Enchanted valley hike
 

My husband is a very experienced backpacker, I have bad knees so I haven't done any, though I'm a good hiker. But I've read about Enchanted Valley, and I'm willing to put up with aching knees to experience it. When is the best time of year to see it? Is late July too late to see all the drizzles of waterfalls? Thanks.

Good question. This has been on my list forever but I haven't done it. I don't think there's many backpackers on this board so if you don't get a good reply I'd call the Olympic NP visitor's center. Or, search the forums at wwww.nwhikers.net. You'll find tons of trip reports and general discussions if you search the phrase "enchanted valley."

Also, keep in mind the PNW got hammered from storms in the past couple months. Olympic has quite a bit of trail and road damage, the extent of which they won't know until spring. So if you are planning a trip here just for that hike, you might want to have a plan B.

Thanks Cristi1 for the great site reference, and reminding me about the flooding last fall. Pat

We did this hike (albeit 20 yrs ago). The trail follows the East fork of the Quinault River up into the Olympic Mtns, through a lush green rainforest, and ending up at Anderson Pass, in a basin surrounded by high peaks. About 12-13 miles each way, and about 4,000 feet elevation gain. Camping around Anderson Pass is spectacular.

Access is off Rte 101, north of Hoquiam, culminating in 10 miles of bad dirt road.

I think that late July will be a good time, as the snow will not have been long gone from the pass by then. Waterfalls won't be as spectacular, but they will probably still be running.

You can also read trip reports on hikes at the Washington Trails Ass'n website, www.wta.org---browse down the list for Enchanted Valley. The last one posted was from September 29, 2006, before the storm damage. You should check with the National Park or the closest ranger station (maybe Quinault Ranger Station?) for trail conditions. If there have been washouts, hopefully it will be repaired by late July.

Pat---have you tried hiking with poles? I thought my own hiking days were over because of bad knees, until I tried poles. Now I'm back to doing long and strenuous hikes again, without knee trouble. We even backpacked down into the Grand Canyon last year. (Strengthening through bicycling helped too).

Poles help me a lot, too-I don't need them when hiking, but coming down mountains with a full pack, they really help ease the knee pressure. When I started having some knee pain a couple years ago, I made an appt. with a trainer at my gym, who showed me specific nautilus exercises to strengthen my knees-that helped tremendously, too.

You guys are the greatest, another great resource in the WTA. I've just started using poles, that's another good point. Thanks, Pat