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Absolutely gorgeous hike and backpacking trip at royal lake. The road to the trailhead is full of potholes in a few miles. Good elevation with full backpacks. Great views of Mt Deception at upper lake. Did day hike there. Waterfalls, deer, bunnies and marmots. Sublime!
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The views of the olympics are amazing. Full 360° views of the olympic range from this vantage point. Had a large section of snow to climb which was pretty sketchy to down climb without an ice axe. Micro spikes were a must in my opinion for as late as mid July.
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Great backpack. Crowded holiday weekend but awesome weather. Trail by river is passable. Few wild flowers.
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Off trail for some bushwhacking, easy stream crossing and more bushwhacking with a few hundred feet of elevation gain to a steepening snow climb to the summit. Crampons very helpful for the last 500’ vertical or so.
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Bike the road up to the ridge for the GHCoHP and just go for it. Fun little hike and scramble with moderate veggie belay and route finding between cliff-bands but well worth it. Ensure you walk the whole ridge so you definitely get the HP!
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Perfect day and conditions were just right. With some traction and poles you should easily reach summit
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Lovely 6 mile loop. Conditions are great, trail is clear. Some packed snow in parts, easy enough to navigate through with regular light hiking shoes...
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An amazing hike! This loop trail is 4.5 miles long and well maintained with lots of bridges and waterfalls. I would consider this a moderate trail with a faster elevation gain going clockwise.
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This is horrible trip that I continue to repeat. No for reals, bike to trail head and then the fun begins. Fill up in water at the trailhead in summer, next water is at the wall where you meet back up with the creek. It’s just you against the mountain.
Enjoy,
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This is a beautiful wooded hike with several bridges that cross several different creeks. Look for the “troll” under one of the bridges. Also lots of fun mushrooms.
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I love this non-technical but rigorous hike! There is a steep trail with root climbing, rock outcrop scrambling, and a ledge system on the upper slopes that take you to an unbeatable view of the Olympics, Hood Canal, and the Cascades. Care must be exercised, particularly with an unroped descent. A slip and fall could prove fatal!
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Trail in poor shape, some bushwhacking required. No decent lake access. Subpar views. This should be treated as a conditioning hike only. Aside from that the value is solitude.
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Beautiful, but strenuous hike with long, steep ascents/descents, some through primal forest. Not as difficult as guidebooks describe, but not to be taken lightly. The upper lake is both the biggest and most scenic with stunning views of sun/moon rising on the Sawtooths. No biting insects at all at the end of September. Good fishing! The solitude and serenity were delicious!
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Close to main road for some quick out and back time. Lots of trash and old car parts on the trail
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A shady hike to go on in the summer. Lovely forest. Lots of ups and downs going to and from our 5 mile turnaround mark. Eating lunch by the river at over the 5 mile mark was absolutely gorgeous. Very very spacious lots of smooth rocks to sit on for everybody, the water was clear and beautiful.
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This one has it all. Abandoned mines, plane wreckage (side trip), a cold lake to swim in, boulders to climb, EPIC views. Even a 4 mile road walk! 😉
If you’re planning to camp at the lake, get an early start. There’s only one camp spot on the lake, with a few more along the trail approaching it.
I recommend going clockwise and getting that road walk out of the way first.
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Great hike! Trail is well maintained and going up we took the summer trail which is going left.coming down we took the other trail and thats not even maintained and you need to look for it
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I was the only one on the trail on the way up. Tough hike (moderate) with good footing. My favorite. The summit was socked on so no views.
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The wildflowers were spectacular today, each meadow with different varieties— was misty and sweet — no long views, but lovely day (Denise and Lori)
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This part of the trail honestly isn't that much of a trip on its own. Bring bikes to get access in deeper.
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Many sections almost completely overgrown, including downed trees. The trail needs work. Also not terribly scenic, not much open space or overlooks. River is pleasant when you get down to it, some nice open campsites.
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This is always a fun loop hike. We usually travel counterclockwise but this time we went clockwise which gives you the elevation gain of the trip in a shorter number of miles. We went to the viewpoint which is always great. One thing that is special about this trail is it is in a constant state of improvement. Every time we go here, something about the trail is better than the last visit. The trail crews are putting in a huge effort here. The Big Creek Campground was full for this trip due to increased usage due to COVID-19 as well as the Beast of Big Creek Trail Race that took place in the morning. Also, with the Hamma Hamma and Lena Creek Campgrounds closed, it is driving more people here. In fact, we ended up camping at the Staircase Campground in the National Park for this trip and got the last available spot. Oddly, there weren’t a lot of hikers here at 1:00 PM despite the very large number of people up around Lake Cushman and, what the locals call, “Party Rock.” It was busier than I have ever seen it and there was a line of cars to get into Staircase. Overall, the area was very crowded but the trail was being underutilized.
