Aurora Ridge Trailhead is 2.5 miles up the Sol Duc Hot Springs Road, west of Lake Crescent in the Olympic National Park.
Month: February 2015
Aurora Ridge Trail, Olympic Nat’l Park near-in backcountry, some safe route-finding, sedate splendor, light usage
Aurora Ridge Trail runs 16 miles along Aurora Ridge, which borders the south side of Lake Crescent, in the northwest of Olympic National Park. Its Aurora Ridge Trailhead is on the Sol Duc Hot Springs Road. The trail climbs the west end of the ridge gradually, eventually gaining 3,000 feet, before ending in the east – still in high country – at the intersection with Aurora Divide Trail.
Aurora Ridge, Olympic Nat’l Park
Happy Lake Ridge
Elwha Basin river crossing alternative stream-crossings are an underrated hazard
Elwha Basin
Elwha Basin river crossing alternative describes a good way to avoid the standard crossing of the Elwha River, near its headwater, usually as part of using the Elwha Snow Finger route between the high-country and the lowlands (and the official trail system). The Elwha, though small here, is steeper than it looks: the normal crossing-point is impossible in any kind of high water; it is frequently dangerous, and usually difficult. There is a ready and favorable alternative, using the lower toe of Mount Seattle, which in the map-crop is the prominent ridge between the main river and Elwha Basin Way Trail, and the southern part of the Basin. … cont’d >
Elwha Snow Finger, Olympic Nat’l Park
Elwha Snow Finger is an important and rather unusual route-feature that greatly facilitates traveling between the Olympic Mountains core high-country terrain, and the adjoining lowlands (and official trail system). It is a 2 mile long linear canyon, with a narrow perennial snowfield filling the bottom. It is very easy to walk on.
At the far south end of the standard Traverse, the standard take-out is via . Many people over many decades have strolled down the narrow, linear, snow-packed gorge. But the creek-sized Elwha River has a large cavern underneath, and at the opening a gentle blast of chill air blows out … all of it was warm summer air drawn in and passing its calories to the perennial snow-mass. Reports of accidents on the Snow Finger are not common, but it doesn’t take an in-depth study of this exceptionally handy little snow-highway, to get the uncomfortable feeling that maybe we’ve been lucky.
To not use the Snow Finger would mean added work & time, but it need not be a lot, nor unrewarding in itself. There are two categories of options, one to stay low & close, and the other to hold high and away from the Elwha-channel. Staying low, one must not get too far down-slope, without getting back from extremely rough conditions along the stream-channel. Staying high is attractive, but eventually requires losing elevation faster. Concern with rotten snow is less near the top, beginning at Dodwell-Rixon Pass, and becomes greater further downstream.
A meaningful upside to abandoning the Snow Finger, will be cutting out the crossings of the small but very steep Elwha River. Although shallow, the water is fast and can be shockingly powerful. This seeming-piddling stream can be the diciest part of the whole Traverse, and not-using the Snow Finger can eliminate it. Again, the caveat is chutes and rough-spots on the lower and mid slopes of the ridge between Mount Barnes and Mount Wilder, the ridge that is the feasible ground. It looks good at the high elevations, but will require route-picking to avoid issues down-slope. These lower slopes are on good display from the Elwha Basin, and along the path that arches up through it & back down to the base of the Snow Finger (which is the standard way to avoid the cliffs & chasms adjoining the Elwha erosion-channel). The Basin gains considerable elevation, beyond & above the path, with few obstructions of the view of the Barnes-Wilder face across the river.
This Barnes-Wilder Ridge was ascended from the far Goldie River side in 1889-90, by the Press Expedition, and they then descended the Elwha-side of it to a point near where we would today, to rejoin the Elwha River Trail. The Press group was doing the same thing that one would, staying on the high ground above the Snow Finger.
Bailey Range Traverse, Olympic Nat’l Park a sensible but significant off-trail adventure in Olympic Park
Mt Carrie and Mt Fairchild from Mt Fitzhenry
Bailey Range Traverse is an unofficial, informal hiking-route over about 15 miles of the interior, core Bailey Range ridge-massif of the Olympic Mountains, within the Olympic National Park. Much of it has an easily-followed path, but there are sections that become unclear and uncertain, and thus can be especially memorable. Perennial – and varying – snow patches, fields and glacier-remnants exist in the south, upper, far-interior section. Hazards are generally mild, but it is rough terrain, and isolated. Weather is a large factor, especially on longer outings. Actual travel distance is at least half again the air-miles, and some parts can be slow or ‘tedious’. The full tour including approach & exit usually takes a week; hot-doggers post quicker transits, and the luckier folks take longer. The core portion alone is a good 3-day project. … cont’d >
Bailey Range, Olympic Nat’l Park geology of tectonics & subduction on exhibit in Olympic Mountains
eastern Bailey Range, outer Mt Carrie
Bailey Range is a major ridge and spine of the core Olympic Mountains, technically beginning from Mount Olympus itself, spiralling north and northwest through the northwest quadrant of Olympic National Park, then tapering & bifurcating beyond into civilian and timberland parts of the Olympic Peninsula. Official trails end at – ‘dare not to enter’ – the main interior Baileys, and (thus) hiking the core Bailey Range Traverse along informal routes is a prize feather in the backpacker’s hat … and its reputation is well-earned. … cont’d >
Hammock camp an approach to promote Dispersed Camping, for impact-reduction
Steep camp on Mt. Fitzhenry
Hammocks are usually seen as a way to rig a suspended bed, to avoid having to lay down on the uncomfortable ground, to sleep. However, a hammock-suspension that supports the whole weight of a person is way more than strong enough to also support a tent or tarp shelter, which are insignificant loads in comparison.
