BAILEY RANGE TRAVERSE Length 15.0 mi/24.1 km Access North-High Divide-Bailey Range Trail via Soleduck Trail or Cat Creek Way Trail South-Elwha Trail and Dodwell-Rixon Pass East-Elwha Trail; Long Ridge Trail West-Mount Olympus traverse (ropes required) USGS Maps Mount Carrie; Hurricane Hill; Mount Queets; Mount Olympus The Bailey Range Traverse, in the heart of the national park, is perhaps the finest high-country route in the Olympics. Although the range is remote, the number of persons making the trek has increased greatly in recent years. This has been due in part to the showing on television of motion pictures about the Bailey Range. The route begins at the end of the High Divide-Bailey Range Trail, where a steep path climbs the side of Cat Peak to the western end of The Catwalk (0.1 mi/ 0.2km; 5300 ft/1615 m). This narrow spine of broken rock is over- grown with contorted subalpine trees that have been gnarled and twisted by the prevailing winds. High on both ends, with its low point in the middle, the arête widens somewhat at Boston Charlie's Camp (0.4 mi/0.6 km; 5200 ft/ 1585 m). Here, at the Mount Carrie end, the backpacker may rest after struggling over the sharp, angular rocks and squeezing through the thick- branched trees. The camp, supposedly named for an early-day mountain man, is a level place beside a pool of stagnant water and, early in the season, a snow bank. The flat spots may be utilized as tent sites, but most people prefer to camp on the meadows ahead, where water may or may not be available. Beyond Boston Charlie's Camp, the way trail climbs steeply, and then breaks out into the grassy meadows on the flanks of Mount Carrie, where wildflowers bloom profusely. The rare white lupine is one of the plants found here. At this point the path divides (0.6 mi/1.0 km; 5500 ft/1676 m). A crude way trail to Mount Carrie goes up; another primitive path contours along the side of the Bailey Range. (Neither trail existed until the late 1970s, when the Bailey Range Traverse became popular. As more and more people made the trek, they created way paths of sorts along various parts of the range.) One can leave the traverse at this point and follow the upper trail to the peak. The ascent requires about an hour, the rough path leading almost to the top (1.6 mi/2.6 km; 6995 ft/2132 m). Mount Carrie's upper slopes consist of snowfields, shale slides, and bands of broken, razor-sharp slate set on edge and streaked with veins of quartz. The vista from this peak is remarkable. One can see, in a single, sweeping glance, the U-shaped Hoh Valley from Mount Olympus to the national park boundary. The valley is clothed with primeval forest as far as the eye can see. On the level bottom- lands the river's channels look like braided strands of molten silver. No sign of civilization is visible in the rain forest below. The panorama also includes the Hoh Canyon, nearly enclosed by the Bailey Range and Mount Olympus. The Carrie Glacier is close at hand; in the distance one can see the Bear Pass ice fields and a number of snow-clad peaks. Beyond the fork in the trail, the traverse route follows a way path along the side of Mount Carrie at approximately the 5500-ft/1676-m level to Eleven Bull Basin (ca. 5.0 mi/8.0 km; 5000 ft/1524 m) west of Stephen Peak. This is the most difficult part of the traverse-the slope is steep, and one must use care because the footing is precarious. At Eleven Bull Basin the hiker has a choice: keep low beneath Stephen Peak, more or less contouring to Cream Lake, or climb up and over the peak (perhaps descending to Stephen Lake to camp). Cream Lake is located at the lower end of Ferry Basin, and the terrain now becomes much easier to negotiate. The route climbs up through the basin past Lake Billy Everett (ca. 8.0 mi/12.9 km; 4800 ft/1463 m) to the stagnant glacier between Mount Ferry and Mount Pulitzer. Except when the fog rolls in, making route finding difficult, the way beyond this point is obvious-almost due south, along the top of the range, crossing the east shoulder of Mount Pulitzer to Pulitzer Pass (ca. 10.5 mi/16.9 km; 5600 ft/ 1707 m). Here a lone tree, all its limbs pointing to the leeward, marks the pass. This is a good place to camp, despite the wind, because it is level and water is available. Beyond Pulitzer Pass the route follows the crest of the range, skirting Mount Childs, then topping Bear Mountain (ca. 13.5 mi/21.7 km; 5819 ft/ 1774 m) near Bear Pass. The way then descends heather slopes to Dodwell-Rixon Pass, where the traverse ends (ca. 15.0 mi/24.1 km; 4750 ft/1448 m). One can exit by traveling down the Elwha Snowfinger to the Elwha Basin and the Elwha Trail-or, for more exciting adventure, descend into Queets Basin, then cross the glaciers of Mount Olympus to the Hoh Trail at Glacier Meadows. No one should attempt the last route except persons who are not only properly equipped with ropes and ice axes but also have the knowledge of how to use them correctly. The attractions of the Bailey Range are varied, and they lure and seduce the dedicated backpacker. The mountains are quiet and peaceful, the stillness broken infrequently by the wind, the whistles of marmots, or the barking of coyotes. At times the peaks are awash in brilliant sunshine; more often, however, fog drifts across the ridges to create eerie patterns among the peaks and crags. Rock, snow, and ice dominate near the crest, but lower down the meadows shelter cold, blue lakes and brooks that flow from sun-cupped snowfields. Bees buzz in the heather, hawks soar overhead, and elk and bear roam the upland. This is the backbone of the wilderness Olympics, where from high vantage points the mountains appear to circle upon themselves, ridges and canyons extending for miles in every direction.