Train Conditions: https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/wilderness-trail-conditions.htm
“Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains”
You’re looking for new destinations and straightforward accurate trail descriptions. This is the only book ever written that is focused exclusively on Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains. You won’t find seventeen of these loops in any other trail guide. One of the loops may never have been hiked. Start planning now.
I’m experienced and informed. I’ve spent the majority of my life up against the Olympic Wilderness, in all seasons and conditions. I’ve backpacked and climbed in the Olympic Mountains extensively. While volunteering at Olympic National Park Visitor Center. I’ve helped thousands find their way and improve their Olympic Experience; now I’m here to help you.
“Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” is precise and informative. The “Skyline-North Fork Quinault” loop for example exemplifies the useful quality of this book and justifies its value to all adventurers in the Olympic Mountains. Timothy D. Paschal
Where to buy “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains”?
Search the last pages of this issue.
Weather
Weather is with us always or viewed differently, weather is with us in various ways. The current condition regarding weather is snow. The March 1st segment focused on snow as the seasonal interrupter of your hiking, whether training or just plain enjoyment.
The long-range weather prediction cites warmer and drier days starting in the tail end of March and runs clear through to September, when it will change. That said, the weather in spring and summer will also include short rainy periods, usually two to five days. Windstorms, of short duration, may require you to hunker-down and wait, measured most likely in hours.
The longest days, from late May through the end of July, also deliver the hottest days. Those couple of months and their heat will have a great effect on water sources, creeks, streams, lakes, tarns and rivers. The first four that are a listed provide drinking water. Rivers, the fifth item beyond drinking, raises the issue of foldability.
The effect of climate change in the Olympic Mountains began to demonstrate in the effect of reducing glaciers and in many years reducing winters’ snowpack. This has practically been the case for water sources originating ice and snow on terrain facing south and/or west. A particular example is the Dungeness River drainage which faces south and west. As of this writing, the absence of any ice and smaller snow fields guarantees a much smaller rate of flow, especially by the beginning of summer and thereafter, until next spring. Even a summer rainstorm might raise the rivers but it will wane within a few days.
Are you prepared for the challenges in the Olympic Mountains?
From “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” pages 17-18
“The Wilderness will shape you. This truism certainly applies and subtlety affects your psychological side as well. Being prepared goes far beyond ensuring you’ve brought along enough energy bars. Resources, be they items or skills, are important but stamina both physical and mental, in direct proportion to the task at hand, must be along for the ride if the journey is to be reviewed as a success.”
Right now, building strength is a good way to get close to the wilderness by practicing your hiking skills and challenges: the weight of your pack, the length of your hike, your ability to sustain long steep trails, stepping up and down on stair-stepped rocks. Apply these hiking skills by training continuously as a replication of the time and terrain you believe your chosen hike contains.
Beyond a good way to build your strength, hiking in the Olympic Mountains is a glorious training facility carved out of what the wilderness offers. Remember that training is an incremental increase in strength and endurance if you stick to repetition.
Where and when will you be taking your longest hike for the upcoming season? Take a look at any of the Custom Correct Maps you may have. The map will give you a good deal of information such as: elevation gains over a particular distance, water crossings and rocky trails. Initially by the end of March trails are either inaccessible or their length is inhibited by accumulations of snow. These hurdles should not prevent you from hiking the terrain that is available like: roads that are closed or trails that are limited to a few miles or even less. You’re not going camping; you are building strength. Hiking up and down a road or a trail several times in your training day is what you need. Repeat and extend your hiking as spring turns to summer. The closer to summer you get the more, choices you will have.
By the time summer arrives, training continues by selecting open trails that have as many elements as possible that will exist within your goal—your longest hike of the season. The closer you get to your goal, the closer your training trails will condition you for success. When the time comes to hike your longest trail, you’ll be ready.
One of the keys to success in the Olympic Mountains is Custom Correct Topography maps. They are available at Discover Your Northwest.org, Brown’s Outdoor in Port Angeles or at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles. Start by looking at the ONP park map which covers all the trails in the park. If you are interested in loop hikes, buy a copy of “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains;” availability is listed at the end of this addition of Loophikes.com. “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” lists all the Custom Correct Maps needed for each loop hike. There are 27 loop hikes in the book that vary from 1.8 miles to 309 miles in length.
For example, take a look at the Hoh-Bogachiel Loop page 109, in “Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains.” The Custom Correct maps you’ll need are the “Mount Olympus, Climber’s” map and the “Bogachiel Valley” map. This trail may or may not entice you. Remember this is an example not a recommendation; there are plenty of other loops waiting for you.
