My Knees Held Up

The photo and this post’s tags relate to what people might be interested in—a day hike to Marmot Pass in the Olympic National Forest. However, what’s important to me is that my knees made the 10.6-mile roundtrip with its 3500-foot gain (and loss) in elevation without complaining. A couple of days later the rest of me is still sore. But my knees are fine.

I used to keep a journal of my day hikes and backpacking trips in the Olympic Mountains. The last entry is from 2008. Journal entries became sparse as I got older and just about any hike that needed boots left me with sore knees. There are variables other than boots, of course, but the boots were present on every hike that finished with knee agony. Guilt by association.

On Thursday I wore Nike running shoes. I don’t recommend running shoes for climbing or for a rough or muddy trail, but for a fair-weather hike to Marmot Pass on a gorgeous day they were fine. Did I mention that my knees didn’t get sore?

Back to the hike. I went with my nephew from Japan and K’s sister’s son. My nephew made the hike with ease and like several people we met on the trail climbed the ridge above Marmot Pass for an even better view (they said). I didn’t. I mean, the view from Marmot Pass is awesome so why do any extra work? K’s nephew and I are “C” hikers. Like C students we did enough to get by and weren’t interested in earning extra credit.

The Marmot Pass trail is well described on numerous web sites. One site gets a bit carried away (but not by much). It starts out by gushing:

If for some terrible reason you are only allowed one hike in the Olympics in your lifetime, this should be it.

Obviously you want to go on a clear day. I should add that although the first part of the hike through the old growth forest along the Big Quilcene River seems to go on forever, be patient as you will break out into the open country eventually. Make the hike in August, and lupine, paintbrush, and other wildflowers are everywhere. We were a couple of weeks late to see them in their glory.

We didn’t see any marmots or mountain goats even though a ranger at the Hood Canal Ranger District office in Quilcene just about guaranteed goat sightings. At least I think she was a ranger. She was wearing a forest service uniform. It’s just as well. We heard that the Mount Ellinor trail has been closed due to aggressive goats. Plus a hiker was gored to death by a goat near Klahhane Ridge in Olympic National Park two years ago.

I have never felt seriously threatened by mountain goats in the Olympics. What I remember is being impressed by the size of the testicles on a billy that investigated my camp on a backpacking trip years ago. They were the size of croquet balls. He backed off when I yelled and waved my arms.

The same ranger was a good salesperson. I was going to buy a $5 national forest recreation pass good for one day only. Instead she sold me a Senior Pass. For 10 bucks I can now get into any national park free for life. I can also use the pass to park at national forest trailheads.

With “free” as a motivator perhaps my nephew and I will hike the Duckabush River trail next week. I hope my knees hold up.