SKI'S INFO & PHOTOS - QUEETS RIVER TRAIL Click on scrolling photos for full version.......Mousing over photos will provide location info.... OR CLICK HERE and go directly to alternate display of photos. Hope information below enhances your hike. PLEASE feel free to contact me by CLICKING HERE SKI Below are my notes from my last trip up the Queets River Trail - late September, 2003. Most of photos below and on my PHOTO PAGE are from this trip. 09/27....depart trail head 12:10 pm. arrive Smith Place 2:40 pm. Temp mid-80's/clear/sunny. There is a school of salmon lolling in the pool outside my tent. Heron fishing across river. 09/28....fog all morning. clear by noon. weather clear/sunny. mid-80's again. Salmon are still in pool in front of me. Saw one couple on gravel bar across river, otherwise nobody else here. Solo bull elk wandered across river right in front of me-apparently near-sighted. Heron still fishing in front. Cloud bank rolled in just after dark at 8:00 pm. 09/29....fog/cool morning. tried to burn off, but fog persists. Hiked out 2:30pm. Slow walk down. Four river otters playing in river 1/2 mile up from trail head. Cougar on road at Salmon River on way out. Rain from Hwy 101 to Amanda Park- just beat rain out! The Queets River Road leaves Hwy 101 and follows the Queets River 13.2 miles to the trail head. There is a campground at the end of the road. There are pit-toilets, but NO water. Get a good filter and filter river water. The Queets River Trail begins on the north bank of the river, and accessing the trail requires fording the Queets, which is cold, fast, and often deep. The rocks are covered with a gray clay and are extremely slippery. UNFASTEN all pack straps before crossing. If you go down with a pack, the river will consume you. The first 2 miles of the trail go through dense rain forest. There are giant Sitka Spruce and Big-Leaf Maples along the way. The lower end of the trail goes through a low, marshy area, and there are salmonberries all along the way in early summer. At 2 miles the trail breaks out into Andrews field, a large clearing offering a view of Kloochman Rock and a great blackberry patch. The trail goes another half-mile through forest, where at 2.5 miles the "Big Fir" trail takes off on the north side of the trail, at Coal Creek. The Queets Fir is the largest Douglas Fir in the world. Maybe not the tallest, but overall still the largest. It is 221 feet tall. The top is broken off, and it is 4 feet in diameter at the top. The "Big Fir" trail is a 2/10th mile spur trail which takes off from the Queets River Trail at 2.5 miles, at Coal Creek. Many of the other firs and hemlocks in the immediate surrounding area have blown over in recent years, allowing one to see the top from different vantage points along the trail. The "Big Fir" is an easy in-and-out day-hike, round trip 5.7 miles. It requires fording the Queets river, which by mid-July is normally down to about 18"-24". Two years ago I met a man in his mid-80's, who was leading his 3-year-old grand-daughter up to see the big tree. The first two miles of the trail are through temperate rain forest. There are lots of giant Sitka Spruce and Big-Leaf Maples along the way. In early summer, there are salmonberries all along the way to Coal Creek. At 2 miles, the trail breaks out into Andrews field, which offers a view of Kloochman Rock and a great blackberry patch. The trail goes back into the forest on the other side of the clearing. The "Big Fir" trail is a half-mile past the clearing. Past Coal Creek, the trail continues through the forest, sometimes offering views of the lower Queets and Sam's Ridge on the opposite bank. At 4.2 miles there is a junction with the old "Lower Crossing Way Trail", which branches off and drops down a short slope. There is a nice campsite there on a bench, back in the trees away from the river. The trail then cuts away from the river, and enters deep forest. There's a slight bit of elevation gain at about 4.5 miles as the trail winds up onto a bench (... a narrow strip of land interrupting a declivity and/or a level elevation of land along a shore or coast, especially one marking a former shoreline.). Usually the trail through this section is very muddy, as the forest floor never dries out under the canopy. The trail drops back down to the river just below Spruce Bottom, where the river is full of huge polished rocks and deep azure pools. Spruce Bottom, at 5 miles, has two nice campsites along the river. Over the last few years, the gravel bar itself has become a fairly popular campsite. From Spruce bottom, the trail cuts back into the forest, and winds up and down another mile, to a junction with the old "Upper Crossing Way Trail" at 6.0 miles. There are a couple fair campsites on the north bank just downstream, hidden in the willow out on the gravel bar in front of a slow-moving pool just downstream from Smith's Place. From the junction at 6.0 miles, the trail continues into the forest, winding up and down. The trail drops back down to the river bottom just shy of Tshletshy