My first backpacking trip. About 11 miles round trip in the Olympic National Forest on the Olympic Peninsula. Near Quilcene, WA. We left Saturday morning and caught the 7:10 AM ferry to Kingston then drove to the upper trailhead. Got back to the cars around 3 the next day.
Mt. Townsend is a steep trail, moderate diffculty. The Mt. Townsend part of the trail is a 2600 ft. elevation gain in approximately 3 miles. Then we hit the trail to Silver Lakes which was another 2-3 miles. About a 500 foot drop on this trail. Portions of the Mt. Townsend trail are at a 20% grade which is PAINFUL. Overall, a very nice hike and tough. We really enjoyed it.
I will also post MIke's pictures when he burns a CD for us. His are much better.
