28 miles of hiking • 4000' elevation gain •
I have been wanting to get up to Enchanted Valley since I first heard about the chalet in January. A planned May trip was cancelled due to a miserable weather forecast, and with all the distractions of summer, just never got rescheduled. Then came the announcement of the big move. With a love of hiking and an engineering background, the chance to see them move the chalet was the perfect "geek out" opportunity. With previous commitments already filling up my weekends, I opted to take a day off work to make this happen.
We left PDX Thursday afternoon and car camped so we wouldn't have to make the four hour drive in the morning. We were on the trail by 8am Friday morning, winding our way up the Quinault River Valley. The morning was cool as we hiked under a canopy of large trees and surrounded by ferns. Hiking in, we took our time taking in our surroundings along the way; the river, large trees, massive sized downed trees, bridges, campsites, the helicopter transporting materials for the chalet project, and the unfortunate trail graffiti. By the time we arrived at the bridge just before Enchanted Valley it was almost 2pm.
At the bridge, we were stopped by a USFS intern, whose job was to make sure the valley stayed clear of park visitors when the helicopter was coming in for drops. We waited for about 15 minutes before we were given the all clear to proceed to the chalet. We were told, once the helicopter started making its way back the work site, we would have to be back the bridge, and that we should stay about 30 - 40 feet away from the chalet. They were finishing prep work on the building. The next day, they would be lifting it from it's foundation. We had about 20 - 30 minutes to take photos and talk with the ranger managing the work site, before heading out to get to the bridge before the helicopter returned.
Back on the other side of the bridge, it was 3pm, and we had about 14 miles to travel before 8pm. We made our way quickly down the trail, with a short stop at a creek for snacks and to filter water. We were back at the car with 15 minutes to spare.
*Brooks Cascadia 7
