24 September 2015, Thursday

We all slept very well and stayed surprisingly warm on the mountaintop.
Breakfast is spinach mushroom frittata. We had considered hiking up
to O’Neil pass before leaving the higher elevation, but rain is in
the forecast so we all decide to head back to Upper Duckabush Camp
and make sure we have a rain-worthy set up.

As we head downhill, I catch a glimpse of something large moving amongst
the bushes and trees. It seems to disappear but S & K spy a huge
elk with an impressive rack watching us from the woods. We stare at
each other for awhile, then the four of us leave the elk behind and
continue our trek. We are enjoying the morning’s warm sunshine,
especially knowing that cold, damp weather is on the way.

We return across the narrow ford and climb back into the woods. After
about two hours of hiking it’s again time for first lunch. As we sit
and eat we watch a woodpecker on a nearby tree. We resume our hike
and, before we know it, we are back at Upper Duckabush. This time we
set up our tents closer to our kitchen area, although no other hikers
are here this early. As S & I catch up our journals, we are
entertained by a couple of chipmunks searching for food. One of them
sits  on my boot for awhile. We’ll have an earlier dinner tonight. If
we’re lucky we’ll be cleaned up before the rain begins. The afternoon
is quickly becoming cool and cloudy.

Our cassoulet and brownies are finished, dishes are washed and the bear
barrels, much lighter now, are repacked for the night. O has found
some abandoned strong cord at the camp. K’s repaired left boot is
holding up pretty well. S decides to reinforce her right boot as well
since we can see some separation of the sole there, too. S hangs the
hozuki lamp under the tarp as I am writing. It gives off a warm glow.
The tall peaks have disappeared from view as clouds have moved in.
The surrounding hillsides look more ordinary now, but the huge firs
and cedars remind us we are in the Olympic Mountains still.