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Hart Lake, Olympic National Park
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It was almost 12:30 p.m. on this particular Friday and I was anxious. While not normally a clock watcher, I found myself glancing at my watch quite frequently. Anticipation consumed me as this was to be my first multi day hike into a base camp. Eventually, 12:30 came around and freed me from the mental prison my plans had entrapped me in. Bob and I hopped into his trusty Volvo and sped quite rapidly to the Staircase trail head within the Olympic National Park. While walking to the ranger station to pay our fees, the ranger greeted us at the door, but did not seem to be in a very good mood that day. It must have been the overcast threatening us with rain. We paid our fees, donned our hiking clothes and set off for Camp Pleasant, the first camp towards our goal, Hart Lake.
We reached Camp Pleasant by 5:30p.m.. While quickly setting up camp, I made a small fire and started the process of boiling water for dinner. By 8:30, we were already in our respective shelters for the night, pretty early compared to other trips. We knew what the 13.5 Miles had in store for us the tomorrow; 4300+ feet of climbing and 2000+ feet of decent.
The next morning, we ate a big breakfast complimented by Pete's coffee. Bob found a great way to save weight with the coffee service he provided. He bought empty tea bags and filled them with coffee ground to the right size, eliminating the need to carry a filter or press. Striking camp was quick and off we went, focused on nothing, for everything was what we came to see. The trail was simple and the miles flew by without effort. Although Nine Stream's bridge was out, it was an easy rock hop across. After Nine Stream the trail climbed out of the Skokomish drainage, steadily past Two Bear Camp, to First Divide. We took some photos and headed down the quick but painful descent into the Duckabush drainage. From there, a steady climb to Marmot lake, then to Hart Lake.
Once above the tree line, the trail seemed to get easier. We rounded a bend and arrived at out destination. The lake was bigger than I had imagined it but it was crystal clear and dead quiet. The first thing I noticed is that in the middle of the ridge above the lake, there was a bear on the cliff side. I shouted out a Dave Chappelle's "I'm Rick James Bitch" and the bear took off as if she had seen the episode while bringing forth uncontrollable laughter by Bob.
We made some dinner while listening to the breeze caused by the setting sun. The evening was quiet. It was a perfect time for star gazing and some late night hot chocolate.
The next morning we made coffee and had a bagel then donned our sandals. We thought it would be nice to just take a quick look around and had a peek up and around the lake.
The morning was so beautiful we just kept hiking in our sandals and found a small peak at 5200 feet that sported tremendous views. We went back for packs, gear and boots. Just to the left middle of the picture was the Anderson Glacier system and to the right lower portion of the picture is Lacrosse Lake and the Lacrosse Basin.
Bob amazed that with binoculars we could actually make out the roof of the Enchanted Valley Chalet. It was a dream come true.
I too was amazed but more impressed with the overall view of the rugged peaks of the Olympic Mountains.
We decided not to take a day off and to hike down a unknown trial we found. It had been in a book Bob had from the 70's but was not in any of my books or maps. The trial led down from this peak and intersected with the O'Neal Pass Trail just up from Enchanted Valley. It was crazy steep. We lost 1100 feet in 1/2 mile. OUCH!
The O' Neal Pass Trail was unbelievable. Beautiful meadows were around every corner. I could not believe though that there weren't any signs of elk in the meadows.
Like every night I have ever been in the Olympics, around 3:00 the ceiling starts to fall. It has a dreadful yet beautiful ambiance to it.
After hiking a while we came upon a sign that told us we were at O'Neal Pass. I think it was about 50 feet shy of 5000 feet. On the way down to Marmot lake, I spotted my first marmot. This little guy insisted on a vogue pose as I got closer and closer.
As we were coming around the bend after the .4 mile junction back to hart lake, we nearly ran into this big guy! I guess he was around 400 pounds. We got in pretty close. In the picture, the lower left is the trail. I am lucky that the black bears in the Olympics seems to be pretty tolerant of people.
Back at camp for another night of eating, reading, writing and stargazing, if the weather holds out.
It was another beautiful morning. As we were in the process of packing up to head back to Camp Pleasant, I realized that the tracks I had found the prior day were as recent as I thought. Just on the ridge on the other side of the lake from our camp was a mama bear and her cub. I suppose we ran into "Daddy" yesterday. As we were finishing up packing, to the right of the ridge papa bear was there grazing as well.
It was a pretty easy hike back but my feet were feeling the pressure of the decent from Hart Lake. Heading down from Marmot Lake, we snuck upon bugling elk and their mates. This was the first time I have been that close to an elk and heard bugling within 100 feet. We decided to take a break at Home Sweet Home shelter. It was very swampy here and kind of a let down. There was a lot of bugs and soot everywhere from people making illegal fires. Of course they are not permitted at this altitude (above 3500').
Among other things, the shelter was a pile of lumber and rusty nails in a glass jar.
We got into camp and made a fire and really enjoyed our last night in the Olympics. We ate a lot and finally went to sleep around midnight. I must have been semi-out-of-it because for an hour after the lights were out, I could hear thumping all around my tent. As tired as I was, I drifted off to sleep anyways.
We woke the next morning and wasted no time breaking camp. This will be an easy 6.9 mile hike back to the car. The last few miles were harder than I thought they would be. The trail was very rocky and hard on the feet. It was nice to be back at the car but at the same time, like always in the Olympics, I did not feel like I got enough time here. We took our trailhead shots and jumped in the car as we headed back to Portland.
I will be back! There is so much to explore and see here in the Olympic National Park.
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