While most visitors would prefer to hike Hurricane Ridge on the northern part of Olympic National Park, I decided to do a trail slightly off the beaten path. On the southeastern side of the park there is a magnificent rainforest which many of the locals rave about. But the Olympic Mtns are known themselves for their snow-capped majesty. I wanted a trail that gave me the best of both worlds, so I decided to start on the 10 mile Upper Quincene/Marmot Pass trail.
This trail had pretty much everything. Picturesque brooks babbling, moss growing on everything, mushrooms thriving like mounted wall lamps on the rainforest oak savanna, and Seattle Seahawks fans. This was the trail to be on.
About 3 miles into the trail I came across a beautiful waterfall and dipped my toes in. It was not long before I saw a whole crew of volunteers fixing and repairing part of the trail. I noticed their shirts read "Washington Trails Association," this is the same website where I had found the Marmot Pass trail, and I struck up a conversation. Apparently this team of volunteers is one of many project teams and these projects are available every weekend at different parts of the park.
One thing I noticed wherever I went in the park was an army of pink flowers storming across the countryside. It wasn't until I asked the park ranger did I find out that these are the famous smooth Douglas's that clump in the alpine wilderness.
Unfortunately this trail is pretty rocky and steep. The elevation gain is about 3500 feet, which isn't too bad going up, but can be dangerous coming down. A couple times I didn't look too carefully and I rolled my left ankle, so be careful.
But once you get to the top of the mountain, Marmot Pass greets you with some spectacular views of the Olympics. An even better view awaits those who brave the steep ascent to Buckhorn Mountain!
