CAT CREEK WAV TRAIL Way trail, not maintained Length 4.5 mt/7.2 km Access Appleton Pass Trail; High Divide-Bailey Range Trail USGS Map Mount Carrie Agency Olympic National Park This splendid high-country route, noted for rugged terrain and glorious views, extends from Appleton Pass to the High Divide, thus making a semicircle around the headwaters of the Soleduck River. The path was not constructed but tramped out by the feet of trekkers approaching the Bailey Range from the north, following elk trails whenever possible. The trail goes alternately through meadowland and groves of sub alpine trees. Wildflowers are abundant in the meadows, including buttercups, daisies, bistort, lupine, and avalanche lilies. One is also apt to see elk and perhaps an occasional bear. Beginning at Appleton Pass (5050 ft/1539 m) on the Appleton Pass Trail, the trail follows the ridge in a southerly direction, bordered by open meadow on the left, subalpine forest on the right. Oyster Lake (0.2 mi/0.3 km; 5170 ft/1576 m), so called because it is shaped like an oyster shell, is little more than a snow pool lying in a slump or depression near the ridge crest. A campsite is located here among the trees, and water can be obtained from a brook that gushes from a hillside adjacent to a nearby snowfield. The trail steepens as it follows the ridge to a large meadow, then the grade moderates. To the left, or north, a rocky point (5450 ft/1661 m) overlooks Appleton Pass, and the walk to its top is well worth the time. The view is impressive, particularly at sunset. Oyster Lake glimmers like a pool of molten silver, and one can see the switchbacks in the trail leading up to the pass. Beyond them the bulk of Mount Appleton looms over the valleys. The Strait of Juan dc Fuca and the San Juan Islands are visible to the northeast. Ten miles directly south, the crest of Mount Olympus rises above Cat Creek Ridge and the meadows of Soleduck Park and the High Divide. The trail disappears in the big meadow, but the route meanders to a high point (5500 ft/1676 m), and then descends to a saddle at the head of Schoeffel Creek, where the trail again becomes distinct. The path now makes a descending traverse along a timbered side hill to a low point (5150 ft/1570 m), where it crosses a brook. Nor­mally this is the only place where water can be obtained between Oyster Lake and Cat Creek Basin. Here one looks down the headwaters of the Soleduck River. The path then climbs toward Cat Creek Ridge through knee-high grass on steep slopes. The route crosses the divide at Spread Eagle Pass (2.0 mi/3.2 km; 5400 ft/1646 m), so named because a snowfield on the North Slope resembles such a figure. On the south side, the path contours the upper levels of a cirque, the third in a line of seven on the southeast slope of Cat Creek Ridge. At the bottom an oval-shaped tarn glitters in the sunlight. Along the cirques upper rim, the views of Mount Carrie and Cat Peak are splendid. Mount Olympus is also visible, but the west rim of the cirque mostly hides it. The trail then crosses a lateral ridge into the second cirque, which is larger. Here the view of Mount Olympus and the Blue Glacier is unobstructed. One can also see Mount Tom, Mount Carrie, and Cat Peak. The traverse of the second cirque entails crossing heather slopes, then boulder fields, where the hiker must step from rock to rock. The trail disappears but begins again, high on the slope beyond. At this point one should be careful not to be mis­led into taking a game trail lower down the slope. After crossing the next cirque—the third when going south, the first when coming from the High Divide—the trail breaks out into meadows on the northeast slope of Cat Creek Basin, which lies at the head of Cat Creek. The view of Mount Olympus is dramatic, with the basin spread out below. The trail now disappears but one can either circle around to Cat Like, high on the western slope, or descend to good campsites on the basin floor (4.0 mi/6.4 km; ca. 4250 ft/1295 m), where the trail can be found again. Car Lake is also known as Swimming Bear lake (or Swimming Bare Lake, as some would have it) because the motion picture The Olympic Elk filmed by Herb and Lois Crisler, had a sequence that featured a bear swimming in the tarn. Cat Creek Basin covers about 250 acres and varies in elevation from 4250 to 5400 ft/1295 to 1646 m. The basin consists of meadows, heather-covered slopes, and groves of subalpine trees, and it is crisscrossed by a multitude of elk trails and man-made paths. In fact, the)' seem to be everywhere. Wild flowers are abundant, and the displays of beargrass in August are remarkable. The floor of the basin is virtually level—a large meadow covered with heather and grass, surrounded by beautiful stands of subalpine fir and mountain hemlock. Big boulders are scattered about, and dwarf huckleberry is abundant. A creek runs through the middle, and a round pond is located at the western end. Alas, a well-known landmark that stood in the basin for years, the Castle-in- the-Cat, has collapsed. The "castle" was a nondescript shelter built by Herb Crisler in 1944, which he used when photographing elk on the Bailey Range. A way trail leads from the basin floor, first climbing a bit, and then descending to the shelter, which is located in a clump of trees overlooking the canyon. The structure is unkempt, littered with impedimenta, including fruit jars filled with notebooks and sheets of paper upon which visitors have scribbled their names, addresses, and comments. The Civilian Conservation Corps, which built many trails in the Olympics during the 1930s, had a camp in Cat Creek Basin. Consequently, near the pond the route again becomes well defined. A good path climbs out of the basin, alter­nately going through meadows and groves of subalpine trees. The trail then crosses a big meadow to an intersection with the High Divide-Bailey Range Trail (4.5 mi/ 7.2 km; 4500 ft/1372 m).