Hoh River Trail, Olympic NP
Posted: May 14th, 2019, 6:16 am
Betsy and I hiked the Hoh River Trail from May 10-13. We drove up there on the 10th and headed in at 2:30 and hiked 5 miles to Five Mile Island Camp. Day 2 was 10 miles, and about 1500 feet up, to Martin Creek Camp, and then we dayhiked a bit higher. Day 3 we went back down to Happy Four Camp, which is near our first camp. Then out the next day.
Just a note that while many of Olympic NP's entrances are fee-free, this one is not: $30 to get in. And unlike many parks, backpacking permits are not free either: $8 per person per night. I suppose that's what it takes to keep trails like this open. I don't know for a fact how that monty is allocated, but take a look at some of the trail work in this report. Other trailheads may not have an entrance fee, but all have the backpacking permit fee.
Trailhead
Our camp was on the shore and you could easily wade over on to Five Mile Island. You could camp there too, though we didn't. On the far side of the island was this nice view of the Hoh River and some mountains.
Here is our camp and the small channel separating us from the island across it.
Betsy and a very big tree. Can you imagine what kind of chain saw this requires?
One of the elk we saw
Very strange thingee sticking out of a tree
More amazing trail work, note my trekking pole for scale
A very strange kind of fungus on a dead tree
A very normal kind of bridge in these parts
Ranger guard station at Olympus Camp. Yes, there is a Mt. Olympus above all this.
They were making cedar shakes, presumably to reroof that ranger station. Very fresh smelling.
Cedar with strange branch
High Hoh Bridge - the trail started climbing steeply just before this.
The Hoh River rushes through a very narrow gorge below the bridge at bottom, and Martin Creek joins in at the top of the photo.
Perfect trillium
View with Elk Lake below
From our camp on Martin Creek, we hiked up about 1.5 miles further to this viewpoint
Just a note that while many of Olympic NP's entrances are fee-free, this one is not: $30 to get in. And unlike many parks, backpacking permits are not free either: $8 per person per night. I suppose that's what it takes to keep trails like this open. I don't know for a fact how that monty is allocated, but take a look at some of the trail work in this report. Other trailheads may not have an entrance fee, but all have the backpacking permit fee.
Trailhead
Our camp was on the shore and you could easily wade over on to Five Mile Island. You could camp there too, though we didn't. On the far side of the island was this nice view of the Hoh River and some mountains.
Here is our camp and the small channel separating us from the island across it.
Betsy and a very big tree. Can you imagine what kind of chain saw this requires?
One of the elk we saw
Very strange thingee sticking out of a tree
More amazing trail work, note my trekking pole for scale
A very strange kind of fungus on a dead tree
A very normal kind of bridge in these parts
Ranger guard station at Olympus Camp. Yes, there is a Mt. Olympus above all this.
They were making cedar shakes, presumably to reroof that ranger station. Very fresh smelling.
Cedar with strange branch
High Hoh Bridge - the trail started climbing steeply just before this.
The Hoh River rushes through a very narrow gorge below the bridge at bottom, and Martin Creek joins in at the top of the photo.
Perfect trillium
View with Elk Lake below
From our camp on Martin Creek, we hiked up about 1.5 miles further to this viewpoint