The Kids in Coalpits

Grandpa Tom was up for a visit and Jacqueline had to work. So he and I took the kids out to the Coal Pits Wash area. I wanted to see what Zyla could do on a mostly flat trail. She has never been a very ambitious hiker as there are just so many different things to enjoy and really what is the purpose of going farther anyway. She is seeing new scenery everywhere. I took a risk by only taking the one baby backpack for Conrad. She started out great and even wore her backpack. We were moving along quite well for the first 1/2 mile. Then she got semi-distracted and disinterested.

 That is when I pulled out my secret weapon, some bunny crackers. I kept these in my pocket and Conrad and I led the way. Grandpa was behind her making sure she did not get too far behind. When she would get hungry for bunny crackers, she would suddenly spring ahead and come get one bunny cracker from me out of my pocket. Then it was back to just moseying along until another round of bunny crackers. This kept us moving along. We nearly made it to campsite #6, but at that point we finally got some shade from some rocks near us and decided to pull out Conrad and get a larger snack then bunny crackers. At this point we were a mile and a half in and just hopeful that Zyla could continue it for the next mile and a half back. She did fantastic on the way back. She really got excited about the hills. There really are not many out in the Coalpits area, but Zyla really enjoyed them.
 They were only there when the trail crossed a wash. On the way down, she would hold one of our hands, but on the way up she would want to do it herself. So here was my little girl in a dress scrambling up these steep little hills. It was so cute and it made her daddy pretty proud. We seemed to make good progress all the way back and by lunch time we were out and back to the trailhead. I felt like we had maxed out what Zyla was capable of doing on her own and now it was back home for the afternoon nap.  

Bailey Range: Day 5: Out the Elwha

It was the last day and it had been such a great trip. Never once had we had any issue with the weather except for the mildly intense heat. I couldn't say that we were excited to be done because then it just meant back to responsibilities, well for me at least, but we had to know what was going on with fantasy baseball.
I had a slim lead when we left and I was hoping that I could keep it. The morning started out with a finish of our hot food and then we got the packs loaded for the last trip out. There was a short bit of uphill first that brought us to an incredible view looking back toward the Bailey's. They were not washed out this morning and it was hard to believe that we had spent the week hanging out in those amazing mountains. It was time to leave, though so we bid adieu. Then it was a seemingly endless amount of switchbacks downhill. This would be quite the workout to come up this hill. Right now, though it was just a constant down turning right then left.

 Then eventually we reached the Elwha River. We were somewhat excited to see our first group of people here. They were some middle aged ladies out for an afternoon hike. We began seeing more and more people as we crossed the bridge. One guy knew that we had come from the Bailey's and asked how Cream Lake was doing. He was in his 70's and looked as if he longed to be in our shoes for the past couple of days. I could understand if he had been out there a few times. We went through the endless signs and junctions of the Elwha until we made it back to the trailhead with a 14 mile day behind us. We were happy to be back to the car and I still held my slim lead in fantasy baseball. It would be nice to fly back to my family, but there is no beating the wilderness of the Olympic Mountains during a perfect week in the month of September.

Bailey Range: Day 4: Crisler's Ladder

Day four had arrived and this one was going to be a big one. We would have to go over a mountain and down another to reach a place where we could then traverse over to the old trail. Sounds simple enough. We began our hike at dawn going past the lake with floating bergs and then up the slopes of Mt. Ferry. Both Dad and I picked different directions to go up the mountain, but each led to a ridge that we followed over. We had to think about it a bit, but the easiest way definitely was the right way and the path that we were taking put us right below the summit.

 We wandered on over to the top of the mountain. I thought I was going to get a few more summits on this trip, but it still felt good to be on top of Mr. Ferry. The rock was incredibly jagged and thin. It did not give me much confidence as to its stability. After topping out, we now had to figure out how to get off the other side of the mountain. No options looked good, but we did find the semi-remnants of an old cairn. I looked down from there and did not think it could be right. Dad didn't either, but he found another way that he thought was right. It wasn't and despite my warnings about trudging out into the unknown, he seemed to have no problem giving it a try.

I went to the other side to see where he was going and he was sliding down a path to nowhere. He finally listened to me and came back up, but it could have turned out worse. When he got back up, we went back to the cairn and this time it was my turn to give something a shot. I could look down and see that this was the right way to go as soon as I committed. The problem was that it sure didn't feel right. I got myself committed and eventually saw myself side stepping over to a rocky spot with my body nearly vertically into the semi-sandy steep slope. I made it down, but if I would have got any momentum it could have been easy to slip and get myself injured or worse.

 Dad seemed to pick a better path down the steep drop off and then we were back on the path of use for the time being. This led us first down, down, down until we started to climb up. It seemed like an excessive amount of time that we were on this ridge heading toward Mt. Ludden. It honestly felt like it would be easy to just scramble to the top of Mt. Ludden, but Dad said the route was actually from the saddle between Scott and Ludden below. Eventually the path hit a place where going up was not possible anymore and this was the spot it started dropping steeply down to the saddle.

