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Backpacking Olympic National Forrest
  • Mark Goodell
  • Mark Goodell

Backpacking Olympic National Forrest

A 8-day adventure by Mark Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 8, 2026
  • Mark GoodellBackpacking Olympic National ForrestTraveler
    1

    Day 1 - Toleak point

    August 10 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    What an amazing day of hiking. This has been some of the most scenic hiking I've done. The hike started with us hiking through a thick rain forest that was absolutely beautiful. After a mile or so, we dropped down to a beach with spectacular views. We alternated several times between beautiful beach hiking and overland trails around rocky cliffs that were otherwise impassible. The weather today was perfect. It started cloudy with a bit of drizzle but it cleared up by afternoon with sun and blue skies. We found a great campsite near a stream with fantastic views and tide pools nearby to explore.Read more

  • Mark GoodellBackpacking Olympic National ForrestTraveler

    Day 2 - Mosquito creek

    August 11 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    I couldn't imagine how we could possibly have a better day than yesterday but we did. With a nice casual hiking plan, we had plenty of play time to do some exploring. When we woke up to a very low tide, we decided it was time to explore some tide pools. That was an absolute blast. But when we decided it was time to head back to the shore, we found that the tide had come into a channel and cut us off. Oh well, time to do some expected fording.

    We hiked about eight miles today over beautiful terrain that alternated between stunning beaches to amazing rain forest. The steep rope and ladder climbs and decents provided some extra adventure to the hike.

    Instead of stopping at Mosquito point, as was originally planned, we headed another two or so miles that set us up for a better start the next day.    Read more

  • Mark GoodellBackpacking Olympic National ForrestTraveler

    Day 3 - Farewell to the Ocean

    August 12 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    Today we got up earlier, 5:45am, so we could time our hike with the lower than usual low tide. That allowed us to clamber over a bunch of boulders in a tide critical area.

    It was another beautiful day of hiking. The extra low tide resulted in some even more amazing tide pools. We saw many more starfish than on the other days along with an assortment of other interesting sea critters. After about four miles, we arrived at the Ho river where we turned east and said goodbye to the ocean for this portion of our hike.

    Everything was good with Shanell and Jon's car where we left it on Sunday. Today was a town day. We drove to Forks, bought some resupply items, ate a nice, non camp, lunch, and had a shower. Tomorrow we will see a different part of the National Park as we climb up into the mountains.    Read more

  • Mark GoodellBackpacking Olympic National ForrestTraveler

    Day 4 - Appleton Pass and Boulder Creek

    August 13 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Wow! What a change from hiking along the beach. Today we relocated the car to the Sol Duc Falls trailhead and headed out over the Appleton Pass. 3,500 ft in elevation gain later and my legs were totally mush. I barely made it over the pass. We paused to take in the beautiful view before heading down the other side to the Boulder Creek campground. That was 14 miles of hiking with a lot of elevation gain and loss. We were glad to make it into camp today.Read more

  • Mark GoodellBackpacking Olympic National ForrestTraveler

    Day 5 - Soaking in the Hot Springs and up the Pass

    August 14 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    All good plans are meant to be changed..... Originally, we had planned to hike over Happy Lake Ridge today. That would have been nearly 7,000 ft in elevation gain, Hmmmm.... nope we decided that wasn't going to work. So, instead, we slept in and then enjoyed a nice soak in the nearby hot springs. We definitely like nice relaxing days when out backpacking. After that nice start to the day, we broke the return trip into two sements by hiking back to the top of Appleton pass and camping on the ridge. That will make the final hike tomorrow much more manageable.Read more

  • Mark GoodellBackpacking Olympic National ForrestTraveler

    Day 6 - Lots of downhill and End of a Great Hike

    August 15 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Today was the final eight miles of hiking back to the trailhead, most of it being a very steep downhill. Our legs were mush again by the end of the hike but it brought us to the conclusion of an absolutely amazing week in the Olympic wilderness. We cover 50 miles in six days and, most of all, had a great time to connect with family.
    I didn't mention previously the abundance of huckleberries at the higher elevations. Jon in particular enjoyed eating the berries. We also collected quite a few to take home with us for later.    Read more

    Trip end
    August 15, 2026