3 Days
28.4 Miles
I needed to kick off my backpacking season for the year to escape the rainy, cold winter that was lingering towards summer in the PNW. There is still a lot of snow at elevation so I had limited options and decided to do a river walk on the Bogachiel River trail which travels next to the Bogachiel River up towards the High Divide area in Olympic National Park. It is on the west side of the park which catches the most rain, so I figured it would be plenty wet and muddy, but I picked the trail since I hadn’t done it yet and didn’t think I would in shoulder season when there are many more options going over passes.
I started Saturday morning with some lingering sprinkles following an atmospheric river passing through the night before. I immediately plunged into a verdant green temperate rain forest old growth wonderland.
Though the trail was near the Bogachiel River, there were actually few spots where it went out to where it was visible. The trail was mostly buried in the rain forest.
There were many wonders in the forest, and it was verdant green, wet, and muddy throughout the hike.
The river was running high due to all of the rain. I had planned to cross it to do some trail on the other side rather than just an out and back, but that was clearly not an option now. However, there was plenty to see with the huge array of old growth spruce and cedar, and ferns ruling the forest floor.
I set up a base camp at Flapjack camp which I had to myself. I only saw 2 other backpackers today which was unsurprising considering the wet and muddy conditions. That was fine though. I’m probably camped miles from another person.
I was not trying to set any hiking records this weekend, just get out into nature and enjoy it to boost my mood.
I carried in a frozen NY strip and potatoes which I cooked on a campfire. The fire was difficult to start with everything being so wet, but I got one smoldering just enough to cook my dinner nicely.
Flapjack was a nice place to camp right next to the river. There were only a couple other isolated spots in the 10+ miles to this site, but there were plenty of flat spots to pitch my tent here. I enjoyed my dinner until rain chased me into my tent for the night.
My second day I was just going to explore further upstream from my base camp until I felt like turning around
Saw a big bear print which made me glad I hung a bear bag. Not that I at all considered not hanging, especially with the smell of steak in my food bag.
The beauty of the rain forest continued upstream.
I came to the end of the recent trail maintenance at a large trail washout. I dove down into this gulley and picked my way around for about a half hour before I finally found the trail on the other side. On my way back I marked a trail through the area.
I turned back when some weather appeared to be rolling in and had a short, relaxing day, spending the afternoon reading next to the river. It once again rained overnight and I awoke to a wet, misty morning with the streams running even higher than the prior two days.
I came across some families of grouse on the way out. They were moving a lot, so I could not get good pictures.
Then it was just a muddy slog back to the parking lot, retracing my steps from a couple days ago with lots of fresh and very large elk tracks.
3 comments
What the hell was that foot print ? Your date ?
Can’t wait for the next trip 🙂
The blog looks great & your pics are beautiful!