A Creek With No Name

There are so many nameless creeks in Olympic National Park you could spend years exploring and never see them all. I checked out this particular creek as a possible route to a distant lake, but decided that a different route would probably be better.

Day One -- Morning revealed a cloudy cold day in the Hoh Rainforest, and after a few miles of hiking up the South Fork Hoh River trail, I ventured off-trail through the old-growth. After going straight uphill for a bit, I had just started side-hilling towards the creek when I spotted a large bull elk bedded down. There were three bulls total -- a bachelor group -- and they let me snap off several photos before disappearing.

Not long after that, I reached the creek. I took a break, took some photos, and then continued upriver. The water was crystal clear so I stopped frequently to take photos. I hadn't made it very far before I decided to setup camp. I scouted further up, found a little waterfall, then returned to camp for the night.

Day Two -- I awoke early to a cold, misty morning and decided I'd seen enough. Heading downriver in the darker morning hours, I took several more long exposure photos of the creek winding it's way down through the old growth. Close to the river, I ran into a nasty log jam, which took some effort to negotiate. When I reached the river my feet were already wet, so I waded the cold water up to my waist, and walked a few very soggy miles back to the truck.