July 31st, 2023

14.6 mi +3,306 ft/ – 2,831 ft

I did it! I got up only 20 minutes after my 6:00am alarm. So proud of myself, especially considering this was the coldest night. I can tell there is a lot of condensation on the inside of my tent too as when I sit up my head scrapes water off the ceiling. I unzip the tent and look at the thermometer outside, it reads 37F. Big change! It’s not that the elevation is even that high here, say 6,300 ft, but the environment is so different with mostly rock and very little vegetation. Even some snow.

I start boiling water right away then crawl out from the tent to fetch the bear canister. Not gonna lie, my body is super sore. Oof. What to do? My race is in six days including today, all I can think about is that I need an epsom salt bath and a massage! Hopefully by race day things will have settled down, I only have a couple thousand feet of climbing today over 14 miles to get back to my car, so this should not make it worse.

The plan now is to hike down through Grand Lake Basin, then climb up to Obstruction Point and connect with another segment of the PNT Alt which follows a cruisy ridge for several miles leading me back to my car. After that I have a three hour drive over to the Hoh Rainforest Trailhead where I do have a campsite reserved for tonight, about five miles in. I would like to get to that campsite, really like to, so that is why I am not sleeping in today. It doesn’t sound like any super challenging hiking, as the rainforest section should be relatively flat, but it’s still a three hour drive thrown in the middle of the day and with all the temptations of town. We’ll see!!

Just as I’m packing up there are sunbeams streaming over the ridge into this little basin. Where I’m going looks cold though so I keep my layers on. The trail is in fine shape and I drop lower and lower quite rapidly.

Soon I am in treeline again as I pass trickles of clear flowing water cushioned by that electric green moss I’ve seen all over. It’s the coolest!

Once in the Basin and approaching Grand Lake I see two deer quite up close. I stop to witness a few moments of their lives. It’s always wild to think how they live here, and they will be here even when I am gone. I think that often about all the things I pass by day to day in the wild. Especially water and waterfalls or creeks. In the deep of night, when I am back home months from now, laying in my bed, these waters will still flow, these creatures will still be on the hunt for food and shelter, these trees will still be breathing and exhaling, cells dividing.

And here I am, moving so fast. I have a long day ahead of me and I don’t stop for too long, no time to linger today, athough it would be all too easy to do so in such a Grand Valley.

By 10:00am I am at a trail junction and I have to make a decision. I can get up to Obstruction Point in two ways, one is to climb more directly over Hurricaine Ridge, the other is to travel down Badger Valley and then up to Deer Ridge. The mileage is about the same, either way I am about to start a hefty climb.

I choose the more direct way on account of all the driving I have to do later today. It is super steep and exposed as it’s a Westerly facing slope, hot, dry, crumbly. I notice on the climb my body feels good! You know that sweet spot of pack weight when you have like one day of food left? Why can’t it always be like this? Ha! Well, I am glad I feel good, glad my pains seem to have subsided and glad I am feeling strong.

Up on the ridge you can see the trail ahead for quite a long ways. It’s a super classic line of single track that would be so fun to run if I didn’t have my big ol’ pack. While I won’t be running I do pick up the pace and enjoy the speed at which I am moving, it feels like a good flow like a dance atop the ridge. The wind picks up considerably and I don’t want to stop to put a jacket on so I use my long ass hair as a scarf and it actually works really well. How have I not done this before?

The views from up here are spectacular! I can see the entirety of the interior mountain range of Olympic National Park and front and center is the towering, glacier covered Mount Olympus. Crazy to stare at it all from here and know that I will be climbing up that mountain’s ridge along Blue Glacier in just a day or two. I love that!

It’s a mind bender to comprehend the depth and drama of the topography here. You take a photo and it looks flat, like a non-dimensional image, but standing here, I can graze my eyes over all the ridges, valleys, edges, contours and snow-capped peaks. If one were to walk all the way over to Olympus it would indeed be a fair effort. I would like to do that someday actually!