Creek, at 7 miles. There are a couple nice campsites on the north bank near the mouth of Tshletshy Creek, the most popular being one right off the trail under a huge maple. From Tshletshy Creek, the trail continues on through forest, well back from the river. There's a small stream at about 8 miles one has to wade, as the trail continues on into Harlow Bottom, a wide, flat area dominated by huge Sitka Spruce. There ARE campsites along the river if one knows where to look, but they're few and far between, and a lot of trouble to get to. The trail crosses Harlow Creek, and then Bob Creek ( usually dry ) at about 10 miles. Above Bob Creek, the trail breaks out again to the river, and follows the river upstream, alternately cutting back in to the forest, then back out into small meadows or alder flats. There are beautiful campsites through this stretch of trail. Above Bob Creek, the trail becomes increasingly difficult to find. The blow downs the Queets is notorious for can obliterate a trail, and one can spend hours wandering back and forth searching for a cut piece of wood or a remnant of flag tape. The elk traces through the meadows can also easily lead one off-trail in an instant. The trail heads back into the forest, away from the river, and climbs up along the side of the ridge. One can hear the Queets roar several hundred feet below. The trail then turns 180° and heads back down to the river bottom, and continues upstream, sometimes right along the edge of the bank, which is undercut by the Queets through this stretch. The trail traverses a steep bank, which can be treacherous, and drops down to Paradise Creek, a crystal-clear stream which is usually waist-deep there. There's a few nice spots for camping near the mouth of Paradise Creek, at about 14 miles. From Paradise Creek to Pelton Creek Shelter at 16.2 miles, the trail becomes more difficult to follow. The last 1/2 mile of trail is virtually non-existent: stay to center of alder flat until shelter is in view, up and away from the river. The shelter itself isn't suitable for camping. There are a couple nice areas in the immediate area in the alder flats, or under the maples. The trail ends at Pelton Creek Shelter, although one will find a well-worn path wandering a bit farther up, which peters out after about a half-mile, just shy of the mouth of Alta Creek. The Queets River above Alta Creek takes a turn to the north, and the valley narrows considerably, the ridge walls becoming increasingly steep as one progresses upstream. The river becomes increasingly ferocious as it tears through huge log jams and deep pools. While the scenery can be spectacular, the Queets upstream from Pelton is wild, remote, and unforgiving. It is not a place for novices or daredevils. The Queets Valley is known for its forest, and its wildlife. The 13 mile road is a destination-site in and of itself, and huge specimens of Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, and Big-Leaf Maple are there for the seeing. There are herds of elk up and down the Queets, and they are often seen along the road. Both cougars I've seen on the Queets have been on the road also, fortunately. There are also lots of bears, coyotes, snowshoe rabbits, otters, deer, salamanders, and slugs. But mostly, there are bugs. Giant, attack-trained, jungle bugs which harry, harass, bite, and sting. The deer-flies can be relentless and maddening. Don't forget the bug repellent, and avoid the yellow-jacket nests if possible. If you want to see wildlife camping up on the Queets, pack a stove and a candle and forego the fire. A small campfire will smoke up the valley a half-mile in each direction, and spook off everything on four legs. Be quiet at twilight. Sit still at dawn and listen and watch. For all practical purposes, the Queets trail ends at Pelton Creek. Hee-Hee Creek is a few miles upriver, and several river crossings and a lot of bush-whacking are required to get there. It is the first point at which the Valhallas are visible from the Queets. The Queets River becomes increasingly ferocious as one progresses upstream from Pelton. The "Alice in Wonderland" photo is the Queets trail at approx. 6.5 miles. I just happen to really love that particular little stretch of trail. The "Upper Crossing Way Trail" actually starts on the North bank of the Queets, at the sign located at 6.0 miles. ( as of September 2003, the sign had been replaced ). Unfortunately, the crossing point in front of Smith's Place is VERY treacherous, and I would STRONGLY discourage any attempt to cross at that point with or WITHOUT a pack. I have included a hand-drawn map I made last year showing the above described routes. Bear in mind the river changes yearly, so the locations of the log jams will probably be different. The crossing locations, however, have remained pretty much the same during the last 10 years. EASIEST ACCESS TO SMITH PLACE/UPPER CROSSING WAY TRAIL....Follow main Queets trail to mouth of small stream which flows down off the northeast slopes of Kloochman and meets the Queets approx. 