Duckabush thru North Fork Skokomish backpack

Duckabush - NF Skokomish Junction
Duckabush - NF Skokomish Junction

I was supposed to do this trip on the previous weekend but since that was the 4th of July and I had priorities with family, I put it off until this weekend. I have hiked up the North Fork Skokomish countless times, either to do the Staircase Rapids loop or to go up to Flapjack Lakes. Even stayed at Camp Pleasant once. I had never set foot on the Duckabush until this trip, so this was to be a new adventure for me.

July 8-9 2011

Joining me on this adventure was fellow Peninsula Wilderness Club member and friend, Isaac Sun. You can read his trip report here. We were surprised when getting the permits from the ranger at the Staircase ranger station, he knew who I was. He asked my name, and when I told him he said "oh, from the Penwicle". I explained yes that was in fact me. I felt honored that he reads my club's publication.

With a late start due to the shuttle involved, obtaining the permits and a slight delay in finding the trailhead, we began hiking at 11:00 am.

Ready to hike!
Ready to hike!

 

Trailhead
Trailhead

 

Duckabush Trail
Duckabush Trail

 

Entering The Brothers Wilderness
Entering The Brothers Wilderness

 

Duckabush Trail
Duckabush Trail

 

Duckabush Trail
Duckabush Trail

 

Oyster Mushrooms on an old snag. They were too old and dry to even consider eating.
Oyster Mushrooms on an old snag. They were too old and dry to even consider eating.

 

Isaac coming down from Big Hump on the Duckabush Trail
Isaac coming down from Big Hump on the Duckabush Trail

 

The trail was in good shape for the most part up until just after Big Hump. Only a couple of down trees but nothing major to climb over. Once past Big Hump however, the number of blow-downs increased. Once we were past Ten Mile Camp, the hike became increasingly difficult due to the amount of blow-downs and creek crossings. I estimate somewhere between forty and fifty down trees across the trail that either have to be climbed over or around, slowing progress considerably. There was one spot in particular that was very bad with about 15 large trees across the trail. One worry I had about this trip were the creek crossings. I knew there would be no bridges across most if not all of the crossings, and with the huge snow pack and the rate of melt off, I had no idea how hard the crossings would be. Luckily there was only one creek I needed to put my water shoes on for. This creek was before Pitch Creek which I thought would be the problem.

 

 

Entering Olympic
Entering Olympic

 

Time for a snapshot
Time for a snapshot

 

Ten Mile Camp
Ten Mile Camp

 

 

Ten Mile Camp
Ten Mile Camp

 

Ten Mile Camp
Ten Mile Camp

 

Elk jawbone on the Duckabush Trail
Elk jawbone on the Duckabush Trail

 

Massive blow down area on the Duckabush Trail
Massive blow down area on the Duckabush Trail

 

Massive blow down area on the Duckabush Trail
Massive blow down area on the Duckabush Trail

 

One of several creek crossings
One of several creek crossings

 

One of several creek crossings
One of several creek crossings

 

One of several creek crossings
One of several creek crossings

 

One of several creek crossings
One of several creek crossings

 

Somewhere between Ten Mile Camp and the Lacrosse Junction, I heard Isaac say "Jay look, a bear!" Sure enough there was a black streak running up the hill away from us. It was near the creek and we must have startled it as the creek hid the sound of our approach. Too fast for pictures I'm afraid.

Once we arrived at the LaCrosse Junction, we decided to continue on to the Duckabush Camp. We got to the final crossing of the day, this time crossing the Duckabush itself. Luckily there was a log we could use as a bridge when we got to the river crossing. It was kind of sketchy with no hand rail. Falling here would not be a good idea. Not only was the water ice cold, there were logs in the water downstream that a person could get trapped under if they fell in.

