WEST FORK DOSEWALLIPS TRAIL Length 9.1 mi/14.7 km Access Dosewallips Trail USGS Maps The Brothers; Mount Steel Agency Olympic National Park This route, also known as the Anderson Pass Trail, provides the shortest, quickest approach by trail to Mount Anderson, the dominant peak of the eastern Olympics. The trail begins on the Dosewallips Trail at Dose Forks (1800 ft/549 m), in a setting of tall firs, about a half-mile below the confluence of the two branches of the Dosewallips River, and follows the West Fork to Anderson Pass. Good campsites arc located at Dose Forks along the north bank of the river, upstream from the bridge. The trail crosses the Dosewallips, where sunlight streaks down, glinting the waters, then meanders through forests of Douglas fir having an under story of rhododendron, huckleberry, and salal. During early summer the pink rhododendron blossoms accent the dark green of the conifers; bunchberry and queen cup bead lily carpet the forest floor. The trail crosses the West Fork (0.9 mi/1.4 km; 1800 ft/549 m) just above Dose Forks, the point where the North Fork and the West Fork come together. Both streams flow through steep-walled canyons-the West Fork through a slot carved in thick sandstone beds turned on edge. The high footbridge overlooks the confluence of the two streams, where the clear waters of the West Fork mingle with the milky ones of the North Fork, the latter carrying a heavy load of glacial silt from the Eel Glacier on Mount Anderson. On the north side the trail climbs through stands of fir and hemlock, but the soil is thin and stony, and the trees are not large. After an extended climb, the trail reaches a high point (2429 ft/740 m), where one can look across the West Fork. The route then descends sharply to Big Timber Camp (2.7 mi/4.3 km; 2300 ft/701 m), located by the river in a stand of Douglas fir. Vine maple forms an under story beneath the old firs, which are not as large as the name would imply. Beyond this camp the rhododendrons disappear, and the up-and-down trail meanders through a dark forest, where pads of moss cover the ground, bunchberry and queen cup bead lily blossom in June, and vine maple and devil's club grow in the damper places. Excellent campsites are located at Diamond Meadow (5.3 mi/8.5 km; 2692 ft/ 821 m), a pleasant place among the tall trees, where the hiker can listen to the birds singing and the river rushing by. The small glade-kept free of timber by avalanche snow that melts late in the season-is overgrown with cow parsnip, vanilla leaf, and huckleberry. About a half mile beyond the meadow, the trail crosses the West Fork via the Lower Log Bridge, then steepens as it climbs up the now canyon like valley, ascending what geologist Rowland W. Tabor calls a riser in a ladder created by an alpine glacier during the Ice Age. The river becomes a series of cascades thundering down a narrow defile, swirling among sandstone boulders left by the glacier. At the Upper Log Bridge the trail re-crosses to the north side and comes out into Honeymoon Meadows (7.5 mi/12.1 km; 3527 ft/1075 m), where the terrain flattens to form the step of the ladder. The origin of the name Honeymoon Meadows is disputed. One account alleges the Edward Diamonds, who were married on Christmas Day in 1885, honeymooned here; another, that the A. E. Smiths did so in 1925. The second version is more plausible because no trail existed in 1885 and the country would have been snowbound in December. The open meadows here are covered with lush grasses and clumps of false hellebore. At their western edge, the LaCrosse Pass Trail (7.6 mi/ 12.2 km; 3627 ft/1105 m) branches to the left. Beyond this junction, the trail ascends sharply through sub alpine forest to Anderson Pass Shelter (8.3 mi/13.4 km; 4100 ft/1250 m), known to hikers as Camp Siberia or Little Siberia because cold winds sweep down from the Anderson Glacier. However, it is a luxury hotel compared to the climbers' high camp at Flypaper Pass, 2400 feet higher up the mountain. The nearby marshy spots are colorful in early summer with the blooms of shooting stars, marsh marigolds, and avalanche lilies. Winter wrens flit through the bushes, frequently pausing to trill their simple song. West of the shelter, beyond a small stream, piles of big boulders extend up the mountainside, but the trail avoids them by turning north and climbing through the forest. An alpine pool at Anderson Pass (9.1 mi/14.7 km; 4464 ft/ 1361 m) mirrors the surrounding peaks, where one can look down the Dosewallips and see Mount Constance and Warrior Peak on the horizon. Here the trail merges with the Enchanted Valley Trail, the route coming up from the East Fork Quinault River, and the Anderson Glacier Trail, which climbs part way up the mountain.