Sunday September 8, 22.2mi/35.7km

Bogachiel State Park (1156.6/240ft) to Olympic Coast Trailhead (1178.8/43ft) (WA)

I was up early, and excited to make a breakfast run into town. I hitched into Forks, WA at 7:30am, and got a ride from a nice man and his daughter on their way to a whale-watching tour. He dropped me at the grocery store, which also happened to have a hardware store, department store, and coffee shop. So convenient!

I sat and enjoyed a chorizo breakfast sandwich and a hot beverage, then bought some fruit and ice cream at the grocery part. The hitch back to the trail was the slowest on this entire trail, almost 1.5 hours. I finally started hiking at noon, and I kept moving all day to cover 22 miles by dark (8pm). The first mile was on a busy road, highway 101. Some people drive this road all the way to California!

I crossed the Bogachiel River, and then turned onto dirt roads.

After leaving the highway 101, I only saw three cars all day. It was easy walking, and the weather mostly cooperated, with only three brief rainshowers. Umbrella to the rescue again!

I listened to some podcasts, “Stuff You Should Know”, and “For the Love of Climbing”. The hours and miles flew by, and I took a brief break at a nice wooden bridge.

I cruised the rest of the afternoon, and came to the Olympic NP access road for the wilderness coast. It followed along the Hoh River for a couple miles.

I arrived to the trailhead at 7:45pm and setup camp. I got everything done by 9pm, and set my alarm for 3:45am. The next section requires a 1ft low tide to pass, and that tide occurs at 4:15am. Stupid moon!

Saturday September 7, 24.3mi/39.1km

Twenty-one Mile Camp (1132.3/2208ft) to Bogachiel State Park (1156.6/240ft) (WA)

I said good morning to Semi-Sweet and Kate, as they rolled out of camp at 6:30am. I was on their heels, leaving at 6:45am. We all started early, as we heard this section of trail was very overgrown and to expect slow progress. It started off OK, just a little bit overgrown.

I made it three miles, and then the trail practically disappeared. I also caught Kate & Semi-Sweet, and we all waded thru the neck-high plants. Car wash time!

After a couple hours of that “hiking”, I stopped for a break at an old shelter to have a snack and to assess my scrapes and bruises. Even the shelter was overgrown!

We followed the Bogachiel River all day, as it slowly descended and made its way to the sea.

After lunch, the trail did become much better, almost as good as most trails in the National Park.

Occasionally, there would be a small stream crossing, with a log bridge for hikers, and a stream ford for horses. The drawings on this sign were a reason to smile.

Eventually, at 4pm I emerged from the forest, and took a short break at the trailhead parking area. It’s a rainforest!

I finished the day on a 5mi/8km roadwalk to a state park campground. I enjoyed the nice, easy, uncomplicated finish to the day. I arrived at 6pm, and there were still sites available, sweet!

I setup camp, ordered pizza delivery from a place in the nearby town of Forks, and then had a nice hot shower. After a week in the woods, a shower feels magical. I returned to my campsite, and Kate and Semi-Sweet had arrived, yay! And my pizza arrived 10 minutes after that, yum.

The weather forecast is for light rain/mist for the next three days. Yuck. But I only have 60 miles to the finish, time for the final push!

Friday September 6, 23.3mi/37.5km

Olympic Hot Springs (1109.0/2165ft) to Twenty-one Mile Camp (1132.3/2208ft) (WA)

I was up early to check out the hot springs, and they were hot!

The hot water runoff had some interesting colors.

The morning hiking was mostly uphill, as I gained 3000ft over 5 miles, to reach Appleton Pass.

There was a campsite at the top of the pass, and people were just packing up to leave at 9:30am! I sat and chatted with them for a bit and admired the views.

I believe this was Mt Olympus in the distance.

The descent was quick, and it was wet at the bottom. Some of the small ponds had this weird film in the water.

And the rivers had those single-log bridges over them. Except the logs are huge!

Another bridge a mile later, it even had steps carved into it!

I climbed uphill again, to reach the High Divide Trail. It traversed a 5000ft high ridge for over five miles.

First I passed Heart Lake.

And I had a closer view of Mt Olympus.

And then more lakes…

And then a bear! He was the first of many bears today, I counted seven.

The views from the top of Mt. Bogachiel were pretty spectacular…

Panoramic shot, too.

The Seven Lakes Basin was a very fitting name.

I finally descended off the ridge at 4pm, and took a break in the shade by a lake. There was a campsite near there, though I thought the campsite assignments were oddly specific…

I continued on to camp, crossing a few wetlands and trail junctions.

I arrived to camp at 6:45pm, later than usual but it was a long day with many breaks. And Semi-Sweet and Kate were there at the campsite too! It’s so unusual to see other PNT hikers, and camping with them even more so.

Thursday September 5, 20.3mi/32.7km

Lillian Camp (1092.7/1365ft) to Olympic Hot Springs (1109.0/2165ft) (WA) +4.0mi side trail to town

I was hiking early, it’s a town day! There was only 8 miles to town this morning, and most of it was on a closed gravel road.