 

LaCrosse Junction
LaCrosse Junction

 

One of several creek crossings
One of several creek crossings

 

 

One of several creek crossings
One of several creek crossings

 

 

Crossing the Duckabush log crossing
Crossing the Duckabush log crossing

 

Crossing the Duckabush log crossing
Crossing the Duckabush log crossing

 

Once across the river, we found a camp site and quickly set up our tents. I had got my feet wet earlier in the day and I was a little chilled. Since it was 8:00 pm and we still had an hour of daylight left, we decided we had time for a fire. While I rarely build a fire when I'm out, it was nice to be able to get warm and to dry my shoes a bit. As usual when I hike a long distance, I was not feeling too hungry but I managed to get some dinner down anyways. Isaac however, had no trouble eating, even went back a made more food when he was done. After dinner, we tended the fire some more until it was out before calling it a night.

Camp life
Camp life

 

Camp life
Camp life

 

The next day was cool and clear. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as seen from our vantage point at camp. After a quick breakfast and packing up camp, we headed out.

 

View from camp
View from camp

 

Not so private privy at Duckabush Camp
Not so private privy at Duckabush Camp

 

Not so private privy at Duckabush Camp
Not so private privy at Duckabush Camp

 

Up we started to climb from camp towards Home Sweet Home and First Divide. I was curious to see where the continuous snow started and how deep it was towards the top. Reports I had read earlier stated that continuous snow started at 2700' which was the elevation at the Duckabush Camp. We had seen a couple smallish patches of snow the day before at around 2600' so I thought the reports would hold true. I suppose either a lot of snow had melted since the two week old report, or the report was bogus.

Duckabush - NF Skokomish Junction
Duckabush - NF Skokomish Junction

 

Duckabush - NF Skokomish Junction
Duckabush - NF Skokomish Junction

 

The view from the trail heading up to Home Sweet Home
The view from the trail heading up to Home Sweet Home

 

Large snow patch heading up
Large snow patch heading up

 

We had an almost snow free trail with just small patches up until about 3400'. At about 3700' the snow was continuous and we lost the trail. At this point I noticed someone had tied ribbons to trees to mark the way but they only lasted a couple hundred feet before they petered out altogether. The snow was too deep from here out to rely on looking for sign of the trail in the form of cut logs or branches, so we just went straight up.

When we got to a big opening at around 4100', we realized we were near Home Sweet Home. Mt Hopper and Mt Steel were in front of us. White Mt and Mt LaCrosse could be seen across the Duckabush valley. All was right with the world except neither of us had been here before and I had no idea where to go from here. We looked at our maps and figured where we thought First Divide was, but just to be sure I turned on the GPS at this point to review a pre-loaded route I had saved to the unit. Not having a trail to follow and in unfamiliar territory, I just wanted to be sure before committing to the climb. Up until this point, we could simply turn back if unsure.

 

Basin near Home Sweet Home
Basin near Home Sweet Home

 

Mt Hopper from basin
Mt Hopper from basin

 

Isaac just below First Divide
Isaac just below First Divide

 

Mt Steel
Mt Steel

 

Just before climbing up, in the basin, we had to skirt around a creek we could hear flowing under the snow. The climb up itself was un-eventful. Just a little steep in a couple spots. The snow was fickle, being firm in spots and very soft in others. After about half an hour we were at the top. I, unfortunately was so concerned in route-finding when we reached the top, that I failed to take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did manage to take a few. I don't like carrying 5 lbs worth of camera for nothing.

White Mountain and Mt LaCrosse
White Mountain and Mt LaCrosse

 

White Mountain and Mt LaCrosse
White Mountain and Mt LaCrosse

 

Just below First Divide
Just below First Divide

 

Isaac just below First Divide
Just below First Divide

 

View from First Divide
View from First Divide

 

The view from First Divide
The view from First Divide

 

Soon, the task ahead was at hand, finding our way down the NF Skokomish. Looking at the map, I could see we needed to skirt to the west around a little peak maintaining most of our elevation before dropping down to be on the west side of the river before it forms. Much routfinding, sidehilling, bushwhacking and second guessing went on before we found the trail. The GPS was very helpful ensuring we were on the right track. The snow was pretty soft in places and we went down a couple steep sections. In going down through some of the wooded sections, special care was taken not to fall into any of the deep tree wells. I would estimate there was ten feet of snow up there by looking at the snow formed around some of the trees. I'm always hearing about people falling into tree wells needing to be rescued.