1/4 mile above Spruce Bottom. Wade stream ( where it flows next to trail ), follow gravel bar up to next bend and ford river to the very bottom end of the gravel bar on the south bank. There's a small log-jam there on the north bank: cross immediately DOWNSTREAM from it. Water was just over knee-deep 08-04 (gaging station said 592 cfs ) and moving fast- channel is fairly narrow at that spot. ALTERNATE ROUTE....Follow Queets trail to Tshletshy, cut out to gravel bar and follow gravel bar to the bottom of the large pool just below mouth of Tshletshy. Cross just UPSTREAM of large log jam in middle of river (at head of small island), then follow gravel bar down to Smith Place. ( depending on how you hit it, it can be waist-deep, but the water there is real slow ). THE QUEETS UPPER CROSSING WAY TRAIL....The trail sign at 6.0 miles ( on the north bank ) WAS there late last season. From the sign, the way trail heads due east to the river ( about 150 yards ), and picks up again in the north-east corner of the clearing at the Shaube homestead. (Smith Place). The trail meanders back through the forest approx. 1 mile to Tshletshy Creek. IF one knows the route, or is experienced at route finding off-trail, you can still follow the trail ( or rather the parts which remain ) back to Tshletshy creek. For those who are NOT familiar with the area, or do NOT have a compass and a 7.5 Topo, I would recommend staying on the main trail. THE LOWER CROSSING WAY TRAIL....I didn't have time to check the lower end of what remains of this route last season. The trail began at 4.2 miles, where a sign was formerly located. The sign has been removed, so unless one knows the route, the junction there will be hard to discern. There is a nice campsite there on a bench, back in the trees away from the river. The upper end of the trail begins in the south-west corner of the clearing at the Shaube homestead (Smith Place). The first 100 yards of the trail washed into the river a few years ago, making it difficult to find. What little remains of the trail has become so overgrown, and there are so many blow-downs, I was unable to find much of it last year, although I spent the better part of an afternoon trying. MY FIELD NOTES FROM LAST SEASON - AUGUST 5, 2003....Upper Crossing Way Trail: Route is findable. Appears to have seen use (boot prints in mud on trail). Orange markers on trees still mark route to Tshletshy Creek. Lots of blow down/brush. I would not recommend this trail for someone carrying a pack. Definitely not for stock use. LOWER CROSSING WAY TRAIL - FROM SMITH PLACE....First 100 feet of trail has washed out ( bank washed out). Follow elk trace up along washed-out area, then connect to trail. "Trail" is overgrown with huckleberry, lots of blow downs. Saw ONE boot print along way. Followed two "trails" (or elk traces?), both of which petered out after about 1/2 mile. Saw NO markers, NO cut wood. Not really sure if I really even found the "trail", as the elk traces are well-established enough to deceive me. STRUCTURE AT SMITH PLACE....The small Shaube cabin is still standing, amazingly. The rear (east) wall has deteriorated some more, and a few more ceiling beams have caved in. A good snowfall will bring it down most likely. THE SHAUBE HOMESTEAD....As of September 2003, the structure is still standing, although it is in extremely poor condition. The peeled-log ceiling joists have all broken, and the east wall is ready to collapse. I will be surprised if the structure is still standing there next summer. NOTE FROM CATE....December, 2003 we received record snow here so structures may be gone - anyone knowing please advise.) KLOOCHMAN ROCK There is NO ( I mean NONE ) access to Kloochman Rock from inside the Park. There exists NO remnant of the old "Kloochman Rock" trail. I have cleared the "Big Fir" trail the last two seasons, and it is in a different location now than when the "Kloochman Rock Trail" existed. Do not be fooled by maps which still show it as a viable route: you WILL get lost in a hopeless tangle of huckleberry and vine-maple and near vertical slopes. To get to Kloochman Rock, leave Highway 101 and head east on the road to the "Clearwater Correctional Facility" and then onto the road to "Yahoo Lake". NOTE FROM CATE - The Clearwater road junctions with Highway 101 at both milepost 176 and 147 - go to Highway 101 MILEPOST GUIDE for detailed driving directions to this junction. The DNR did an excellent job of permanently blocking the road just above Yahoo Lake, making Kloochman a hike-in destination only. ( I suppose one could try a mountain bike, but the roads are steep, rough, coarse gravel ). At about 3.5 miles, take a right turn onto the C3180 road and follow uphill about 1/2 mile to a landing. The rock is less than a half-mile from the landing. The LAST water runs under the road through a culvert about 2.5 miles above Yahoo Lake. In July 1995 is was cold and clean. You'll need it: that road is STEEP and dusty. I first hiked up to Kloochman Rock in August 1971. I was 17 years old, and wore a pair of blue jeans, a white tee-shirt, a denim jacket, and high-top tennis shoes. I left our camp on the south bank of the Queets ( approx. 