2018 Ultrapedestrian Wilderness Challenge - Graves Creek Loop

63 miles
14,800 Gain
3 days 3 passes

All Approximate

Suunto Ambit3

Glenn Rogers 53YO M

Mathew Rogers 22YO M

Kevin Rogers 14YO M

My son Mathew gifted me a backcountry trip with him for Christmas 2017.  This trip was my calling that chit.  Mathew together with my second son Kevin was going to go on an epic adventure.  We had talked about traversing the Bailey Range but there were a few drawbacks.  First it would take more that 3 days with the Elwha road closed and my wife would need to shuttle us.  And I was not sure if it would be too hard for the boys.  We had also considered a loop up on Copper Ridge but that was not an ultrapedestrian challenge and seemed too short for 3 days.  Graves Creek  was a Varner route and area that I had wanted to do and while it might be too long and hard for the boys it was worth the try.

Kevin and I had been hiking throughout the year culminating with a week long hike in Yellowstone with our scout troop which we both thought was very easy.  After that hike we decided to go back and hike across the park. We will do it in fall 2019 or 2020 if anybody would like to join us.  At 14yo he is getting old enough to do epic and hard adventures at my pace.

A trip like this gets us out in great places together without any distractions.  It allows my boys to realize their true abilities to rise to a challange and do cool shit that their friend could only dream of.  And they are doing it with their dad.  It also allows me to have long uninterrupted talks with the boys about life.  I love these trips because of the great time spent together.  This is man building time,  3 days, 3 passes and epic suffering.

I chose to go counter clockwise.  I expected the most rugged part to be this first ridge and we were not disappointed.  The plan was to camp along Six Ridge and again at Marmot Lake just short of O’Neil Pass. We tried to pack fairly light;  bringing a brooks range tarp with Tyvek for the bottom, just enough food with no excess and clothes enough to have them all on at the coldest point.  The actual brands of gear are not remarkable as they are not expensive or ultralight.  We were out for a long fun three day hike ultrapedestrian style.

Day 1 14.5 miles, 5,500ft climb, 5:40 moving time

Hiking up Graves Creek was fast and beautiful, deep in the overgrowth of the old trail.  We lunched early just before we started the climb up to Six Ridge.  Once we started the climb things slowed down considerably.  

We made the ridge and proceeded to follow the sparce and overgrown trail.  This wasn’t too difficult really.  We had good maps and as the trail would come and go we were able to track it at significant features along the ridge.  I would describe this trail as ancient.  Built in the 30s by the CCC the old trail blazes are still visible if you know where to look.  It does not receive much love now but that is its beauty.  It is not a WTC highway despoiled by untold thousands of hikers.  We had this place to ourselves. 

About halfway along the ridge to our campsite at Kevin began to struggle.  The off camber bushwacking took its toll.  We lightened his pack and pushed on.  Our Campsite at Belview was created in the early 40s as a lookout for incoming enemy aircraft.  There is nothing left now but a flat place to camp and a nice stream.  We arrived in the late afternoon with just enough time to set up our tarp and make a good meal.  It was nice to camp up high.  We could see the ridges to the south with lingering smoke from forest fires hanging in the air.

Day 2 21.5 miles, 6,200ft climb, 9:40 moving time

We woke in the crisp morning air had breakfast and broke camp.  This morning along the ridge was incredible as we had views alternating to the north and south.  Still and old trail but in better condition than the west side of the ridge.  Along the way insulators were still in place in the trees where hard mem had strung miles of cable to the lookout. This must have been 5 to 6 miles of cable carried up this hill, hung, and replaced when knocked out of service by falling trees.  The boys were fresh and we set a fast pace.  We started again with me leading the way.  I am not sure why they didn’t want to be in the front but I was happy to set the pace.

We got down to the Skok and refilled out water and had a snack.  After seeing nobody since the start of our hike, we saw a person immediately when we got on the skok river trail.  I told the boys that we were now on a WTA freeway and our solitude was over.  Given that this trail was relatively flat and plush, I told the boys that we needed to move quickly while the going was good to bank some time for the two big climbs that were coming up.  As we started up to first divide Kevin started to poop out.  I put him on tow and started telling stories.  There was lots of time to talk on this climb.  So I did all the talking.  Not too much of a tow but keeping him close keeps him in the game.  Once we made the pass we took out all the food.  Mathew looked broken and we had a good rest.  We had passed a gal going up the hill and she passed by us telling us she was going to Marmot Lake as well.

I got the boys moving again down into the Duckabush.  They were revived and we dropped in pretty quickly.  I wished we had some time to stop of look at the old shelter.  One of the tragedies of the conservation movement is their relentless push to let things go back to nature.  At one time there were hundreds of shelters scatted throughout the Olympics.  Now there are only a handful.  This is the result of neglect, lack of funding and relentless lawsuits to stop any kind of repairs of man made structures.  The Enchanted Valley Chalet was almost lost to this mentality.

The final push of the day would be about 1,700ft up to Marmot Lake.  I knew this would be hard on the boys and I had to drive them to keep moving so we could make camp before dark.  I dropped some pain on them and let them have a peek into their pain cave.  The lake was awesome and a beautiful place to camp.  At first we had it to ourselves then our hiking gal came into camp and found a place for herself.  The boys were spent.  We made a hot feast and settled in under our tarp.

Day 3 27 miles, 3,100ft climb, 9:00 moving time

The final day which was the longest but the easiest.  As I was making breakfast Kevin went to use the composting toilet at the other end of the meadow.  He came rushing back around the bend telling me that he didn’t get to finish his poop.  I told him that was unfortunate and asked him why.  He said a bear came up behind him and he had to finish and get out of there in a hurry.  The hike started as an easy up and over O’Neil pass.  As today would be mostly downhill but long, the boys were in good spirits.  As we started traversing down to the Quinault drainage Kevin was dragging an bit.  I had a heart to heart with him explaining that we had a long but easy descent out the Quinault.  We could spend hours trudging  or we could focus and get it done.  One mile per hour is very powerful when it is the difference between 2 and 3 MPH.  He rose to the challenge. 

This part of the trip was packed with other hikers.  While the valley was beautiful the solitude was lost.  We stopped at the Chalet for lunch and I was surprised at how close it still is to the river.  We rested our feet and ate the last of our food.  As we rested we mapped out a plan.  This trail is a beautiful gentle down to the car and if we are focused we could make quick work of it.  We agreed to move as fast as possible and only stop once every 2 hours for a 5 minutes break.

I had been in the front for the entire trip and I had been carrying the kitchen.  The boys just did not want to get in the front.  Once we crossed the Quinault the last time at Pony Bridge and knew we were within a mile or two of the finish, it was like the horses smelled the barn.  They set off up the last hill and dropped me like an bad cold.  I am not sure when they realized they dropped me but at some point they stopped and let me catch up.  But they did not offer to carry the kitchen the last bit.  We rolled into the packed trailhead.

We were out about three days.  It have a picture of my watch but it didn’t turn out very well.  I am grateful for the time alone with my boys.  I am grateful for Ras and Kathy inspiring us and all the helpful info from the group.  I know in many years after I am gone my boys will tell their kids and grandkids stories of our adventures.