30.5 miles of hiking • 4000' elevation gain • 1 night
Saturday, I decided to head up to the East Fork of the Quinault for the weekend. The forecast was rain with a chance of rain, but I was in the mood for some bear watching.
While the bear totals were 1, the weather panned out to be better than expected. Last time I did this hike in 2011, I did it on a Friday and saw no one after mile 4. This time, there were several groups, which is why I'm imagining the bear totals were so low. In any case, this is a fantastic location, and is worth visiting, bear season or not.
I made the drive up Saturday morning and arrived by noonish. There were about 15 cars in the lot, but I counted about 10 that left as I was going in, so the valley itself wasn't too crowded. I was making good time so I hiked a little past the lower valley and finally ran into a bear.
The upper valley is small compared to the lower valley, but is a neat area in its own right, and worth taking the extra mile and a half or so to visit. I stopped at a washout headed toward Anderson pass, knowing that I would soon run into heavy snow, and running out of daylight.
I went back to the chalet and set up camp. A Hopworks can, some pasta and a little chocolate, and it was bed time.
This morning, I woke up somewhat late, did a little more bear searching, and then took the 13 miles back out to the car. The weather was fantastic—mid 60s and a breeze.
This trip is definitely worth doing (in May) if you haven't already.