3 miles from the trail head ) about 10 am, and returned well after dark. Because of all the dew on the huckleberry bushes on the way back down, I returned to camp soaking wet. Originally the "Kloochman Rock Trail" branched off the "Big Fir" trail, and then crossed Coal Creek. A detailed description of the old trail can be found in older editions of Robert L. Wood's trail guides of ONP. I remember endless switchbacks, and Kloochman playing "peek-a-boo" all the way up as the trail went back and forth up the ridge spur. The top of the rock at that time was barren rock, with a few remnants of steel and cable from the old fire lookout. At the bottom of the rock, on the south side, was a mountain of broken glass, left by countless hikers who'd 'celebrated' their ascents and left the bottles behind. My last trip up to Kloochman Rock was July 15, 1995. It was an incredibly hot day. My timing was perfect: the DNR was doing road work in the area, and had all the roads open that day. I drove to a landing at the end of a logging spur road on the north side of Kloochman Rock. It was an easy 45-minute walk up to the base of the rock, even with the over-size pack I was hauling ( I even carried a tent, thinking I would spend the night on top of the rock ). The rock itself has to be climbed from the north side- there used to be a wooden ladder there, and a rope. Both were rotten, and I scrambled up the rock face to the top. The Park installed a helipad on top of the rock, as well as a relay station for their cell phones and radios. The glint of the steel edges of the helipad can be seen in the sunlight from Andrew's field. In 1971, the view from the top was a 360° panorama of untouched virgin forest. Everything was dark green except the Olympic mountains to the northeast, and the blue haze of the Pacific Ocean to the west. By 1995, the entirety of the Clearwater/Solleks drainages had been shaved clean. The narrow Queets Corridor of dark green was bordered on the north by the bare red mud of the Clearwater/Solleks drainages, and the patchwork clearcuts along Sam's Ridge and Matheny Ridge. The view of Olympus, and up the Queets drainage, was nonetheless spectacular. TSHLETSHY CREEK TRAIL The old "Tshletshy Creek Trail", originally cleared by George Shaube, began at the north-east corner of the clearing at "Smith Place" and followed Tshletshy Creek approximately 16 miles to a junction with the "Skyline Trail" on the Queets/Quinault divide. The original route is described in some detail in early editions of Robert L. Wood's ONP trail guides. The trail was last cleared by the Park Service in 1969. In 1970 or 1971, a good portion of a hillside on the east bank of Tshletshy gave way, wiping out the first portion of the trail. In 1969, the day Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, my brother and I fished up Tshletshy a few miles, to a point where the black canyon walls on both sides of the creek became vertical, and the current too swift for us to continue wading upstream. Over the course of the last 10 years, I've made a few attempts to find remnants of the trail. My efforts were fruitless: the first 1/2 mile of the trail washed away, and what few cut logs remained have become so rotten or are so overgrown with moss they are indistinguishable from the blow-down which litters the ground. In 1992, I met a young man crashing through the brush between Smith Place and Tshletshy. He said he was going to find the "Old Tshletshy Trail". My efforts to discourage him were in vain: he went his way, intent on finding some remains of the "trail". We met up with him 3 days later. He appeared to have lost a fight with a wildcat: all scratched up and disheveled. His answer to my inquiry about the trail was "I've had enough of jungle! I'm gettin' outta here!". During the late summer of 2002, I ran into a party up on the Queets who had camped just above Spruce Bottom. Four of them bush-whacked it to Tshletshy Creek, where they spent the better part of the day searching for some remnant of the old Tshletshy Creek trail. Their efforts were fruitless: they found nothing which even remotely resembled trail, or cut wood, or marker. REGARDING TRAIL DESCRIPTIONS: Please do not be deluded into thinking a dotted line printed on a map constitutes "trail" or "route". I want to make it very clear those old abandoned trails are just NOT there anymore. I've had a lot of hikers ask me about them, and have spent hours trying to talk them out of the "adventure" they were looking for ( trying to find a non-existent trail printed on a map ). There have been a number of people over the last few years who've been plucked out of the Queets by search-and-rescue missions. A father and his 12-year old son tried to find the old "Kloochman Rock Trail" a few years ago, and spent 3 nights up there stuck on the ridge before they were found. A few years back, a woman wandered off the "Skyline Trail" in the vicinity