26 miles of hiking • 5500' elevation gain • 2 nights
Entered via the Dungeness River TH. Made base camp around 3.5 miles in at Camp Handy. Did a bit of exploring after dinner down the Heather Creek trail. Next day got up bright and early and hiked up to Boulder Shelter, and then continued on the trail to Home Lake which is within the ONP. Home lake appeared pretty full up with people camping in areas where imo tents should not be placed. From there it was a steep climb up Constance Pass which tops off at 5800' and then up to Del Monte Ridge which tops out at 6400'. Really nice views from the ridge with Mt. Olympus looming to the west and Rainier to the East. Headed back to camp via the same trail and met a lot of people heading to camp at Home Lake. I was surprised that quite a few did not realize that it was a permitted area and that a bear can was required. Maybe I should not be surprised these days....sigh,
Jen
August 31, 2021
I didnt care for the designated back country camps on my recent trip to ONP. Crowded like the Wonderland camps. I had reserved them online,but stopped at ranger station and the BC ranger helped me change my permit to a BC zone permit for two of the nights; this enabled us to go way off the beaten track in the alpine area where we had total solitude.