Our original plan for our last hike in Olympic National Park was going to be a 12ish mile hike along the Bogachiel River Trail. With Heather being sick and rainy conditions forecast for the entire day I scaled back the plan. Unlike our previous hikes during the week the Bogachiel River Trailhead was not located in Olympic National Park. The trailhead and the first 1.5-miles of the hike was located in the Olympic National Forest.
This trail is part of the Pacific Northwest Trail as were the beach hikes we did the previous two days.
Heather opted to stay in the car while I donned my raingear and set off on the Bogachiel Rain Forest Trail.
Damaged footbridge over Morganroth Creek at the 0.2-mile mark.
The Wetland Loop Trail split off just beyond Morganroth Creek. I stayed right and planned on returning via the loop.
This was a muddy trail which isn’t surprising for an area that receives 120″ of rain (3 meters) on average annually.
Youth-on-Age
Approaching the Bogachiel River.
Bogachiel River
The other end of the Wetland Loop was approximately a half mile from the Olympic National Park boundary.
Kahkwa Creek. The log down in the distance was crossable but I opted to ford the creek on my first pass.
Ford at Kahkwa Creek.
Signs at the park boundary. The trail name changes here to the Bogachiel River Trail.
Wilderness permits for back country camping. At this point I was not only in the park but also the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness.
I decided to continue into the park a bit before turning around. I initially set a turnaround time of 6:50am but then decided to turn around at the next creek shown on the map. As it turned out the creek was not exactly where it was shown on the GPS and it wound up being dry when I did reach it at 6:54am.
The dry creek where I turned around.
I took the Wetland Loop Trail on the way back and was surprised at how much climbing was involved on a wetland trail.
The log crossing over Kahkwa Creek.
The Wetland Loop Trail junction was near the Kahkwa Creek crossing.
The Wetland Loop began along Kahkwa Creek.
Skunk cabbage
The Wetland Loop traversed up and down along a hillside above some wetlands.
Scouler’s corydalis
Wetlands below the loop trail.
Completing the loop.
After completing the loop I climbed back up to the trailhead and rejoined Heather at the car.
Fairy lanterns
Almost immediately after arriving at the car my throat began to hurt and I knew that I was coming down with the same cold that had hit Heather starting Wednesday. I had managed to get a 5-mile hike in on a quiet and scenic trail.
I would definitely go back to experience more of this trail under better circumstances. It may not have been the ideal ending to our trip but we both really enjoyed our hikes and hopefully we will return someday to explore more of the park. Happy Trails!
Flickr: Bogachiel Rain Forest
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