaving the devastated area, the trail again makes its way through stands of fir and cedar. Patches of snow, protected from the sun, remain until late summer in shaded places. Falls Shelter (5.4 mi/8.7 km: 3900 ft/1189 m) is located near the river but distant enough that one can hear the "river voices." This is an illusion often experienced in the wilderness, especially by the solitary hiker-momentarily mistaking the chatter of a stream for the indistinct murmur of people. At this point one can find the Cedar Lake Way Trail in the fringe of trees near the shelter. The heavy forest growth ends in this vicinity. The trail crosses Cedar Creek, and then alternates from one side of the river to the other as it winds upward through stands of subalpine trees. The ground cover is luxuriant, well watered by numerous little streams. Consequently, wildflowers are abundant: Columbia lily, Sitka valerian, thistles, arnica, lupine, and daisies. Buttercups and shooting stars bloom alongside the melting snowdrifts. Again one can hear the river voices as the trail goes back and forth through meadowland and groves of subalpine trees, where in early summer the path is likely to be hidden by snow. After climbing through stands of Alaska cedar, the trail crosses the river again, but the stream is now little more than a creek. The path climbs steeply, with many switchbacks, up the west side of the valley, breaking out into open country cooled by the breezes that descend from Graywolf Pass. (A cross-country route to Cedar Lake, an alternative to the Cedar Lake Way Trail, leaves the trail here, at the head of a little gorge, and climbs west to the divide. The ascent over heather slopes and snowfields is steep but not difficult. The route goes by the upper of three lakes lying between the ridge and the river, then climbs to the low point in the ridge and descends meadowland to Cedar Lake.) The trail now crosses the river again-the fifth and last time beyond Falls Shelter-and enters the meadows of Graywolf Basin, where tiny brooks tumble over rock ledges as they rush madly down the mountainsides. The views are both impressive and expansive. Northward one can look down the Graywolf Valley toward the Strait of Juan de Fuca, while directly east The Needles cap the ridge that extends north from Mount Deception. The southwestern skyline is a mass of rocky peaks splotched with snowfields. The meadows are made colorful by a sea of widowers: Sitka valerian, lupine, common bistort, daisies, gentians, elephant's head, paintbrush, and red mountain-heather. They do not all blossom at the same time, but over the course of several weeks. During late summer the plumed seed pods of the anemone wave in the wind. As it crosses snowfields at the head of the Graywolf, the trail climbs to a little muddy tarn, then leaves the meadowland behind and ascends barren talus to Graywolf Pass (9.5 mi/15.3 km; 6150 ft/1875 m). This gap is flat enough for camping, but cold and windy, and snow must be melted for water. Nevertheless, it is a spectacular viewpoint. On warm, sunny days a stiff breeze from the south is invariably present. The view back to the north looks down the Graywolf-across the meadows to the timbered lower slopes. The upper Dosewallips Valley is to the west, bounded by several high peaks-Claywood, Fromme, Sentinel, and Wellexley. Mount Anderson rises beyond the latter, if one leaves the pass and scrambles a bit along the East Ridge. Lost Peak and Mount Olympus can be seen. Between Olympus and Anderson, the snow-clad peaks surrounding Elwha Basin are visible in the distance. Much closer to hand, to the east, are Deception, Constance. Mystery, and Little Mystery, with Gunsight Pass between the last two. The vast sweep of the Dosewallips is to the south; The Brothers are on the horizon. The trail then descends to the Dosewallips via a series of seemingly endless switchbacks. The trail is well laid out, however, and not really steep. At first it goes through open country, where it crosses meadows that nature has landscaped with groves and solitary specimens of subalpine fir. Here the view of Mount Deception and the two Mysteries, across the U-shaped valley of Deception Creek, is notable. One can hear the muffled sound of the Dosewallips and now and then the shrill whistle of a marmot. Surprisingly, little streams flow across the trail throughout the summer. This south-facing slope is well exposed to the sun; consequently, during the fall the huckleberry bushes turn flaming red and purple. So, too, the mountain ash. Below the meadows the trail descends through forests of western white pine and Alaska cedar, and one can look down the Dosewallips from several points and see Piros Spire in the distance. About 2 miles below Graywolf Pass the trail enters the Douglas-fir forest, coming to a junction with the Dosewallips Trail (12.9 mi/ 20.8 km; 3600 ft/1097 m) between Camp Marion and Bear Camp.