Trip Date: September 3-7, 2015

Mt. Seattle Climbing Trip & Skyline–Quinault Trail Loop:  Three Lakes to Low Divide

Three Lakes
Three Prune Basin
Kimta Park
Promise Creek Pass
Hee Haw Pass
Beauty Pass
Seattle Meadows
Mount Seattle (6246′)
Low Divide
North Fork Quinault River

Trip Report Summary

Region: Olympic Mountains (Washington)

Sub-Region: Quinault Group

Area: Olympic National Park

Starting Point: Irely Lake / Three Lakes Trailhead on North Fork Quinault River Road (Elev. 500 feet)

Way Points: Irely Flats & North Fork Big Creek & Three Lakes & Elip Tarns & Three Prune Basin & Kimta Park & Kimta Basin & Kimta Arm / Promise Creek Pass & Promise Creek Bench & Hee Haw Pass & Beauty Pass & Seattle Creek & Seattle Meadows & Low Divide & North Fork Quinault River Trail junction & Christie Creek & Sixteenmile Camp & North Fork Quinault River ford & Twelvemile Camp & Trapper Camp Shelter & Kimta Creek & Stalding Creek & Three Prune Creek & Francis/Elip Creek Camp & Elip Creek & Squaw Creek & Halfway House Camp & Wild Rose Creek & Wolf Bar Camp & North Fork Ranger Station (trail hike & trail scramble)

High Point: Promise Creek Bench (Elev. 5340 feet)

Ending Point: North Fork Quinault River Trailhead at end of North Fork Quinault River Road (Elev. 500 feet)

Campsites: Three Lakes & Kimta Basin & Seattle Meadows & Twelvemile Camp

Sidetrip: Upper Seattle Basin & Seattle Moraine (off-trail hike & rock scramble)

Summit: Mt. Seattle (rock scramble via West Slope—Southwest Couloir—South Ridge)

Approximate Stats (excluding sidetrip): 43.0 miles traveled; 11,000 feet gained & lost.

Approximate Stats (including sidetrip): 45.5 miles traveled; 13,000 feet gained & lost.

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Full Trip Report

Eileen and I teamed up with Fay, Steve, and Deb for a Labor Day Weekend backpacking loop in the Olympic Mountains.  We followed the scenic (but not very efficient) Skyline Primitive Trail to Low Divide, then returned via the efficient (but not very scenic) North Fork Quinault River Trail.  Eileen and I also tucked in Mt. Seattle along the way.

Day 1 (PM): Trailhead to Three Lakes

Fay, Steve, and Deb drove over to the Big Creek / Three Lakes Trailhead in the morning and hiked up to Three Lakes in the afternoon.  Due to work constraints, Eileen and I were not able to leave home until noon, so we did not start hiking until after 4:30pm.  This turned out to be poor timing, because it put us right in the path of a late-afternoon thunderstorm.  We both got doused by the rain and later ended up wading through large puddles on the trail.

Once the rain ended, the evening became cold and foggy.  We arrived at Three Lakes well after dark (4.4 hours + 3000 feet from TH) and eventually located our comrades by audio navigation.  Most of the lake basin was flooded with rainwater, but Eileen and I managed to find a small patch of dry ground for our tent.

Day 2: Three Lakes to Kimta Basin

The morning was clear and cold, so we took some extra time to dry out our gear.  After packing up, we walked over to the start of the Skyline Trail and headed north.

The trail took us on a rolling, winding course along Tshletshy Ridge, past Elip Tarns, and around the headwaters of Elip Creek and Three Prune Creek.  We stopped for a break in Three Prune Basin (3.4 hours from Camp 1), at which point Fay struck off to bag an unnamed peak farther to the west.  The rest of us continued northward on the Skyline Primitive Trail as it followed the crest of the Queets-Quinault divide and passed through beautiful Kimta Park.

The day gradually became cloudier, and a series of rain squalls steadily moved over the divide.  We stopped for the day at Kimta Basin (9.1 hours + 3700 feet from Camp 1), a functional gravel flat on the southern flank of Kimta Peak.  Water was available from a tiny stream that feeds the northernmost branch of Kimta Creek.