It seemed wetter on this side of the park, so many ferns!

I came to the spot of an old dam, the Glines Canyon dam. It was removed in 2014, so the natural Elwha river could be restored. The dam was built 100 years ago for power generation.

Most of the former lakebed is now overgrown with alders, and other colonizing species.

A mile later, I came to another mile marker. 1100 miles down, 117 to go!

I got to the trailhead at 10:30am, and hitched a ride to town. We had a nice conversation, and the woman was nice and offered to drop me at Safeway. Perfect! I did my food shopping, then went across the street for BBQ and ice cream. Then, I took a bus across town, to the ranger station to pickup a bear canister (they are required in the upcoming coast section). The ranger mentioned that the weather forecast will be rainy after these next two dry days. So, she changed my permit, and I hitched back to the trail today, so I can be out of the mountains before the rain starts. I was only in town for three hours, so I only got one photo!

I was back on the trail at 3:30pm, and hiked up the other side of the Elwha River. There was more information about the demolished dam, which was neat.

I hiked up a closed road for 8 miles, with a viewpoint about halfway thru. In the distance is some smoke from a small wildfire.

Looking north, back toward the demolished dam.

I arrived at camp at 7:30pm, setup camp and quickly made dinner, as it was getting dark quickly. I could hear other hikers around, and saw many small tents. There is also a hot springs nearby, which I’ll investigate in the morning.

Wednesday September 4, 23.1mi/37.2km

Bear camp (1069.6/3878ft) to Lillian camp (1092.7/1365ft) (WA)

I slept great in the shelter, and it was easy to pack up in the morning without the tent. The shelters are probably one of the few things I miss about the AT…It was another sunny day, and it warmed up quickly.

The climb to Hayden Pass was full of switchbacks, so every 5 minutes I would get views in the opposite direction.

Top of the pass, 5850ft!

The trail coming down the other side travels thru a part of the forest that burned in 2016.

But, there were good views thru the trees now! I assume those are glaciers on the distant mountains, since it’s September.

The trail descended over 4000ft to the Elwha River, crossing many side creeks along the way. Some of the crossings had steep drop-offs.

And then, I was at the bottom, in a really old, dense forest.

I stopped for lunch at a Ranger station cabin, and sat on the porch to eat. Their privy had a funny cartoon, with a bear of course.

I hiked along the Elwha River all afternoon, on fairly flat trail, so it was easy walking.

There was an old cabin from the 1920s, and a cool aspen forest.

I saw a gate with a poorly worded sign. Horses know how to close gates?!

I crossed paths with Kate and Semi-Sweet again, and we talked trail for a bit before we each continued to our respective campsites (they were going a few miles further). Hopefully I get to see them again before the finish, only 125 miles left!

Tuesday September 3, 23.1mi/37.2km

Copper Creek camp (1046.5/4311ft) to Bear camp (1069.6/3878ft) (WA)

It was a cold night, as I expected, and I laid in my sleeping bag until the sun was up enough to warm the air. The 2000ft climb up to the pass was a nice warm up.

Up, and up…

And up…

I reached the top of Marmot Pass, and I could hear the little creatures everywhere. Good views too.

There was a brief ridgewalk, before I descended down into the trees.

And at the end of the ridge, I officially entered Olympic NP!

The trail crossed many small streams from the snowfields above.

I was up in the alpine almost all day, and I took way too many photos.

Home Lake:

Constance Pass:

I saw that someone had built an emergency shelter of sorts, too. It was windy up high, and I was above treeline for a few miles.

And then, the huge descent. I went down 4300ft in 3.9 miles, ouch! It was very wet and green at the bottom, near the Dosewallips River.

The last couple hours of the day, the trail was nice and wide all the way to camp. Even the bridges were wide.

An hour before camp, I caught up to another PNT hiker! His name is Seth, trail name “Calvin”, and we hiked together and talked for the last few miles to the shelter. It was so exciting to have company out here. And the shelter was brand new, so I actually decided to sleep in it.

This will be the first night (on this trail) that I’m camping in something other than my tent. Wheee!

Monday September 2, 24.8mi/39.9km

Snow Creek Rd (1021.7/748ft) to Copper Creek camp (1046.5/4311ft) (WA)

I heard a diesel vehicle go by on the road at 6am, and it was still dark. It stopped maybe a quarter mile away, and idled loudly, waiting. I was awake, so I packed up, and by the time I was ready to go it was 6:45am and daylight. Today started off with a couple of hours of dirt road walking. It was nice and relaxing, and no cars whatsoever.

Then, I got on the Snow Creek trail, which climbs Mt Zion. The trail was really steep, gaining 2000ft in only 1.7 miles.

On top of the summit, I had a view down onto the clouds below. Neat!

A better view came along a few minutes later, on the descent.

The trail was immaculately maintained, and really soft to walk on.

It also had many cool little side streams that sounded very gurgle-y.

I crossed paths with a group of people out for a dayhike to the summit, it was fun explaining to them why I had a backpack, and how this trail went all the way to Montana.

I hiked all day on nice trails, and my surroundings became greener as I went.