Mt Steel
Mt Steel

 

The journey down from First Divide
The journey down from First Divide

 

We eventually found our way down and even found fragments of the trail. Just above Two Bear Camp, we ran across footprints heading down and followed them until we reached the camp. We knew we were at the camp only because we ran across the bear wire there. Two Bear was otherwise mostly snow covered.

Just below Two Bear Camp, the trail became easier to follow and the snow, much to our relief, was becoming more patchy in areas as opposed to continuous. In one of the last patches of snow we saw a big fresh pile of bear scat. No more than perhaps a tenth of a mile away as we are heading down on real trail for the first time in hours, I see movement out of the corner of my eye and spot a big black bear about a hundred feet away. We pause long enough to take a few pictures and decide to move along when the bear decides to turn its whole body around at us to get a better look. This is the closest I have ever been to a bear in the wild (that I know of) and didn't want to tempt fate. I'm glad I was able to get a good couple of pictures, but I much prefer the bears that run away as opposed to the ones that look at me curiously, perhaps hungrily.

 

Hungry bear
Hungry bear

 

Hungry bear
Hungry bear

 

Hungry bear
Hungry bear

 

After the bear, we stopped a couple vertical hundred feet down the trail to refill our water bottles. It was good to know we were on solid trail for the rest of the trip, but the thought of eleven more trail miles was hard to swallow. It was already around 1:30 pm. I couldn't believe how much time we burned route finding at First Divide.

Trail below Two Bear Camp
Trail below Two Bear Camp

 

Mt Henderson
Mt Henderson

 

Waterfalls and snow banks
Waterfalls and snow banks

 

When I walked by this tree, I could have sworn there was a snake climbing it. Turned out to be a root or vine or something...
When I walked by this tree, I could have sworn there was a snake climbing it. Turned out to be a root or vine or something...

 

Down the trail we went, stopping at Nine Stream camp for lunch. Wow, Nine Stream would be a beautiful place to camp. After lunch on the trail, just before Camp Pleasant, we ran into some folks that warned us that Camp Pleasant was full and they were headed to Nine Stream instead. Lucky them, they were going to have the whole place to themselves. Camp Pleasant was in fact full when we got there. There was a huge tarp set up at the group site and there were two of the big Coleman two burner stoves set up there. We didn't figure out what it was all about until after we passed Camp Pleasant and ran into a big trail crew taking a group photo. They weren't WTA but looked to be some kind of a youth crew. I didn't pause long enough to pay attention to what was written on their hats, but I think Isaac took some photos of them.

Just nine more miles to go from here
Just nine more miles to go from here

 

Nine Stream was a real nice place. I would like to camp here some time.
Nine Stream was a real nice place. I would like to camp here some time.

 

Not as hazardous as it looks
Not as hazardous as it looks

 

Looking across the NF Skokomish up at Nine Stream
Looking across the NF Skokomish up at Nine Stream

 

Elk spoted between Nine Stream and Camp Pleasant
Elk spoted between Nine Stream and Camp Pleasant

 

Elk and deer
Elk and deer

 

NF Skokomish trail puncheon
NF Skokomish trail puncheon

 

First real bridge of the trip
First real bridge of the trip

 

Unfortunately the fords continued after the bridge
Unfortunately the fords continued after the bridge

 

Unfortunately the fords continued after the bridge
Unfortunately the fords continued after the bridge

 

Unfortunately the fords continued after the bridge
Unfortunately the fords continued after the bridge

 

Grouse
Grouse

 

Trail crew's backcountry kitchen at Camp Pleasant
Trail crew's backcountry kitchen at Camp Pleasant

 

NF Skokomish at Camp Pleasant
NF Skokomish at Camp Pleasant

 

Camp Pleasant
Camp Pleasant

 

At this point we were both getting pretty tired. We crossed over the NF Skokomish soon at the Six Ridge junction, and then passed Big Log Camp and then the Black and White Lakes Trail. At the junction for Flapjack lakes, I seriously started to hit a wall and the hike from that point was getting very difficult. About a half mile from the trailhead I called a stop for a much needed water and rest break before finishing up. We took a ten minute break, re-filling water for the ride home. Another fifteen minutes on the trail and we were back to the car.