Day 3: Kimta Basin to Seattle Meadows

We awoke to cloudy skies with sunbreaks, indicating another day of unsettled weather.  The Skyline Primitive Trail initially took us eastward across the southern flank of Kimta Arm to 5080-foot Promise Creek Pass, then it turned northeastward and worked around the headwaters of Promise Creek. The trail reaches is highest point of 5340 feet on a broad gravel bench here.

In places, the trail crossed over lunar-esque rocky sections and dipped into narrow stream gorges.  Marker ducks and cairns helped us find the way through, but careful routefinding was required.  There were plenty of places where a hiker could go astray. It becomes very obvious why the National Park Service calls this a “primitive trail.”

The trail crosses from the eastern side of the divide to the western side at 4550-foot Hee Haw Pass and continues northward. We reached a high trail junction at 5080-foot Beauty Pass (6.1 hours from Camp 2), from where Fay went off on another peak-bagging sidetrip.  Her plan was to camp alone near Lake Beauty tonight, then catch up to us on the trail tomorrow.  Eileen, Steve, Deb, and I continued along the Skyline Primitive Trail as it made a reluctant descent to Seattle Creek.  Rain and hail squalls continued to move overhead all afternoon.

While hiking around a ridge tarn, we were treated to a remarkable wildlife sighting:  a mother bear and two adorable cubs frolicking in a grassy meadow closely below the trail!  But not too close for comfort!

After crossing over Seattle Creek, we finished the day with a 1000-foot grunt up to Seattle Meadows on the southern flank of Mt. Seattle.  Camp 3 was established at 4550 feet on a gentle knoll near a tiny pond (9.7 hours + 3400 feet from Camp 2).

Day 4 (AM): Mt. Seattle Summit Climb

After a night of heavy rainfall, we awoke to a 6000-foot cloud ceiling.  Steve and Deb had a leisurely morning in camp before packing up and heading down to Low Divide, whereas Eileen and I headed up Mt. Seattle with summit packs.  While hiking out of camp, we encountered Fay hiking toward us on the trail.  I knew immediately by the expression on her face that all was not well.  She briefly reported that her tent had gotten flooded during the night, soaking all of her gear; as such, she was nearly hypothermic by morning and was even now shivering with cold.  We ushered her down to our campsite, where Steve and Deb were able to get her warmed up.

Eileen and I were soon heading back up Mt. Seattle.  Our route took us through the splendid rolling meadowlands of Upper Seattle Basin—an area that deserves its glowing reputation.

We ascended scree slopes on the peak’s western side, then crossed over a ridge and continued up scree and talus slopes on the eastern side.

In thick fog, we finished with a Class 2-3 scramble on the east ridge to gain the craggy summit (2.3 hours from Camp 3).  The summit register was contained in an unusually large PVC tube jammed into a crack.

From the summit, we descended southeastern scree slopes, crossed over the south ridge, and continued down the western slopes.  We were back in camp by early afternoon (1.9 hours from summit).

Day 4 (PM): Seattle Meadows to Twelvemile Camp

Eileen and I quickly ate lunch, broke camp, and hiked eastward down to Low Divide (1.5 hours from Camp 3).  A junction sign at this famous Olympic pass marks the end of the Skyline Primitive Trail and an intersection with the North Fork Quinault River Trail.

The remainder of our afternoon was spent making the 4-mile march down to Twelvemile Camp (4.3 hours from Camp 3), where Fay, Steve, and Deb had pitched their tents.  This leg of the trek was uneventful except for a ford of the knee-deep North Fork Quinault River at Sixteenmile Camp.

Day 5: Twelvemile Camp to Trailhead

Our last day involved an 11½-mile hike down the long river trail, past Halfway House (4.1 hours from Camp 4), to North Fork Ranger Station (6.7 hours from Camp 4).  The morning was sunny and mild, which helped ease the miles a bit.

Because our cars were parked at the Irely Lake / Three Lakes Trailhead, Steve and I dropped packs and speed-walked ¾ mile down the road to retrieve them, thereby ending a classic Olympic outing.

Route Maps & Profile

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Photo Gallery

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