We had to get off the path at one point and just follow a ridge down to the trail. I beat Dad down, but he joined me eventually where we got water and lunch from this beautiful open meadow with water flowing through it. This was not our destination for the day, though and after lunch it was back to hiking again. We were first descending off the saddle and then traversing over to what would be called Crisler's Ladder, a very steep bunch of roots that descended into a gully. This was the first time on the trip that it seemed Dad had slowed us down being in his 60's. He truly is in excellent shape to be able to do such a challenging hike at his age. The heat was getting to him a bit, though, and I could understand as he had not spent the whole summer hiking in 100 degree heat like I had. We kept moving though and the drop offs here made me slightly nervous, though there was good vegetation everywhere. Eventually we were at Crisler's Ladder.

We just handed packs down and then made the down climb without any issue. This put us in a gully that dropped steeply away for who know how many hundreds or thousands of feet. We got some water and snacks here. Then it was up and nearly straight up. This was definitely the steepest part of the entire trip. We followed a trail for some of it, but then it split in different directions and we questioned our decision. I was moving along great, but Dad was going slow, so I should have found the way, but I didn't. I froze at a particular spot not knowing how to manage it with a full pack. Dad caught me and gave it a try. It worked and so I hesitantly followed him and to my surprise, it landed us on the old trail from Dodger Point. At one point, there were grand ideas of connecting the high divide with Dodger Point. It was never finished, though.

This one was truly blasted out of the walls, because it really hugged them closely. It was still very exposed as there had been many rockfalls on this trail. It seemed like a long duration of time before we finally hit good trail and our first sign in days. We soon set up camp and the bugs were pretty bad. We hung out for a while, played cribbage, and ate dinner. After dinner, I decided to make a quick hike to the top of Dodger Point. It was sure nice to be on good trail as I felt like I flew to the top of the point and then back down. Up on top was a lookout and some washed out views of the surrounding peaks. Compared to the views we had for the past 3 days, being on Dodger Point gave a great view of the forests, but not of the peaks. Then it was back to camp to get some rest to prepare for the long hike out on good trail. 

Bailey Range: Day 3: Ferry Basin

This was supposed to be our easy day since we had such a long day the previous one. So we got a casual start enjoying the sunrise and the mosquitoes that came with it. Needless to say, it was not long before we were moving again. Our path followed the creek that drained into Cream Lake. We had to pull out the map quite frequently on this one to make sure we were heading the right direction. There were options all around and every direction seemed inviting. We climbed out of the river valley at one point and onto the grassy slopes above.

 Here the views were amazing and made the entire trip worthwhile already. There were lakes that we would stumble upon, beautiful meadows with awesome flowers, and excellent waterfalls to enjoy. All this while casually gaining elevation in a trailless wilderness. It really could not be beat. Eventually we came to a point that was above treeline and there were our three lakes in Ferry Basin which was our goal for the day. We wandered around until we found an appropriate spot for a campsite. We set up the tent, played some cribbage, and had some lunch.

 Now we had the entire afternoon. There were some peaks above us including Mt. Ferry and Mt. Pulitzer that looked interesting to climb. Ferry was going down tomorrow, Pulitzer looked like more than I was wanting to take on by myself.

It was 3-4 class and given that Carrie was supposed to be class 2, I decided to focus my wandering elsewhere. I went up to the small unnamed peak that rose over the tarn below that we were camping at. It took a slight bit of scrambling to gain the summit, but without the full pack on, I sure wouldn't have called it difficult. The view from up top was just amazing. Dad said later on that he was sure that there would be many days that he wished he could just be in this spot that we were in now without having to do all the work to get there. I couldn't agree more because it didn't get too much more scenic and wild than this.

I wandered on down the other side of the peak and then back to camp. Most of the rest of the day was spent playing cards, taking dips in the freezing cold lake, and reading in the hot sun. We learned later on that there were records set for high temperatures on that day in Western Washington. We could feel it because even though we were camped right below a lake with snow drifting in it, we still were trying to avoid the sun which above treeline is nearly impossible. At least there were no mosquitoes at this elevation. It was a warm night, which was strange because during the previous one at lower elevation we had some frost when we awoke. This one it was tough to stay cool enough. 

Bailey Range: Day Two: Cream Lake

This was by far our longest day of the entire trip. There was a lot to try to fit in so we got an early start. We awoke to Mt. Olympus and a perfect sunrise. We were going to have good weather on this day also and that was a must. We started up the steep trail after breakfast and packing up. I hung with my dad for a short period until we were at the base of the slopes of Mt. Carrie.

Having climbed the peak before, Dad left me to go scramble up the peak alone. I dropped my pack in a clump of trees and then started to ascend the steep slopes. I made it over the grassy treeline and on to the rocky ridge. This I followed up until I got to a great basin with the peak's summit rising just above me. I was going to have to traverse over to it. Now the guide books make it sound like not a big deal to get to the top of Mt. Carrie, but I was having some issues. The talus slope did not provide me good footing and there was no ridge line that would be good to walk.