of Kimta Peak: they found her 4 days later wandering down the middle of the Queets on a gravel bar. They're not sure if she dropped into the Tshletshy or Alta drainage, and she didn't remember much when they found her. Years ago, a hiking group from "The Mountaineers" got stuck upriver, trying to get to Service Falls on the upper Queets, about 10 miles above Pelton. Unfortunately, people underestimate the difficulty of the area, thinking they can 'bush-whack' their way through all that salmonberry, huckleberry, vine-maple, and devil's club, and negotiate their way over 8-foot-diameter Spruce blow downs while carrying a pack. It's difficult enough just trying to stay on the trail above Tshletshy, wandering off in search of some sort of "adventure" is a fool's errand." HISTORY OF SMITH HOMESTEAD Oscar Smith bought the homestead from Shaube in 1929. Smith owned a dairy in Tacoma and used the place as sort of a weekend "fishing retreat". There were several structures at the site, including a barn. Smith also added onto the original Shaube cabin. All that remains of the old buildings is a pile of rotting boards on the south side of the cabin. A snowstorm knocked most of the addition down years ago, and the Park Service packed out most of the broken glass and metal. What remains of the original Shaube homestead is in such poor condition it's no longer salvageable. A crew of college students did a "fix up" on it in 1964: that was the last time repairs were effected on the building. EXCERPTS BETWEEN ME AND MY SISTER AND A RESEARCHER ......edited excerpt from letter to my sister....Fri, 25 Oct 2002....A brief description and history is included in "Gods and Goblins- a Field Guide to Place Names in Olympic National Park" by Smitty Parratt (1984). Parratt did extensive research and his information on the Queets area is accurate throughout the book. Unfortunately, by the time Parratt's book went to press, the old "Smith Place" you would remember no longer exists. At present only the original Shaube homestead cabin barely stands (edit) It has unfortunately deteriorated past the point of being salvageable in my opinion. Photo to left is of Smith Place - 1958 - that's my mother and older brother standing out in the clearing. The structure visible to the left is the old barn, which was a separate structure. The covered porch ..at the right, under and behind the trees.. was at the front of Smith's addition. The place was called "Smith Place" because one Oscar Smith, who owned Smith Dairy (here in the Tacoma area) bought it from the man who built it in 1923, George Shaube. Smith was rather well-to-do and made extensive modifications to the original cabin, adding on two additions which made for a very nice vacation cabin for Smith and his friends to visit. Dad met Smith out on the gravel bar in front of Smith's Place while on a pack trip. Smith was fishing on horseback (the preferred method) with a 9-foot cane rod. He used simple gear: bait and a large hook. The fish was not "played". He cast from horseback, and when the fish struck the line he set the hook, wheeled the horse around and dragged the fish up onto the gravel bar. According to Dad, Smith's greeting was "How do you do! My name's Smith!" and he stuck out a large hand in greeting. Smith allowed back-packers to camp out on the bench under the alders in front of his cabin-that would be the area you would be familiar with, where the fire-pit was. Dad, Jack, and Paul slept out on the ground on beds of moss they pulled off the maple trees. Their sleeping bags were cotton, unless they had money to afford a down "mummy bag". The additions and improvements Smith made to the Shaube homestead were numerous, and some evidence of them yet exists. Shaube brought water to the cabin via an iron pipe which fed from a small spring approx. 1/4 mile south-southeast of the cabin, up the slope in the gray mud where John III and I would go to dig red fishworms. The water was gravity-fed to the cabin via a 1/2" diameter iron pipe. Smith improved on that with a wood-stove-heated hot-water tank, and the cabin not only had hot and cold running water, but also a shower out in back. There was no "shower stall" - one would stand on a gravel pad to shower: the shower head came right out of the back wall. Some remains of the water system still exist today. The large addition which Smith built was approximately the same size as our cabin was on the Nisqually- about 20 by 30 feet. It had a gable roof covered with shakes which had been cut and split on site. Evidence of the logging can be seen by going 100 yards north-northeast of the cabin and walking up the first couple hundred feet of the old Tshletshy Trail, now known as the "Upper Crossing Way Trail". The front porch was quite large, and had a sloped roof over it to keep out the rain. The cabin was quite well-lit, as Smith had many multi-paned windows installed all around the west, east, and south walls. The original structure, the Shaube cabin, became the kitchen. In it was a galvanized-iron hot water tank, heated by