Crossing of the NF Skokomish at the Six Ridge junction
Crossing of the NF Skokomish at the Six Ridge junction

 

Crossing of the NF Skokomish at the Six Ridge junction
Crossing of the NF Skokomish at the Six Ridge junction

 

Crossing of the NF Skokomish at the Six Ridge junction
Crossing of the NF Skokomish at the Six Ridge junction

 

Ugh! 5.3 miles to go.
Ugh! 5.3 miles to go.

 

Donahue Creek
Donahue Creek

 

Falls on Madaline Creek
Falls on Madaline Creek

 

One of the last crossings of the NF Skokomish before arriving at the trailhead
One of the last crossings of the NF Skokomish before arriving at the trailhead

 

This ended up being a fun but difficult trip due to the delay in the snow with all the route-finding. I'm ready for the snow to be gone, but I'm afraid it will have barely melted out before it begins to fall again this year.

Ready to recuperate!
Ready to recuperate!

 

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6 thoughts on “Duckabush thru North Fork Skokomish backpack

  • July 10, 2011 at 8:08 pm
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    we were up on 1st divide last year in the snow .. beautiful views .. i think it’s a lot ezier going in fm the n fork skok .. i mean finding your way .. we hit solid snow around 2 bear and only got off track a little … funny a few years ago coming back fm lacrosse basin i slipped on a submerged rock crossing pitch creek and broke my wrist .. fond memories .. i’m jealous of your trip ..

    Reply
  • July 11, 2011 at 8:04 am
    Permalink

    Thanks Cathy. I remember your report where you talked about Pitch Creek. I was nervous about how bad it would be, but it wasn’t as bad for us as a couple of the other crossings. We were worried about getting off route and ending up on the wrong side of the river coming down from First Divide. It seemed to consume a lot of our time and energy negotiating through the snow.

    Reply
  • July 11, 2011 at 8:44 am
    Permalink

    pitch creek wasn’t bad actually .. it was just a stupid mistake stepping on a slippery submerged rock (i play it over in my head every time i cross a creek now — stupid) .. like you said there were many others further along the duck going up to lacrosse basin that catch your attention more .. were there a lot of blow downs along the duck?

    going in to 1st divide we were using a gps when we hit snow and while it was fairly accurate (it’s not perfect) we made a decision after getting to turn off for the north pass basin that put us a little too high of the summer trail so we had to wander a bit to get back down and back on track .. nothing serious and at least we were always moving in the right direction

    so would you guess the snowline is around 3700′ — i mean on the other side .. like going up to lacrosse pass too?

    anyhow .. you had a really great adventure that i’m sure will be a fond memory .. the hardest are always the fondest for us .. funny how you forget all the crap you endure and only remember the best stuff 😉

    Reply
  • July 11, 2011 at 9:00 am
    Permalink

    There was probably around 40-50 blow downs. I quit counting after 20. There was one section with about 15 quite large trees that we have fun climbing over. There was actually a few down trees before we even reached Big Hump. I was surprised about that. The Skoke had only a couple down trees on the whole trail.

    I would say continuous snow starts at 3700′ where we were. Not sure about LaCrosse but I would assume its about the same.

    I hope I forget how much my feet hurt afterwards soon!

    Reply
  • July 11, 2011 at 9:28 am
    Permalink

    wow .. thx jay .. yeah the horsemen usually get in there and work on the trail outside the park as soon as they can .. there were a lot of huge trees we had to climb over too — i kinda liked how that added to the wildness of this trail and all the creek crossings w/o bridges .. but i know the park did a lot of trail work on it the following season so they could get their pack animals in .. trail work in the pnw just never ends .. i fear there will be a lot of damage as soon as the snow melts and it can be seen .. like that huge avy on the royal basin trail ..

    you know your sore feet will be a distant memory in no time 😉

    Reply

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