Staircase Rapids, Hoodsport

Because I’ve been to the northwestern parts of the Olympic National Park so many times, I felt the need to explore the southeastern part of the peninsula. And wow, did it deliver!

In mid-June 2023, I set out towards Staircase Rapids with a friend for a weekend getaway. On the way, we stopped by the Olympia REI (because who doesn’t need a last-minute shopping trip to the best store ever) for freeze-dried food and a warm puffy jacket for me since I forgot that Washington is still chilly in the summer months.

Our plan was to camp in the National Park’s campsite right on the Skokomish River near Staircase Rapids and explore that area. We sped through the forest in hopes that we’d find at least ONE open spot on that Saturday afternoon; thankfully when we arrived, the campground actually had very few people so we had lots of spots to choose from. We set up camp (and by that, I mean dumped all our food into the park-provided bear-resistant metal locker and un-stuffed our sleeping bags into the trunk of my friend’s car) and set out to do the Staircase Rapids Loop Trail.

Though this hike is a short, flat 2.5 miles, it checked all the boxes! It show-cased the rapids with a gorgeous backdrop of dense forest; it offered a stunning, bird’s eye view of the Skokomish River via a suspension bridge that connected the opposite sides of the trail; it provided more mushrooms and moss-covered-trees than we could count.

Once we finished the loop, we changed into swimsuits and drove over to Lake Cushman. We sat by the water enjoying the views and eating an entire bag of tortilla chips with salsa. As much of my Instagram and other blog posts suggest, I am a die-hard fan of Lake Crescent. However, Lake Cushman is a solid contender. My favorite parts of the lake are that it’s warm enough to swim in and it has little hay-stack-like mounds jutting out of the water. Another positive is that it is incredibly easy to find a parking spot to spend the day at the lake — the dirt road along the lake is littered with beachfronts and areas to park safely on the side of the road without breaking the law. There is also a large rock for “cliff” jumping (more like, big boulder jumping, but the same concept) with a rope to help you get back on top to plunge again.

The next day’s plan was to go on a long hike. Because I knew we wouldn’t have service, I had written down a few trail options, ranging from 5-16 miles, with our choice dependant on how brave we felt the morning of. In our usual chaotic fashion and with no other preparation other than knowing where the trailhead was, we chose the 16 mile out-and-back trail to Flapjack Lakes, high in the Skokomish River valley.

We estimated about 8 hours for this hike (spoiler alert, we finished in 7 hours and 59 minutes!) which ended up being 3500 feet of elevation over the 8 miles there. The first 5-6 miles was all along the North Fork of the Skokomish River as we steadily gained elevation; the last 2-3 miles led us deeper into the forest. The last mile was the most brutal - it included extremely steep switchbacks that made us question if the lakes were going to be worth it.

However, once we finally reached the ridge, it was obvious that the lakes were worth every bit of leg pain! Both lakes were a beautiful teal color, with snow-covered peaks set in the backdrop (Sawtooth Ridge and Mount Lincoln). There is a 1-mile loop that takes you around the bigger of the two lakes, though we opted out of that in favor of resting and eating PB&J sandwiches.

(I believe that usually, Flapjack Lakes are a backpacking destination, which would make the hike a lot more manageable. In the area are another set of lakes, called the Black & White Lakes (2 miles from Flapjack Lakes), that backpackers frequently group together in one trip.)

Now at the top, our sweat had started making us chilly, which was our cue to start heading back down the mountain. We wondered how we had made it all the way to there, since the decline was so intense. Frequently throughout our descent, one of us would remind the other that we REALLY need to train for the Enchantments before we try to through-hike it this fall, since that trail will be at least 4 miles longer with at least 2000 feet more of elevation gain.

After we made it back to camp, it started pouring, so we took turns sprinting into the rain to check on the boiling water so we could make a warm, un-dehyrdrated meal. We fell asleep early that night, afraid of the soreness we’d feel when we wake up.

We packed up camp early the next morning, stopped for pho, then hit the regular mid-day traffic back into Seattle. All in all, a great weekend getaway spot.

The cover photo for this blog post is of Flapjack Lake towards Sawtooth Ridge.