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We wanted to get up at 6am, but it was hard to do that when it
was still relatively dark outside. In fact, during the middle
of the night I had woken up and noticed it was pitch black in
our tent. I've never experienced such darkness in my tent before.
Usually there's some moonlight, direct or indirect. But there
was nothing. Just darkness.
We finally got up at 6:40am. I filtered water again, for the 5th
time on the trip. In retrospect, perhaps it took so long to filter
because of the glacial flour. Once back home, I opened up my filter
to clean it and it was covered by this ugly gray color -- the
dirtiest I've ever seen it.
We started our hike back at 9:21am. I shortly made a stop at my
water filtering spot to take a picture. I'd spent almost two hours
there filtering water, and it was actually quite a pretty spot.
The gray river, perhaps 30 feet wide at this point, rushes by.
On the opposite shore is beautiful green moss-covered ground and
a forest of trees.
My water-filtering spot
Unlike the previous two days, there were actually a few wisps
of clouds in the morning. Still, nothing to worry about. We started
back toward the visitor center at record pace.
Despite the fact that we'd been on the same trail two days earlier,
it was different. Everything looks different in reverse, and at
different times of the day. Whereas it'd been getting dark by
the time we'd traveled this part of the trail before, now it was
early morning and the lighting was beautiful. Everything seemed
to glow bright green.
Planks leading the way back toward the visitor center
We certainly encountered more people today than the previous day,
but not as many as on Sunday. We also seemed to encounter more
day hikers than backpackers this time. It also never ceases to
amaze me how little some day hikers carry with them.
We stopped every hour or two for a quick bite to eat. Other than
that, we didn't rest much. Around 4 or 5 miles from the visitor
center we encountered a lone backpacker coming in the opposite
direction. He mentioned that he'd seen a small black bear just
sitting by the side of the trail. For the next mile we talked,
sang, and generally made noise to make sure any such bear would
know we were coming. Half of me (the half carrying the camera)
wanted to see the bear, and half of me (the half fearing for my
life) didn't want to. We never did see a bear.
The Hoh River surrounded by gravel bars
We were hoping to stop at the waterfall again for a food break,
but we reached Tom Creek Meadows first. It's funny that I hadn't
even noticed it on the way in (I was chasing after Jean at the
time). It is quite beautiful. There's a side trail which crosses
a foot bridge over the creek and wanders out into the meadow.
Presumably the trail leads all the way out to the Hoh River shore,
but we didn't take the time to explore it.
A few minutes past the meadows is the waterfall. Again, I saw
something I hadn't noticed on the way in. There's a cascading
waterfall at the bottom, which I had noticed, but there was a
much larger waterfall high above it. The reason I hadn't noticed
it before is that it was around a corner of the hillside. I wouldn't
have noticed it unless I knew it was there, or turned my head
back over my left shoulder.
These trees reminded me of snowshoeing past trees draped with
snow in the winter. Use your imagination (I know, they look like
ship masts).
Nearing the finish I noticed some movement on the ground. Amongst
all the 1-inch tree needles was a small worm, carefully camouflaged
to look exactly like one of the needles. If it hadn't moved, there
wouldn't have been any way to distinguish it. While I was observing
it, a couple walked by and joined in. We got to talking a bit.
They'd just been to Mt. Rainier, which we were planning on visiting
in a few days. They heartily recommended the Skyline Trail at
Paradise. We made a note of that before parting ways.
Soon we reached the information board near the start of the trail
(or the end of the trail for us). On a sad note, I noticed a memorial
notice on the board. A hiker had died on August 11th; he'd been
exploring off-trail near Glacier Meadows and had apparently fallen.
Just another reminder to always be alert.
A few minutes later we were back at the visitor center, having
done 35 miles in 3 days -- my longest backpacking trip yet. It
was a beautiful trip. Jean loved how green it was. But I'll admit
to liking views more. Perhaps I'll get those views on the High
Divide Loop, north of the Hoh Rain Forest, another time.
Return to Seattle/Olympic/Rainier trip report.
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