Enchanted Valley
WHERE: From Portland take I-5 north to highway 12 west to 101 north and follow signs to Olympic National Park. As you approach Lake Quinalt follow the South Shore drive road in to the trail head at the end of a gravel road. Make sure to stop at the first South Shore Ranger station in order to get backcountry permits.
THE TRAIL: The distance from trailhead to Enchanted Valley is 13.1 miles and should ideally be a three day stay. Hike into Enchanted Valley on the first day. This is a beautiful place to spend the night. Spend the second day exploring Anderson pass five miles up the trail. Hike back to the car on day three. The hike begins along an old road after a foot bridge crossing. The first couple of miles is pure rainforest off of the Quinalt river flood plain. Large trees abound with a forest floor littered by small broadleaf plants, ferns, mosses and lichen. After a couple miles you cross the river then pretty much follow the river floor from 700 feet elevation to about 2100 feet at Enchanted Valley. You will find large stands of Sitka Spruce at the lower elevations but continuing onto the valley intermixed with Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and some Douglas Fir amongst the Coniferous trees, and Big Leaf Maple, Dogwood, and Oregon Ash being the primary representatives of the Deciduous trees. As you near the Enchanted Valley, glimpses of the "hanging" Anderson Glacier begin to appear in the distance creating the river that you walk alongside for 16 miles before heading up to the pass.
Wildlife was extremely abundant here. There had been bear sightings all week long down here. I talked to people who saw a sow and two cubs on there hike coming back to the trailhead. About 11.5 miles into the hike I saw a Black Bear with her cub in a small one acre clearing thirty feet to the right of the trail. She stood on her hind legs to check me out then continued with her business. half of a mile later I saw the largest herd of Elk I ever seen. The herd was between a couple hundred and one thousand strong crossing the trail. Roosevelt Elk are found west of the cascades and are larger than their Rocky Mountain cousins. It is amazing how these large creatures move so gracefully through the brush of the rainforest near very steep slopes. After all the elk finally got to one side of the trail (about twenty minutes later), all of their eyes stared at me as I passed along the trail just a few feet away. As if the hike was not already enchanted enough I fjorded the Quinalt river (there are logs down to assist however this can be a difficult fjord in fall, winter or spring). I then walked into an open valley that definitely lived up to its name. When I hiked up to the valley it was overcast, thus contributing to the scenery. Clouds covered the upper sides of cliffs which have numerous waterfalls cascading off pure rock making it appear as if the waterfalls were coming out of the sky. In early July I could see snow at about 2200 feet elevation near the bottom of one waterfall. This was due to an avalanche which is common on these steep faces that get such abundant precipitation. As I later found out, a clear day provides views of Anderson Glacier almost looming overhead. I guess you can't loose either way.
When I woke to sounds of twigs cracking I got out of my tent to see the Elk herd grazing twenty feet away. I watched for many minutes as the multitudes mosied on by. I went on this trip with my buddy Russ who camped at a different site. We met at the Enchanted Valley Ranger station which also operates as an emergency shelter. Anderson pass is 4.9 miles away and 2300 feet up (elevation is 4400 above sea level). The glacier is another 700 feet up. Most of the elevation gain is over the last 3 miles. As you leave Enchanted Valley you continue past more high waterfalls until you begin to rise into montane forests where Silver fir trees become predominant. Soon Silver Fir gave way to Mountain Hemlock and then subalpine views. From the pass you can see many of the southern peaks in the Olympic Range. The trail was easy to follow through the few patches of snow. From the pass you can climb another mile to Anderson Glacier where you will look down onto the start of the East Fork Quinalt River and the Dosewallips within a few hundred yards of each other. These two rivers become major drainages of the Olympic peninsula and end up on opposite ends some 60 miles or more apart. I am told the views on a clear day are unbeatable (I later discovered that they are) yet even when the clouds were out I felt like I was in a winter wonderland in the middle of July. There was snow in all directions below me and a glimpse of waterfalls fed by Mt. Anderson's glaciers straight across the snowfield in the basin below. These waterfalls start at over 6,400 feet above sea level and feed into a lake which feeds the East Fork. Of course I saw Elk and Black Tail Deer on the way to the pass and on the way back. Back at the campground I heard sporadic woofs: I thought them to be a dog(s) that was "smuggled" up to the camp despite pets not being allowed. It turned out a Black Bear wandered through camp at that time though I think the barking was from nervous Elk. Unfortunately when I went to investigate I ended up sidetracked by an Elk that I decided to watch. Of all the wildlife I saw in this park, none seemed in any way intimidated by human presence. On a later trip I talked to a person who saw a Mountain Beaver within the Enchanted Valley (definately a rare animal to see). On the way back, I saw a half-eaten deer just downriver from O'neil Camp. I learned, from talking to hikers at the trailhead, that a bear and cub had been feasting on the deer an hour before I past it. The bear chased its cubs up a tree and would not move when the hikers showed up. They had to walk a wide circle around the prey as the bear was not prepared to give up its hard earned meal. Of course I was dumb enough to gaulk at the carcass for a few minutes. (fortunately the bear had already had its fill)!
On later visits I saw more Elk and got to visit Mt. Anderson without the company of clouds, or people, in Late September 2004.
