Olympic National Park, Washington
In August of 1997, three friends and I flew out to Olympic National Park with a goal of spending 8 days on the trail, and finishing a loop from the Deer Park trail-head.
Day One: We drove from Seattle 
to Port Angeles, WA and had to
pick up some supplies so we checked out some outfitter stores,
but found the best stuff at an Ace hardware in town! They had
topo maps and everything. After our last fast food meal for a
while we drove up the winding road to Deer Park. We got on the
trail after a group shot 
and started out. 
The trail dropped a couple thousand feet in 3.5
miles and turned out to be a tough start. 
We found a campsite with a
shelter to hang our food and packs, ate dinner, played a little
frisbee and crashed.
Day Two: The morning started out
nice, 
but after a while started raining. (little did
we realize it would not quit). We soon broke out the ponchos 
and after six miles we found a
shelter and called it home for the night. We knew there were mice
that lived here, but didn't think they would crawl on us at
night. They got into some of our food too. We would not stay in
another shelter.
Day Three: We wake up to the
pleasant sounds of rain, eat breakfast and head out. Today we
cross Gray Wolf Pass but not before crossing the river several
times across bridges made from tree trunks, 
we all made it. The hike up the
pass was incredible!
I told myself if I didn't start
taking some pictures, I would be sorry, so in spite of the rain,
I finished a roll 
and started on another. 
The switchbacks were steep, all loose rock and twice we had to
cross snow, 
the wind that blows up from the
valley was getting strong and we had to be sure of a good
foot-hold, if we had slipped we would have slid a hundred feet or
so. No one did, but we had the cameras ready. The wind got worse
as we got to the top of the pass. The wind blew my poncho in
front of my face so I couldn't see where I was going. After
reaching 6500 feet we started a climb down. the clouds broke long
enough to enjoy a view of the valley 
and we stopped for lunch. 
After a while we saw a huge buck in the meadow
and spied on him for a while. One of the guys knee was giving him
some problems and we slowed down, but it was hurting him quite a
bit and we divided some of his weight, and later decided to abort
the hike and take the trail out to Dosewallips. The camp we found
"Bear Camp" had no shelter, so we ate trail mix for
dinner and called it a night. Day Four: Ken and Steve got an
early start, Paul and I packed up and caught up later about the
time they ran into a Ranger who was not helpful or optimtistic
about our situation. We decided Paul and I will go ahead and find
a ride to our car. About two miles from the Ranger Station we met
up with Jake, a High School Senior to be, out for his last outing
before school, and he offers to drive us out to Deer Park. His
car, a 70's Volarie get us out to the main highway, but his oil
pressure was at 0. I put a quart of oil in but it didn't even
register on the dipstick. We coasted down to a small store and
bought Jake some oil. I put 5 more quarts in. We head for a gas
station down the road leaving a rainbow oil trail behind us.
Well, were by a phone at least. After calling a transit service,
they try to find a driver, but we end up paying two guys $60 to
drive us out. This car made it, but I'm not sure how. On the way
back, we stop for a quick bite a McD's (yes I got something for
Steve and Ken). We got to the trail- head around 9:00 pm and
found their camp site in the dark. It's still raining but we set
up the tent anyway.
Day Five: We drive from camp a Dosewallips and find a nice place for breakfast. We found hotel in Forks, where we wash and dry our stuff out. It starts to rain again as we visit the coast. Steve buys dinner.
Day six: We drive to the Ho Rain
Forest and it starts raining. 
We decide to drive down the
coast to Oregon. ( Or-gen )
We want to camp but it threatens rain so we
stay in a hotel and cook dinner.
Day Seven: We cook breakfast and head out, We stay near Mt. Adams and find a campsite, only because of cancellations (Labor Day weekend). But it didn't rain!
Day Eight: We visit Mt. Adams, 
and Mt. St. Helens, 
we find a camp site near Mt. Rainer. (still no
rain)!
Day Nine: We get to Mt. Rainer early and actually see it with no clouds. Steve had been here three other times and not been able to see the mountain. We drive back to Seattle.
All images Copyright 1997 Rick Veldman all rights reserved.