Pacific Northwest Trail Olympic Hike (Photojournal) Camping Trip

Section hike the Pacific Northwest Trail on the Olympic Peninsula.  For this adventure, I would attempt to walk from the Sol Duc drainage to the Pacific Ocean.  This walk would be right after a early season September snow. I used public transportation from Port Angeles to the Sol Duc Road.

Its late autumn at this time and most the leaves have fallen to the ground in the Olympics. The elk are done bugling, marmots have retreated into their burrows and most visiting backpackers are back to the everyday grid. I had all the breathtaking landscapes to myself.

My plan was to spend a few days exploring a small piece of the Bailey Range and then walk west using the Pacific Northwest Trail to reach Coast. This was all in part of a large summer journey back in June; which started on the North Olympic Coast.  After walking south on the coast, I made my way inland on the Hoh Rain Forest Trail on my way up Mount Olympus.

I thought it would be fitting to walk from the mountains, back to to the sea and have this be the grand end to the trail series. My finish line would be the small coastal town of La Push.  There the bus would take me back to Forks and then Port Angeles. There would be no friends or family at my finish line. Nor a grand support team to whisk me off with a congratulation metal. Just the feeling of personal accomplishment having walked a custom route I put together in my head last winter.  Sure beats working.



Editor's Note: Article part of an extended trek in the Olympic Mountains.

Autumn in Olympic

It was good to be in the Olympic National Park again.  Here I reached the PNT and I would walk it to the coast; with small detours.

High Elk Camp

Autumn moon.  Good night.

Snow had fallen again while the Park was closed

Exploring

Camp view for the night

Good morning. Watched the moon set as I ate breakfast.

Olympus & Mount Tom from the Little Divide

Alone  

Many creeks to ford on the Bogachiel Trail.

Lots of rain falls here

Gravel bar camp, as I stage myself for the road walk section of the PNT.

Goodnight

Mid 20 mile road walk on the Pacific Northwest Trail God, I hate road walking. Finally a logging operation would stop me in my tracks and being unwilling to bushwhack through coastal jungles I decided to call it. The beach will still be there another day. Thanks to the old logger that picked my butt up on the service roads and dropped me off at the bus stop.

Walking through the Seasons final route

Summer Conclusion
Learned a lot of life lessons spending so much time in the Park this summer.  It had good times and its bad.  Meet a lot of new people in my journey.  It was fun to hike with groups and old friends. 

All my gear worked well and none malfunctioned. I will continue to use the same items for future adventures. Thank you very much if you gave me a ride, rescued me, joined a section of the trip or was there in my mental time of need.  I could not of done any of this without your support and generosity. Special thank you to the ONP Trail Crews that keep the paths clear; so trail bums like me can walk with less effort.




See you guys out there!







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Updated in 2025 by Barefoot Jake