North Fork, Quinault River.
Traffic hazard.
Start here.
Way out of date: Colonel Bob Trail has not been there for at least 25 years.
Free comics.
Secret frog.
Yep, this is it.
Trillium. Two of 'em at once.
A bit overgrown these days.
Footlog and Fletcher Creek. And sunshine.
Waterfall upstream. And sunshine. Also overgrown.
Spring leafies.
Fletcher Creek and alders in the sun.
Clear, clean.
What is this? Salmon berry? Anyhow, it's doing fine.
More water. More rocks. More sunshine.
No idea what this is called, but it looks happy.
Caress.
I left the beach. (Previous post.)
Rather than going back to my temporary home base the way I'd driven out to the coast, I headed south to make a loop out of it, and I had unfinished business to attend to from two years earlier.
I'd done the Skyline Ridge Trail/Quinault River loop in Olympic National Park in 2016, and left a small tree tied up. I had used some line and a small carabiner to bend the tree over and out of the way of my hammock so I could sleep.
The next morning I forgot to remove them, recalling the issue only after I'd made it back to the trail following some thrashing through undergrowth, and decided not to go back. I stopped several times to reconsider on my way out and made the wrong decision each time: Leave it.
For two years I've been worrying about that tree, so I had to go back and check on it.
I did a quick two-hour, out-and-back evening hike to that secluded spot along the Quinault River and found both the line and the carabiner gone. The tree was still there and looking good - no permanent damage. I tied up the tree (bent way over, very badly) in late August or early September, 2016, and it clearly had not stayed tied long. Maybe someone fixed it only a few days after I'd tied it. No way of knowing now, but everything is fine.
I decided to sleep at the Fletcher Canyon trailhead and hike that canyon the next day. I used to go there a lot, but the last time must have been 20 years ago. Or more.
The canyon is short - only two miles (3.2 km), but steepish, and shady. Good on a hot day, and Fletcher Creek is cool and clean. Not accessible along the route, but right there in your face at the top end where you need it.
The first time there, in the mid-1990s, I stripped down and waded into the creek. The day was really hot and I needed that. There was a pool on a short bend in the creek and that's what I waded into. From the gravel bar next to it, the pool looked to be about four feet deep (1.3m), but it was almost twice that. And frigid. It was a good deal.
I should have thought of that this time, but when I actually got there, saw the same pool, remembered the experience, and thought about it, I decided not to repeat the performance. Too bad. Even though water spooks me, especially deep water even if it is clear, wading in would have been the right decision, but I skipped it, and now I'll probably never get back there.
The trail is mostly still in good shape, with a few degraded spots. It probably hasn't seen any maintenance in close to half a century, but there were no real problems.
The only thing I didn't like is that the upper flats, at the high end of the trail, are brushy now. The areas around and across the creek from the footlog used to be mostly open and grassy, but are full of berry-bush stalks now, so there is really no option to noodle around the stream banks and explore.
Upstream a short distance is a waterfall, still visible, but not approachable now, really, unless a person seriously likes tussling with shrubbery. On the west side of the creek, the trail used to continue for a short distance before fading out. This was probably the trail to Colonel Bob, but didn't go far then and isn't visible at all now.
Fine. Things change. I still had fun. It wasn't raining. The sun was shining. Not too hot, not too cold. Few bugs. Got to see an old friend of a place. Done.
More info:
Fletcher Canyon, Washington Trails Association
Fletcher Canyon - Explore a rugged rift in the Quinault Ridge, Hike of the Week
Skyline Ridge Primitive Trail, Olympic National Park
The Relentless Skyline, Seattle Backpackers Magazine
Colonel Bob Trail, Washington Trails Association
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