NORTH FORK SKOKOMISH TRAIL Length 15.6 mi/25.1 km Access FS Road 24 USGS Maps Mount Olson; Mount Skokomish; Mount Steel Agency Olympic National Park The major trail that parallels the North Fork Skokomish leaves the valley at Nine Stream and climbs over the First Divide to the Duckabush River, where it merges with the Duckabush Trail. Except for the first few miles, where the trail follows the east side of the river, the route coincides with that taken by the O'Neil expedition in 1890. The trail begins at the Staircase Ranger Station, where FS Road 24, the Jorsted Creek Road, now ends (800 ft/244 m). The road formerly extended another 4 miles, but this section was closed in 1973 because it was difficult to maintain. The old roadbed is now considered part of the trail. Beyond the ranger station the trail climbs to a point that overlooks the river. Steep mountains clad with virgin forest border the valley, and the river meanders on the bottomlands. During early morning and late afternoon, the trees cast dark shadows across the sun splashed Skokomish. The trail then descends to Slate Creek (0.5 mi/0.8 km), which is spanned by a foot log. Slides in the early 1990s destroyed I the bridge that was located at this point. The old road now goes through majestic stands of virgin forest-chiefly Douglas-fir, red cedar, and hemlock, intermingled with grand fir and deciduous species such as cottonwood, bigleaf maple, alder, and vine maple. Many of the Douglas-firs and cedars are 6 to 8 feet in diameter, more than 250 feet tall, and over five hundred years old. The undergrowth is luxuriant-much like the west side rain forests-consisting of sword ferns, salmonberry, devil's club, and other moisture- loving plants. During April and May, trilliums are conspicuous, and the fairy slipper orchid lurks in the greenery on the forest floor. At 1.0 mi/1.6 km a side path branches left and leads to the Rapids Bridge, which arches over the river between two large rocks. The bridge formerly made possible a 2-mile loop trip, which began and ended at the ranger station. However, the bridge cannot presently (1999) be used to cross the river because it was severely damaged by storms during the winter of 1998-99, and whether or not it will be rebuilt is not known at this time. As it parallels the river, the old roadbed footpath climbs into the district blackened in 1985 by the Beaver Fire, a conflagration that destroyed 1400 acres of virgin timber, mostly on this side of the river. Many of the trees were more than four hundred years old. The junction with the Mount Lincoln Way Trail (2.4 mi/3.9 km) was destroyed, located as it was in the midst of the devastated area. The National Park Service does not plan to rebuild the Mount Lincoln Trail. The trail goes through the fire-blackened forest as far as the Flapjack Lakes Trail (3.7 mi/6.0 km; 1475 ft/450 m). The old roadway ends just beyond this junction. The path then contours the mountainside, traversing stands of fir, cedar, and hemlock untouched by fire. This section is bordered by huckleberry bushes, and in midsummer, when the berries ripen; hikers make slow progress because they often stop to sample the fruit. The river, lost to sight below, makes its presence known by a constant roar, and one can also hear the rush of the larger tributaries. The trail crosses Madeline Creek, where clumps of deer ferns make a fine display, then Donahue Creek, the next major stream. Near this creek a large fir that fell across the trail during the 1970s was 540 years old, indicating the tree was growing when Columbus set sail across the Atlantic. This fir was typical of many that stand in this area. At the next intersection (5.5 mi/9.0 km; 1500 ft/457 m), the Black and White Lakes Way Trail climbs steeply to the right, and a well-beaten path to the left descends to Big Log Camp, a popular site on the banks of the river. Beyond this junction, the trail traverses a flat covered by large cedars and firs, then crosses the North Fork Skokomish. Here the river, narrowly confined between rock walls, is deep, swift, and clear. On the west bank, the Six Ridge Trail branches to the left (5.9 mi/ 9.5 km; 1475 ft/450 m). The trail now coincides with the route of the O'Neil expedition as it follows the west side of the river. The forest alternates with glades overgrown with thickets of salmonberry and devil's club, and occasionally the