Olympic Mountains Loop
Day 2



We awoke to more clear skies and were packed up and on the trail by 7:55 am. This day we had to drop 2 miles down to the Duckabush River losing 1400'. From there we headed west, up the river, to Marmot Lake and then up again to LaCrosse Basin with Hart and LaCrosse Lakes. Gary and I had long wished to visit this alpine highland. Initially we planned to camp at Lake LaCrosse but began to thing about camping at Marmot Lake and day hiking up to the basin. The trail was in good shape down to the Duckabush. Logs had been sawed out the first day but most of the rest of the way we had recent down logs to get over. Not really very many to deal with. This would prove to be the last hot day. Back up into the 80s even at over 5000'.

The Upper Duckabush trail was frustrating. Many ups and downs seemed to gain us little elevation. The downs were often steep drops to overgrown meadow creek crossings and then steeply up again. This might not have been a problem with light day packs but with a little over 30 lbs. on my back it was tedious. There were a few really nice waterfalls above us that helped pass the time. One group we talked to had hiked on a much hotter day earlier in the week and had taken 10 hours to reach Marmot Lake from Nine Stream. At long last we dropped down again and reached the crossing of the Duckabush.

The folks we met at  Home Sweet Home were day hiking to LaCrosse Basin and they caught up with us here. We pumped some water and started up the final push to Marmot Lake. The good news is that the trail was graded steadily uphill. The bad news is it was largely out in the very warm sunshine. This was the last and the worst hot section of the trip for me. We soon reached Marmot Lake and decided to camp there. The group site as large enough but had a lot of roots. Tough to fit in three tents. We were the only ones who camped at the lake that night.

With camp set up we headed up the trail to LaCrosse Basin with much lighter packs. This was the spot Gary and I had wanted to see for many years. A short steep .60 miles and we reached a junction. Left to Hart Lake and right to Lake LaCrosse. We headed for Hart Lake first. A lone hiker now caught up and passed us. He started at Obstruction Point at the north end of the park. A short half mile trail brought us to Hart Lake. It is much larger than Marmot Lake and sits in a bowl. Steep hillside on three sides and nearly flat grass where we reached it. Our friends from Home Sweet Home were enjoying a stay at the lake. We had other plans.

When Opus visited a month earlier he took a trail to the pass north of the lake and then dropped down to the trail that traverses above the East Fork of the Quinault River and the Enchanted Valley. We were mostly interested in reaching the ridge top. The trail climbed steeply then more gently our of the Hart Lake Basin into a higher one then up the grassy slopes to the pass. There were tarns in the upper basin though they were mostly dry already. We received quite a surprise as we topped out on the ridge top. Below us the Enchanted Valley was under a thick layer of fog/clouds. We were in hot sunshine and a just below us it was damp and dark. We took a break at what we referred to as Hart Pass enjoying the views.

After a while we headed north from the pass. John and Gary went ahead. I sat in the shade and relaxed.  A little later they hollered my name and I headed up the ridge. Easy scrambling brought me to the little summit they were enjoying. The views were much better from there. Lake LaCrosse was now visible below. Peaks stood out on all sides. At the head of the Quinault Valley stood the West Peak of Mt. Anderson. A glacier stood out against the bare rock. An alpine lake on one side, a glacier ahead, and a cloud filled valley on the other side. What a neat spot! I would not have minded spending a few hours up there but we had more to see.

We headed back to the pass then down the trail. A little cross country travel on open terrain brought us to the trail to Lake LaCrosse. More berries here just like so many other places on this trip. Very surprisingly, with all those ripe berries we did not see a single bear for the five day trip. The lake is 1.4 miles from Marmot Lake. Some ups and downs and then we crossed the outlet and dropped to the 4754' lakeshore. No disappointments. This basin and lake was every bit as beautiful as we had hoped. Grass and heather ringed the lake with pockets of evergreen trees. A good place to dip ones feet in the water and relax. As I sat by the lake clouds from over the Enchanted Valley spilled across the ridge. They disappeared in the hot air of the basin. Quite an unusual sight.

All to soon we packed up and headed back. The basin is not flat and we had several hundred feet of elevation to gain back to the Hart Lake junction. There were still some wildflowers blooming in the basin. The most numerous was gentian. This late season bloomer was seen in many places on our trip. We dropped down to our camp near Marmot Lake and cooked dinner. Later we took a walk over to the lake. We could see that clouds were now sometimes obscuring O'Neil Pass. The weather was changing. By 9:00 pm we were off to bad. Still three more days to go.

For the day we hiked about 9.3 miles with 3150' of elevation gain.


064
First Divide From Camp
068
Junction Sign
070
Creek Crossing
078
White Fungus
081
Into The Brush
087
Nearby Waterfall
090
Crossing Duckabush
093
Filtering Water
094
Dragonfly
097
Butterfly
102
Gentian
108
Marmot Lake
110
Marmot Lake Signs
112
Campsite Night 2
114
Clouds Down Valley
121
Hart Lake
125
Above Hart Lake
127
Nearing "Hart Pass"
128
Improving Views
132
Above Sea Of Clouds
133
Thick Fog Below
142
Lake LaCrosse View
146
Guys On Summit
147
Edge Of Fog
151
Clouds & Basin
155
Me On The Summit
159
LaCrosse Basin
162
Hart Lake Below
163
Mt. Duckabush
170
Descending To Basin
176
Lake LaCrosse Shore
182
Clouds Roll In
189
Lake LaCrosse
192
Another Lake Shot
198
Mt. Steel
200
Nearby Peaks
217
Crossing Meadows
220
Duckabush Valley View
224
Marmot Lake Reflection
228
Evening @ Marmot Lake
Click on thumbnails to get larger pictures.

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Olympic Mountains Loop Report

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