The first priority with hammock-promotion might be to avoid damaging the trees. Pick support-trees that are plenty big enough. Leave branches and boughs that are in the way, rather than clearing them. The idea isn’t just to sling a hammock, but to create a “leave no trace” campsite. The hammock-rig enables camping over ground-surfaces that are too sloped or uneven for a tent, or to sleep on.
At low elevations there are lots of sturdy, tall trees. In the high-country, trees may be scarce, short, small and weak-rooted; suitable guy-trees might then receive excessive use. In such situations, only rock should be used for guying. In sparsely-treed terrain, concentrating on a few sites with good guy-trees will again concentrate usage and lead to cummulative impact-effects.
Use a separate (wide) nylon-web strap or runner, to attach the main guy lines to trees. Don’t just pass a small-diameter high-strength line around a tree, and then load it with hundreds of pounds. Make sure the force is spread over a suitable surface-area of the trunk. Pad-material under a strap offers added protection & benefits.
Anchor-straps need to be wrapped several times around an anchor-trunk. A single wrap creates a tourniquet or choke-collar, amplifies pressures on the bark, and is liable to cut or wear into tree-bark. Using 3 or 4 wraps halts this cinching-effect, distributes pressure & force evenly around the circumference, and is also a more-stable and secure guyline anchor.
Secondary guylines are an important enhancement. The main anchor-points need to be placed high enough to get the camp up off the ground, but secondary anchors can and should be fixed at or near ground-level. Secondaries relieve some of the pressure applied by the main anchor-straps, and can eliminate side-pull. Secondary anchors don’t apply much side-force, but do pull up. Smaller trees can be used for secondaries, but beware of uprooting.
Both the main anchors and especially secondary guy-anchors are potentially subject to axial slippage. The anchor-strap can slide down or especially up an anchor tree-trunk. The lowest base of a tree also has more taper or flare, which facilitates up-slippage. Boulders or rock outcrops used for low-point anchors can be particularly prone to sudden up-slippage. An anchor-strap can suddenly ‘pop-off’ the rock. Pad-materials offer increased & improved grip for the strap, reducing slippage.
The first line of defense against the axial-slippage hazard, is to manually tug straight up on a newly-rigged low-point (secondary) anchor-strap. If it won’t come off or slide up when pulled straight up, then it will be even more secure when pulled at a lower side-angle.
Longer guys allow increased flexibility of rigging-configurations, and promote better anchor-physics (because the angles are lower). Newer synthetic fibers permit very high loads on small-diameter (light-weight) lines, making extra-long guylines a practical backpacking option. Just don’t use these tiny lines for tying to trees, since they will readily cut-in.
High-strength tent-pegs should not be overlooked, for use as low-point and secondary guy anchors (ground-stakes). Tent-pegs don’t normally require high strength, and are subject to price & weight market-factors that tend to reduce their suitability, for high-load hammock-guying. Look for ‘serious’ pegs, made of advanced materials and costing more.
Side, lateral or deflection guying allows a main hammock-sling to be displaced or pulled sideways. The main camp-suspension does not have to be in a straight line between the main guy-anchors. Longer main guylines allow for more side-deflection (they also require stronger anchors, and line). Deflection allows a camp to placed over more-favorable ground, and in rock-country avoids being pulled in against the pitch.
Don’t side-deflect from an overly-high anchor-line (or one over open air or a cliff), to lower ground suitable for the camp. If the side-guying fails in such a situation, the camp will then swing back to the elevated position (or out over the cliff), and likely dump the hammock-occupant from a height.
External versus internal frame backpacks the external-frame is better; the cost is complexity
Backpacks come in either external or internal frame designs. Internal types dominate in the market today, due to two main factors. Most-conspicuously, but functionally secondary, is the popularity (or more accurately, prestige) of mountain climbing, rock-climbing, ice-climbing & etc. More-pragmatically & realistically, the problem with external frame designs is that they really need to be custom-fitted & adjusted. Mass-manufacturing cannot address this need well, and the design still inherently places complexity-demands on the user, even when it is implemented well. … cont’d >