Bailey Range 2009

On the only rainy week during August of 2009 I went on a trip that I'd waited years to do: The Bailey Range Traverse. A route that draws hikers from across the country, it is right in my own backyard in the Olympic Mountains. This is a route not measured in miles but in ups and downs, in the time spent route finding, in the time spent negotiating difficult terrain and uncertain conditions that one may encounter. Furthermore, with a few different options as to the length and difficulty of the route one could take, we would tackle the most difficult, a complete loop starting and ending at Sol Duc Hot Springs and including a traverse over the glaciers of Mt. Olympus. Of the hikers drawn to hike the Bailey Range few took this route, for this loop would require that a party carry a climbing rope, helmets, and harnesses for glacier travel, additional weight to add to an already heavy pack with 8 days worth of food.

On a notoriously difficult traverse, throwing in a climb of Olympus added to the challenge. On the other hand, including Olympus was like putting icing on the cake. It would be a classic, a dream trip, a real challenge for me and the Scouts. Surprisingly(?), only 2 Scouts ended up signing up for the trip, and one was "strongly encouraged" by his parents to go. Unlike his cohort, I got the feeling that he didn't have the trip listed among his 2009 "must dos". And where were the other Scouts? Why didn't more sign up? Why didn't my own son sign up? Busy summers or was the trip more intimidating than challenging? Did they just consider it too much work? Would the trip turn out to be too much for me?

The night before the trip I called our leader, who had completed this route a number of times with Scouts over the past 15 years. I asked if he had heard the weather forecast. He had not. A low pressure system was comming into the area and would reside off the coast for most of the week. It would spin periods of rain into the Olympics and onto us for 6 of our 8 days. It would be the worst weather he had experienced in any of his week long high traverses.

But, we had fun.

No we didn't get the views I had dreamed about. No, we didn't complete the trip as planned (we ended up coming out through Dodger Pass to the Elwa and Paul hitched a ride back to Sol Duc to get his car). No we didn't see the bear, elk, marmots and other wildlife the route is so famous for. No we didn't get over to Queets Basin, Camp Pan, or walk on the Blue Glacier. No it wasn't the experience I had envisioned. But, indeed, we had fun.

It was fun because we met the challenge of completing the traverse in difficult conditions. We enjoyed getting to know each other better and develop the comraderie that one experiences on these trips. We got to meet another group of Scouts and ended up helping them through a difficult passage. We shared stories we'd never heard before and some we didn't mind hearing again. We enjoyed sitting in the Sol Duc hot springs and sitting down at a table for a meal. And we enjoyed the sun. When it came out again...finally. - RM

Click on thumbnail images to view larger images.