Soon I am nearing the parking lot at Obstruction Point, the shiny metal of cars glimmers in the distance, I see little dots of color which are people. Suddenly I don’t want to be around people! See this is what happens when you’ve spent a few days alone in the woods, people, cars, civilization noises, it all feels like too much. I need to pee too and there is a restroom at the trailhead but I can’t bring myself to stop and use it. Instead, I round the edge of the pavement, snap a photo of the sign and continue on without hardly even stopping.

From here it’s about 7.5 miles to Deer Park where I will rejoin with my car. It feels super satisfying to make a loop out of this rather than an out-and-back, I am really pleased it worked out that way. The Deer Ridge Trail surprises me. It’s way more dramatic than I’d expected as far as exposure, views and terrain. Leaving the parking lot the trail actually climbs a bit more on a long, sweeping slope that eventually overlooks Badger Valley. It’s really cool to see where that other trail would have popped me up, it would have been super steep!

Maybe I’ll go that way next time, when I have a little more time to explore. I completely skipped going to Grand Lake as well, and that lake looks like a good swimmin’ lake if you ask me. Now that I’m up at the high point on the ridge I am meeting with the mist and clouds once again. They really have a life of their own, the way they billow over the trees, dip into the valleys and swirl around rock outcroppings. It changes the whole feel of the hike at this point, as just an hour ago I was climbing up that sunny ridge, sweating under the beating sun and now I am struggling to see more than 300 feet ahead as I search for a good place to pee and maybe take a lunch break. I want views!

I stop in a random spot where I can sit on the shale and gaze into the steep excarpments in front of me while the mist swirls in and out. I do have great views from up here so I decide to go ahead and make my lunch, as it’s nearing 1:00pm. I am hungry!

I don’t linger too long, but once I start moving again I am chilled and don my rain jacket and buff to keep me warm and keep the wind out. Shortly the trail enters some trees, though it’s not a green tunnel of any sort, it’s just a beautfiully tree covered slope along the contour of this ridge and the trail now dives and climbs repeatedly as it takes me eventually to a high point called Roaring Winds at elevation 6,000 ft. I don’t recall seeing this on my map, but it must be important as there is a sign. What does that mean? And yes, it is windy here. I bet it gets much much more intense, so intense they made a sign!

The trail begins to make a gradual, undulating descent now all the way to Deer Park. There are several steep sections that drop me more into the forest. In the thick of some moving fog along an open slope of drying grasses I witness a little family of Grouse. They are so fun to watch, I love how the Mama’s look out for their young with concern yet allow them to run about. One of the little ones is pretty far from everyone else, I talk to it, encouraging it to follow it’s family.

The final miles of the trail shoot me into a thicker forest with a more dense ground cover, some lovely wild lupines and a section of eerie moss covered decaying trees. As it drops it turns more into a green tunnel and the views are now all a memory. I get that feeling that the end is near, the trail widens out and of course, the last mile is a climb up to the dirt road. Of course!

When I get to the road, I take a little victory photo, even though I still have about a mile walk to my car, back to where I started, but I feel like this is a good spot. On the bulletin board there are two signs about Cougars. Apparently a lot of folks start their hike here.

One of the signs warns not to hike alone. Well it’s too late for that! I’ve still never seen a Cougar in the wild, but I know they’ve seen me. One day, it is bound to happen, I don’t fear it as much as I used to and I welcome the experience while at the same time I have a healthy respect for them. Getting to see wildlife has become one of the greatest joys of hiking for me, I think in part because it has become so rare.

When I get back to my car it’s 4:20pm. Late! Well, I already know I won’t be making it that extra five miles into the Hoh today. Oh well! Instead, I will just get myself there and car camp somewhere nearby. At least, that’s what I am thinking now. As I start to envision going into civilization I begin to hanker for real food, a glass of wine, a shower, what else? A swim? That would all be amazing. I am going to try to manifest as much of that as possible.

Next up: Hoh Rainforest and Blue Glacier!