Continuing with the example mentioned, there are several trail conditions that require training and the strength you’ll need to meet the challenges of this loop. The first challenge is 9 miles from the Hoh trailhead to the Olympus Shelter. However, you’ll only gain about 600 feet of elevation. What’s the challenge in a long and flat trail? The challenge is carrying a full load/weight on the first day of the loop if you intend to cover those 9 miles.
Leaving Olympus Shelter, you’ll still be carrying a nearly full pack. Your next challenge is a 5.2-mile hike to Hoh Lake with constant and difficult elevation gains. The first 2 miles’ gain is 1,235 feet per mile and the last 2-mile gain 1,080 feet per mile. This will be a rough day.
After Deer Lake, you’ll face a significant loss of elevation as you hike down trail to Twentyonemile Camp on the descending Bogachiel Trail. Your leg muscles work differently going down than going up. So, your training has to include going up and going down exercises. The more you train for up and down the better you’ll feel descending the Bogachiel Trail.
From Twentyonemile Camp to Flapjack Camp you’ll encounter a lot of thick brush. The next two days will be the toughest days on this whole loop. The only good news is that you’ve eaten your way into a lighter pack. The South Snider-Jackson Primitive Trail requires first: the fording of the Bogachiel River and then way-finding from the Bogachiel to the Hoh River. The trail is not maintained. Cluttered with windfall and having no markings will test what could be called way-finding-off-trail given the severity of the trail condition. In the first 5.5 miles you’ll climb 2,400 feet following the ridge above Tumwata Creek far below and then follows the ridge as it descends through another 5+ miles and deposits you on the Hoh River Road. The Hoh trailhead is about 6 miles up the road. Training for the South Snider-Jackson Primitive Trail requires a lot of stepping up and down over fallen trees and a lot of strength of spirit to withstand this large challenge.
Decisions
It’s the middle of March and you can start training in general even if you haven’t picked your longest hike for the upcoming season. The invitation is wide open, don’t delay. Make a training plan that requires building the right muscles, builds stamina and look through all your possibilities when trail picking time comes. Make certain that the chosen hike is doable. Keep in mind that each bit of training should be followed by some increment of expansion. Some days will be better than others, don’t let those rough days hold you back. Give it another try and rejoice that you are getting better tuned up for the hiking season in general and ready for your hike; the longest hike you’ve planned.
Repetition, repetition and repetition. You can do it. It’ll reward you. You have planned. You know who you are and what you can do. Make your choice, build your strength and focus on the challenges you’ll face. Get started, you’ll rejoice in the outcome.
“Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains” pages 12-13
“I believe the stories you’ll find in this book will help tip the scales in your favor giving you success and joy leaving less room for distress and gloom. Here I paraphrase Henry Ford, “one of the greatest discoveries a person makes, one of the greatest surprises, is to find you can do what you were afraid you couldn’t do.” Be as informed, observant and prepared for whatever you’ve chosen and understand and respect your limitations as you sort your options in the face of each and every challenge.”
Where to buy "Loop Hikes in the Olympic Mountains"?
Sequim and Port Angeles:
Pacific Mist
Dungeness River Nature Center
Port Book and News
Kitsap County:
Ballast Books, Bremerton
Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island
Liberty Bay Book Store, Poulsbo
The Internet:
VillageBooks.com
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Online
I’ve been writing about some of the elements of the book since March of 2023 and I will continue to do so. If you or your friends haven’t checked Loophikes.com lately, finally the book has been published and is on the shelves. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for. There is no better time to order your book. I’m certain that you’ll be pleased. The book is one-of-a-kind, informative and explores loop hikes that haven’t been published as a book. The “Grand Loop of the Olympic Mountains” is a loop that may not ever have been hiked. Whether you’re new at hiking or you’re an expert hiker, the book will be useful and helpful—and it will expand your collective experience.
Loophikes.com provides you with information about the book and information that is not in the book but is relevant to your understanding.
Loophikes@olympus.net provides you the ability to ask me questions and get answers to the best of my ability. All the answers will be available at loophikes.com without identifying the person who submitted the question.
All of the past articles beginning with March are accessible. Click here to visit the Archive page. Additionally, if you’re interested in what’s coming next, here they are:
April 1: Don’t depend on your hike of first choice; prepare a back-up destination.
April 15: It’s time to get a reservation for a longer hike later in the summer.
May 1: Exercise Your Gear.
Visit LoopHikes.com frequently. Photos, information and stories change periodically, but sharing information with you comes first. Questions? Contact me at LoopHikes@olympus.net. Your curiosity is the foundation of building a better understanding. Tell your friends.