a small wood stove. There was a large porcelain sink in the kitchen counter on the east wall, and lots of cupboard space for food and provisions. There was also a kitchen table and chairs, which I remember as always being cluttered with gallon cans of chain-saw oil and maple syrup. On the south end of the Shaube cabin, Smith built his addition and furnished it well. It had a heavy, solid wood front door the rangers had a hard time keeping locked. People broke into the cabin all the time and vandalized it or stole things. Sometimes the cabin was left open, and we could go in and look around. On the north wall, Smith had a fireplace built of river rock. The opening was large enough for a grown man to walk into. The fireplace caved in about 1964, and the rangers covered up the hole in the wall with plywood. Photo to left is of Smith Place- 1967 - that's my sister at far right in foreground. The girl in the bikini in background is Billie Day. The arm petting Peg..the mule.. belongs to my other sister. The metal chimney poking out of the roof is the same chimney you see in the most recent photo. As you can see, much of what was no longer remains. Photo was taken from under the maples at the south-west corner of the cabin. On the south wall, which had the most windows, there was a large cast-iron pot-bellied stove with a single round opening in the top. It was large enough to heat the cabin- about 4 feet tall. In each corner, there was a bunk-bed hanging. The bunk bed frames were made of peeled spruce logs about 8" in diameter, and were hung from the ceiling with iron chains. They had steel springs on them instead of a box-spring and mattress. One laid his sleeping bag right onto the springs. The interior of the cabin was large and airy and well-lit. There was also a large table in the central floor area, probably the table Smith and his friends used to play cards. There was an iron glider with nickel-plated armrests, which is now being eaten up by blackberries. The outhouse was about 50 feet to the south-southeast of the cabin, and there was a framed "instruction sheet" for the rangers hanging on the wall in the kitchen which outlined one of their weekly duties as "washing out the privy with plenty of Lysol and chlorine bleach". The rangers were also responsible for digging the garbage pits, which were filled in after they were full. I do not remember where the garbage pit was at the Smith cabin, although I remember a number of them out toward the river on the bench. The garbage pit at Spruce Bottom was about 50 feet west of the shelter, and it was infested with mice. The mice were the reason Mom hated camping at Spruce Bottom, which by the mid-1960's had become a vermin-infested wreck. In front of the Smith Place cabin was a hitching rail to tie up horses and mules. The mule "Peg" in the photo I sent to you belonged to the rangers, who were more than happy to indulge our endless questions about mules, or at least pretended to. The cabin also had a telephone, which was hard-wired to the Ranger Station about a mile below the campground at the end of the Queets River Road. It was a hand-crank phone using a single wire, hung from brown ceramic insulators which were nailed high up on the trees. There are still a few of the insulators left: one on a tree at the viewpoint just above Hartzell Creek, and two of them about 200 feet up the trail on the north side of the river. I have one of them here somewhere, although I have no idea how I came to acquire it. Probably a souvenir someone absconded with that ended up in Dad's gun cabinet. There was also a cable-car over the river to allow crossing during high water. A small car suspended from a single steel cable carried passengers one-at-a-time over the river. There was as well a cable-car at the end of the road, where the trail begins. Both cable cars were removed in the 1960s by the park, as well as the phone wire. The crossing point in front of Smith's Place is still quite treacherous even in summer. In mid-July this last summer, it was up to my navel, which made crossing with 60 pounds of pack quite stimulating. The Andrews Barn stood in the northwest corner of a large clearing approximately 2 miles up the Queets Trail. It was an enormous structure, all built of 1"x12" spruce which had been cut on-site. Today the remains are only the cement foundation, and silvery boards piled on the ground, rapidly being devoured by Himalaya and Evergreen Blackberries. The site has become a favorite stop for hikers and back-packers who stop and fill bags or hats or hands with fruit from mid-July into September. Johnny Andrews ran a dairy farm and drove milk into town on a truck. Originally the first two miles of trail as we now know it were road. There was a bridge over "Old Joe Creek" (named for one Joe Northrup) about a half-mile up the trail, which would easily support the weight of a laden truck. The bridge has since washed out and nothing of it remains. There was no bridge over the next drainage, which is a bit more ephemeral than Old Joe Creek. From the