There were a few trail junctions, and because PNT markers are so scarce, someone had drawn a helpful “PNT” on the sign.

A few hours later I came to a trailhead and a small parking lot. As usual, there were the miscellaneous lost items at the info board. The single lost shoe was amusing, though. It was covered in moss! Also, how does someone lose a shoe and not realize it?

The ground and entire forest were mossy too.

I passed by an old AT-style shelter, but with a dirt floor. It looked like people camp here, but there was also evidence of mice activity. Moving on…

At the end of the day, I entered the Buckhorn Wilderness.

I hiked uphill a few miles to Copper Creek, and set up camp. It’s pretty high up, so it will probably be a cold night!

Sunday September 1, 21.4mi/34.4km

Port Townsend (1000.3/10ft) to Snow Creek Rd (1021.7/748ft) (WA)

I was up early, to finish planning the Olympic coast section of this hike. The tide cycles add quite a bit of complexity! When I was packing up, I saw my new tent stakes (thanks Valerie!) and got excited for camping tonight. They are so nice and non-bent, sharp, and so… functioning!

I walked out of town on the main street for a mile, it’s a nice little town.

And then, as I was walking down the sidewalk near the edge of town, I hear “hey Recon!”. I don’t know anybody who lives in this corner of the state, so I’m quite surprised to hear my name. And even more surprised that the person is Quickham!

We hiked most of the CDT together in 2016, and now he’s working on a trail crew in the North Cascades NP. Holy cow, what a surprise, it’s always great to see trail family!

I had to continue on, as my camping locations and dates are now set, by the Olympic NP permit. The next three hours were on the ODT (Olympic Discovery Trail), and it was a nice rail-to trail.

Some interesting graffiti. Are the Simpsons still on TV?

Quickham had given me a beer for the hike, it was delicious on a hot day of hiking. I believe it’s pronounced “Ran-yay”.

The rail-trail even had tunnels, instead of road crossings.

Then, there was a two hour roadwalk on State highway 20. At least there were farm animals to keep me entertained.

And a reward at the end of the roadwalk, a pub called Fat Smittys. I was excited to have a snack and drink, but they decided to be a cash-only establishment. In 2019. Weird. So, I continued on.

The last hour of the day was on a trail, yay!

I got to my camp spot quite late, at 7:30pm. Sunset around here has now progressed to about 8pm, so I still had daylight.

Saturday August 31, 13.7mi/22.0km

Happy House (986.6/80ft) to Port Townsend (1000.3/10ft) (WA)

I had probably the best night of sleep on the entire trail, in a really deluxe bed! John and Rebecca fed me a huge breakfast, I packed up, and then said my goodbyes. Including Rex!

I was being visited by friends from Seattle later this morning, and I had a couple of hours of hiking to our meeting spot. It was a nice beachwalk.

As I got closer I could see a beach access road, with lots of people.

We met up and drove to the small town of Coupeville, and explored the area and all the small shops.

We had a pretty spectacular lunch, fish & chips, and then pie Ala mode. And then, we got ice cream! I was impressed with the way the shop applied the sprinkles, between each scoop. Maximum sprinkles!

Four hours went by way too quickly, and it was so much fun catching up and making jokes. Next time, I’ll go to Seattle!

The rest of the beach walk was nice, and then the trail went by an old fort.

I arrived to the ferry terminal at 4:45pm, which turned out to be perfect timing, the next one was departing at 5pm. The next six miles of the PNT are officially on a ferry, which is the only way to cross from this island back to the mainland.

The views from the ferry were pretty cool.

I walked off the ferry 45 minutes later, and into downtown Port Townsend. I had reserved a room at the Water Street Inn, and it was a huge historic building!

I grabbed a quick dinner at Pizza Factory (meh, chain food), finished planning my camping itinerary in Olympic NP, and went to bed.

Friday August 30, 21.3mi/34.3km

Deception Pass State Park/Quarry Campground (965.3/75ft) to Happy House (986.6/80ft) (WA)

It rained most of the night, and I packed up a wet tent at 7am. It was a nice, cool morning to hike, and for the first hour I was on trails.

Then, the paved roadwalk started. Good scenery, but hard on the feet.

No wildflowers today, just a floral shop.

Whidbey island is home to a Naval Air Station, with loud jets practicing aircraft carrier landings.

Another mile down the pavement was a cluster of food establishments, including a taco truck. Easy decision!

My feet were beginning to complain about the 4 hours of pavement walking so far, and I had another 3 hours to go. There was a short respite on a beach walk section.

The Alfred Hitchcock movie came to mind with all these avian crowds…

There was a strange abandoned stone structure in the trail thru Whidbey State Park. I think it used to be a fountain?

After two more hours on pavement, I arrived at the “Happy House”, where Rebecca and John have been helping out PNT hikers since 2012.

We had a fun night of conversation, planning the upcoming section thru the Olympic National Park, and enjoying a delicious taco salad dinner. And, dessert – homemade apple pie and ice cream! (In my world, each of these is a food group).

Thank You, Rebecca & John, for all you do for hikers!