 I made it just below the summit and I could tell that if I could make it past this steep crux I would obtain the summit. The fact was, though, that I was out there by myself and it would be easy to make one slip and get myself rather injured. So my nerves got the better of me and I decided to turn around. It was a frustrating choice because I might have been able to push through it. I did not want to ruin the trip or myself in the process, though. So I flew down the slopes as quick as I could to pick up my heavy pack again.

 I was once again on the "trail". This was a  path of use made from trips through the Bailey's. It traversed the steep slopes and frequently I looked down to see thousands of feet falling away below me. I would traverse until I got to a steep flowing creek where I would have to negotiate some steep obstacles to get back on the mainly flat path. Eventually, I ran into Dad again who was slightly nervous about me getting back from the peak. I took a while trying to find the route. I had to tell him that I chickened out of it. He did not seem too bothered by that.

 Then we continued traversing until we made it to Eleven Bull Basin. Finally, I could relax a little bit. Here we had a more open basin without sheer drop offs. I felt like I was taking many steps to make sure I did not stumble and now I could open up my gait a little bit. This did not last long, though, and soon once again we were negotiating the steep slope with amazing views. This place was spectacular. It was wild and pristine. It really was kept so much in its natural state just by how difficult it was to access.

Not soon enough, the steep, open slopes gave way to a tree lined forested area. Our goal for this day was to get down to Cream Lake. I could see a lake below us, but unfortunately it was not Cream Lake. Instead, we followed a use trail until we came to a junction that was cairned. The nice part about out here was that the cairns were few and in the correct places. The problem was that after this we were in the trees. We followed some open meadows that just led to more trees. We were avoiding a big bunch of slide alder that had come down in an avalanche.

 Whether this was productive or not, it is hard to say because eventually we found ourselves just fighting the trees anyway. We traversed until we were directly above Cream Lake and then we descended steeply. It was very relieving to finally make it down to the shores of this mosquito infested lake. Immediately the first thing that I did was jump right into the lake for a dip. It had been a hot day and I was dirty and sweaty. This was great relief to jump into the cool waters, but quickly I had to get some long sleeves on to keep the mosquitoes away. We found a campsite slightly removed from the lake where the mosquitoes were not so bad. We would wake up in the morning and start hiking again feeling good about the progress that we had made on this day. 

Bailey Range: Day 1: Boston Charlie's

Well, I had been excited about this trip for quite some time. My dad had stories of him doing the Bailey Range Traverse when he was younger. It sounded exciting, adventurous, and beautiful. We tried to do this hike several years ago, but the snow was just too deep for when we wanted to go. So I planned it for a month later in September when we surely would not run into snow, but we could run into bad weather. We watched the weather and so far, it looked immaculate. We were lucky. So I flew out from Vegas and dad picked me up at the airport.

That night we were packing and the next morning we were to get up and go. We first drove a car over to the Elwha where we would be coming out and left it there. Laura gave us a ride over to Sol Duc where the start of our hike began. We had to hike up above Sol Duc Falls and up into the High Divide near Heart Lake. Strangely, I had already done this hike 11 years earlier while a junior in college. The day was just perfect and we moved steadily uphill. I was excited to be back in the lush forest with the big trees and the moss growing thickly next to the trail.

Our plan, though, was to not stay in the trees for long. Soon we were moving up into the high mountain meadows. Here we had our permit checked by a volunteer backcountry ranger. I told her that I did the same thing in Zion and Dad had some bad joke for her about doing this hike before she was born. I told him that we hated comments like that. Thus she didn't talk to us for too long. As we hiked along, many hikers and backpackers would stop to converse with us. When we told them that we were going into the Bailey's the common expression was "Be safe".

This made me kind of wonder how difficult of a trip we were embarking upon. The trail was definitely not that quiet and as we left Heart Lake, it seemed like there were folks all around. From Heart Lake we continued on an old trail that would eventually dead end in a steep climb up was called the Cat Walk since it hugged the slopes of Cat Peak. I heard that this was the steepest part of the trip. It turned out to be steep, but not horrible. There were places of exposure, but nothing that could not be managed even with a full pack on. I left Dad to make his way up as I hiked out to Boston Charlie's camp.

When I made it to Boston Charlie's, it was pretty distinguishable by a small flat spot and a small pool of water. I dropped the pack and looked back for Dad. He was moving along pretty well and soon made it to camp. We set up here for the night looking down a beautiful valley below us. If we climbed to the edge of the other side of the saddle, we could see Mt. Olympus from there. This was a pretty fantastic spot. We assumed we had it all to ourselves, but then another young guy from Seattle came wandering in about an hour from dark. He wanted to set up camp for the night and we were fine with it. After thinking about it a bit, he decided to try to make his way over to Eleven Bull Basin. We were fine with this, too. He would be the last person we would see until the last day of the trip.