end of the Queets Road (which is now a bit shorter than in earlier days) one drove down the bank, crossed Sam's River, and then crossed the Queets, and drove to Andrews lower field, where the barn stood. The Andrews barn supported a large herd of cattle at one time, and had numerous stalls and feeding troughs. The loft was piled with hay, and we used to stop on our way up the trail and climb all the way to the top of the hay and jump off. The rangers stored hay for their horses in the barn. The Andrews house was in the northeast corner of the clearing, and one of the cement gate-posts still stands there. All along the eastern edge of the clearing, just under the maples, stood a row of small buildings which housed hired hands, or chickens or other animals that were part of the Andrews' menagerie. About a half mile up the trail was "Andrews Upper Clearing", their upper pasture. A much smaller clearing originally, it is becoming overgrown and the forest is reclaiming it. On its south edge one can still find several fence-posts and the barb wire which kept the Andrews stock from wandering away in the forest. The upper clearing is less than 200 yards down-trail from the "Big Fir" trail. It is interesting to note the striking difference between the upper and lower clearings: the lower one has remained virtually true to its original size, whereas the upper clearing is being reclaimed by the forest. This is because the lower field is right in the middle of a primary Elk route between the slopes just below Kloochman Rock and the crossing point they use on the river. The elk don't graze the upper clearing: they wander around in the alders on the bench just below and to the immediate south of the upper Andrews clearing (immediately south of the mouth of Coal Creek). There is not much I can tell you about the shelter at Spruce Bottom. My most vivid memory was that it was dirty, and the moss people would leave on the bunks was always full of bugs and mice. My understanding is that the Park tore down and burned the shelter in the late 1960's or early 1970's. The shelter stood under a pair of enormous Sitka Spruce trees which grow from a common point- there is a "saddle" between them about 3 feet off the ground. If one looks closely, the outline of the shelter's floor can be made out- it is now totally overgrown with small diameter Red Alder growing closely together. The "Spruce Bottom" campsites being used at the present time are about 200 feet up the trail from where the shelter stood, under a semi-circle of Sitka Spruce. (edit) "Old Joe Northrup was an early resident on the Queets. (edit ) The name "Old Joe Creek" never has appeared on any maps, although there was a trail sign at the bridge with "Old Joe Creek" on it. It is the second drainage one crosses on the Queets River Trail, about a half-mile up from the trail head. The symbiotic relationship between the Elk and the landscape is better described in Ruth Kirk's book "The Olympic Rainforest" ......edited excerpt from letter from my sister....Thu, 31 Oct 2002....Yes, I remember the fireplace, also, It was as tall as I was (as a 6th grader). The outhouse was off to the right side of the building as you looked at it. The inside of the cabin smelled musty, but I always thought it would be a nice place to camp to get out of the rain. Remember those hokey shelters we used to make out of 9x12 plastic tarps, clothes line and clothes pins? ......edited excerpt from letter from me to researcher....My mother stopped by to visit today, and I showed her the photo of Smith's Place taken in 1958 with her and John III standing out in front. I asked her a few questions about it and this is what she remembered: She distinctly remembers a road going all the way to the Andrew's meadow on the north side of the river. There is another earlier account in which the person remembered the road as only going up to "the Kern and John Streater places". In my earlier letter, I had said "one drove down the bank, crossed Sam's River, and then crossed the Queets". My mother does not remember crossing Sam's River, only the Queets. The mouth of Sam's River has moved downstream over the years, so I would imagine it may or may have not been necessary to cross Sam's, depending upon the location of its mouth. My father, however, said he "drove across the Sam's". I asked her about the photo taken at Smith's Place, and this is what she remembered: The barn was a separate structure, to the north and east of the Shaube cabin. Both photos that I've sent to you make it difficult to identify it as a separate structure. She also recalled the rock fireplace in Smith's addition as "HUGE". My previous account is from a childhood memory, and may seem hyperbolic. She wasn't able to give me dimensions in feet and inches, but did recall it as being HUGE (with eyes wide open). She also remembers that there was a privy at Spruce Bottom which was burned down early on. It would have been west of the shelter somewhat. Man is the only critter who feels the need to distinguish between flowers and weeds.