Aurora Ridge Trail, Olympic Nat’l Park near-in backcountry, some safe route-finding, sedate splendor, light usage

urora Ridge Trail runs 16 miles along Aurora Ridge, which borders the south side of Lake Crescent, in the northwest of Olympic National Park.  Its  is on the Sol Duc Hot Springs Road.  The trail climbs the west end of the ridge gradually, eventually gaining 3,000 feet, before ending in the east – still in …

Elwha Basin river crossing alternative stream-crossings are an underrated hazard

lwha Basin river crossing alternative describes a good way to avoid the standard crossing of the , near its headwater, usually as part of using the route between the high-country and the lowlands (and the official trail system).  The Elwha, though small here, is steeper than it looks:  the normal crossing-point is impossible in any …

Elwha Snow Finger, Olympic Nat’l Park

lwha Snow Finger is an important and rather unusual route-feature that greatly facilitates traveling between the core high-country terrain, and the adjoining lowlands (and official trail system).  It is a 2 mile long linear canyon, with a narrow perennial snowfield filling the bottom.  It is very easy to walk on. At the far south end …

Bailey Range Traverse, Olympic Nat’l Park a sensible but significant off-trail adventure in Olympic Park

ailey Range Traverse is an unofficial, informal hiking-route over about 15 miles of the interior, core ridge-massif of the , within the .  Much of it has an easily-followed path, but there are sections that become unclear and uncertain, and thus can be especially memorable.   Perennial – and varying – snow patches, fields and glacier-remnants …

Bailey Range, Olympic Nat’l Park geology of tectonics & subduction on exhibit in Olympic Mountains

ailey Range is a major ridge and spine of the core , technically beginning from itself, spiralling north and northwest through the northwest quadrant of , then tapering & bifurcating beyond into civilian and timberland parts of the .  Official trails end at – ‘dare not to enter’ – the main interior Baileys, and (thus) …

Hammock camp an approach to promote Dispersed Camping, for impact-reduction

ammocks are usually seen as a way to rig a suspended bed, to avoid having to lay down on the uncomfortable ground, to sleep. However, a hammock-suspension that supports the whole weight of a person is way more than strong enough to also support a tent or tarp shelter, which are insignificant loads in comparison. …

External versus internal frame backpacks the external-frame is better; the cost is complexity

ackpacks come in either external or internal frame designs. Internal types dominate in the market today, due to two main factors. Most-conspicuously, but functionally secondary, is the popularity (or more accurately, prestige) of mountain climbing, rock-climbing, ice-climbing & etc. More-pragmatically & realistically, the problem with external frame designs is that they really need to be …