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It was a beautiful hike, the wildflowers were quite impressive, the weather was sunny and calm, the trail conditions were excellent although, as described, it truly is a steep trail.
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Beautiful hike through mature and recovering forest. In late June 2020, the rhododendrons were well past peak. However, there were LOTS of other wonderful wild flowers. Great rainy day trail!
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The trail is very steep first. Start slow. But it does get better and better. Views are great.
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Kick in the pants! Straight up entire time. Calves burn way down. Pretty views up top but there are people who drove up there so it takes away a little from the experience. Great workout!
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Good hike! Lots of switch backs and rocky but trail well maintained. Lots of hikers.
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Beautiful native rhododendrons in full bloom at lower sections of trail. Upper sections not yet bloomed. Rainy day.
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Nicely graded and maintained trail, but much of it is in the trees, so few views.
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Moderate is in the eye of the beholder. I found the hike to be VERY steep. We had an early start...100% trail ownership which is always extra nice. We were in heavy fog so the views were peak-a-boo. Will I do this hike again? Yes. The tree's are wonderful.
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Heavenly walk through the woods for the first 4miles. Mile 5-6 start to get your heart rate up, and the last 1.4miles is hard. I did also have an over night pack with all my gear, which that weighed ~30-35lbs. Make sure to start early to beat the heat and to get a good spot at the lake!
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An easy out and back hike. We went with friends and ate lunch at Camp Handy. We missed the first turn on the way out and had to backtrack. The turnoff for FS 2880 came almost right after going onto gravel.
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Beautiful trail with a lot of shade much of the way up. The Quilcene river still has a good water flow. Views at the pass are great.
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This hike was my first hike ever. It was indeed a difficult trail. Once you reached it, a good sigh of relief that you have seen how beautiful it is. Not for the faint of heart though.
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nice quality trails, elevation gain is comfortable, fishing is fun, lots of space for camps, try the upper basin.
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It’s an easy hike to beautiful Lena Lake. I really need to return here with the family. After that, the hike becomes much more strenuous and slow due to a great deal of obstacles on the trail. We made it from the trailhead to Brothers base camp in 4 hours.
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Easy trail (it's on an old road) through big woods, a dramatic canyon, a recovering burn, and past a big cascade. At 6.5 miles, you can stop at the old drive-in campground, cut off when the road washed out some years ago.
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This was an awesome sufferfest. Highly recommended for enthusiasts of self flagellation.
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Getting There:
Overall pretty straightforward. All roads are suitable for all vehicles. After Lords Lake Loop road, the road names used in Google maps do not match those in the trip description on the Washington Trails website. Most aren't signed, so I'm not sure which is right. In any event, either will get you to the trailhead with no trouble.
After you make the left at Lords Lake the road does get rougher, but it's not the potholes you need to watch. There are a few, as well as a couple short sections of washboarding, but all are easy to avoid. It's all the loose gravel that can cause issues, particularly on the curves. But have care and you'll be fine.
Got to the trailhead around 10 AM to find only two other cars in the parking lot. Five more cars pulled in as I was getting ready to hit the trail. There were still a couple of spots available when I got back to the lot after my hike.
There is a toilet at the parking lot stocked with TP (though not the best quality). No hand sanitizer.
Along the Trail:
The rhodies are in bloom all the way up to the top. Those near the trailhead are all completely open while near the top there are a few buds still left. There are also a few other flowers; bunch berries, columbine, a couple paintbrush and more. But it's definitely the rhodies that are the stars.
Trail is in good condition and easy to follow all the way up to the top.
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Great rhodies blooming for the first mile or so. Then steeper and steeper, wrapping around the mountain and stellar mountain views highe up. Phol Hall bench has great mountain view.
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This is a very nicely maintained loop trail with several bridges and creeks to cross. Traveling clockwise gets a considerable elevation gain completed early while adding the Viewpoint trail near the mid-point gets hikers a great vista of Lake Chapman and helps achieve a “destination” aspect to the loop hike. With the Viewpoint side trip, the hike ends up being approximately 7 miles with an overall elevation gain of roughly 1800 feet. Look for a troll under one of the bridges in the loop in order to add interest for little hikers. Overall this hike is a very enjoyable trip through the woods with nice visual elements along the way.
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This trail is very well maintained but heavily traveled. The view is incredible and getting to the lake is an easy to moderate ascent with a few roots and loose rocks to navigate around. Overall, this has been one of my favorite hikes this year.
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Had perfect fall weather, so we had awesome views of the Pacific Northwest! Mt.Baker, Mt Rainier, and the nearby Olympics peaks. We are two women in our 60’s and we had no trouble with this hike. We will do again and again. There are many people on the trail and also many dogs. Get there early for good parking
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