path traverses bottomland, where maples are festooned with ferns and mosses. The flats are miniature examples of the rain forests found in the western Olympic valleys. Aptly named Camp Pleasant (6.7 mi/10.8 km; 1600 ft/488 m) is located among the maples on a sunny, breeze-swept spot by the river. Beyond this camp giant firs shade the trail, but near Eight Stream one can look up the river and see Mount Steel. Between Eight Stream and Nine Stream, the trail alternates between forest dominated by ancient firs and small glades grown up with willow, slide alder, salmonberry, and ferns. The trail then crosses Nine Stream, a major tributary that flows down from the snowfields on Mount Duckabush. On warm summer afternoons it becomes a brawling torrent. Camp Nine Stream (9.6 mi/15.5 km; 2000 ft/610 m) is located on the north side, where the O'Neil expedition had one of its major camps. At this point the trail begins to climb, switchbacking through stands of fir toward the First Divide, the watershed between the Skokomish and Duckabush Rivers. After about a mile, the large forest growth is left behind, replaced by higher altitude species, including silver fir. Two Bear Camp (11.6 mi/18.7 km; 3800 ft/1158 m) was named in 1924 by George Conaway who was the foreman of the crew that built the trail. Every morning when they were working on this section, the men saw two bears in the meadow above, so Conaway suggested they call it Two Bear Camp. Since that time the meadow has grown up with slide alder and salmonberry. The camp is located beside a small stream, not far above Canaday Cataract, which was named for Lewis Canaday, who led a party of backpackers across the Olympics about 1950. Beyond Two Bear Camp, the trail breaks out into an open area covered with a rank growth of slide alder, willow, and salmonberry, then climbs through meadows filled with colorful masses of wildflowers-lupine, columbine, valerian, bluebells, Columbia lily, thistle, bistort, arnica, and marsh marigold, to name a few. The largest meadow, located just above a little canyon, was the site of the O'Neil party's Camp Number Ten. Camp Lookabout (12.4 mi/20.0 km; 4300 ft/1311 m), just below the First Divide, was popular with visitors in the 1890s and early 1900s. At this point the old O'Neil Trail leads left, or northwest, to North Pass, where the expedition crossed the divide. Hikers sometimes mistake this abandoned path for a continuation of the North Fork Skokomish Trail, but the latter turns right at this point and contours beneath the ridge to a junction with the Mount Hopper Trail (12.7 mi/20.4 km; 4540 ft/1384 m). Numerous wildflowers, including the rare white bog orchid, bloom with lavish abandon here, and the trail, now in open meadow where avalanche lilies nod in the vagrant breezes, goes by a small tarn, then tops the First Divide (12.9 mi/20.8 km; 4688 ft/ 1429 m). One can look down from this point to Home Sweet Home Creek and across the upper Duckabush to White Mountain and Mount LaCrosse, which are scarred by avalanche chutes. On warm, clear days this is a pleasant place, but during storms the wind surges mightily here, and one must seek shelter from the driven rain. The trail switchbacks down the North Slope, then crosses Home Sweet Home Creek at the edge of a lovely subalpine meadow. On the far side a branch path leads across the flat, grassy expanse to Home Sweet Home Shelter (13.5 mi/21.7 km; 4198 ft/1280 m). The basin, recessed on the northwest side of Mount Hopper, is often covered with snow until late July, but after the snow disappears it is blanketed with avalanche and glacier lilies. Later in the season, lupine and buckwheat make equally showy displays. Mount Steel and Mount Hopper overlook the basin, and when the weather is stormy the clouds roll over North Pass from the Skokomish side. They dance across the meadow, swirling in surrealistic patterns, swooping here and there, coming down and touching the ground at times, then leaping high, like youthful gods gamboling in sheer delight. Beyond Home Sweet Home, the trail descends through stands of large Alaska cedar, western hemlock, and silver fir. The route traverses above the creek, which is hidden by the dense forest, then crosses a slide. Below this point the route enters the Douglas-fir forest and descends to a junction with the Duckabush Trail near Camp Duckabush (15.6 mi/25.1 km; 2695 ft/821 m).