June 21, 2022
Very nice day to get out. Mount Rose trail starts near the shores of Lake Cushman. Route ascends 3500′ in 3.5 miles. A good workout for the legs. Nice and warm to begin.
This trail is pretty steep but it does have some nice views out to the south over lake Cushman. Only a few other folks were heading up as we did but we didn’t see anyone until quite a ways up.
Too much snow was not expected but it was clogging the trail here. Not any significant problem for us, though. Seen things like this tons of times.
It’s not a high summit but it does provide good views of the interior of the Olympic Mountains. The mountains behind us are 5-6000′. The valley contains the North Fork of the Skokomish River. It’s famous for the route that the old O’Neil Expedition followed as the first main exploration of the Olympic Mountains. The leader was Lieutenant Joseph O’Neil. They began their journey from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River. I’m sure it was a follow-up to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
I’m still on the summit but this view is of Lake Cushman and Hoods Canal further on. The clouds were slowly increasing but it was a pretty day. Our down route would take us through the edge of the burned area then around to the left. We found more snow on the way down which covered the trail and took a bit of searching. Nothing concerning.
We came upon a few hikers on the way down and they seemed to be having a nice time too. Back at the car, we decided to make the run home and have dinner there. We wondered how our leg muscles would react.
The next day, we both had a good case of DOMS. No, not related to any pandemic form; just Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. And it lasted for 5 days! Owwweeee! But we survived and now our legs are in better shape for upcoming trips.
Dogleggers on the Trail 