Olympic Mountains Trail Guide. Robert Wood
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by their absence in the Olympics are several animals native to the Pacific Northwest. When the Cordilleran Ice Sheet overwhelmed the Puget Sound basin during the last ice age, the animals fled south ahead of the advancing ice. When the glaciers retreated, the wildlife gradually returned, but some species are now extinct and others have never made their way back to the peninsula. Still missing are the red fox, wolverine, pika, and golden-mantled ground squirrel.
BIRDS
According to ornithologists, 261 species of birds have been noted on the Olympic Peninsula and two dozen others are believed to be casual visitors, although no specimens have been taken. The coastal zones provide a suitable habitat for marine birds, but about half the species live inland— along rivers, on cutover uplands, in the mountain forests, and in the high meadows. No definite figures are available on the number of species that inhabit or visit the Olympic Mountains per se.
Bird life in the forests bordering the mountain streams is varied and includes wrens, sparrows, crows, woodpeckers, kingfishers, and dippers. Other species will be noted in the deep conifer forests on the lower slopes—hawks, owls, grouse, swifts, warblers, and jays.
The open country near timberline provides better viewing conditions. Here one is likely to see sparrows, finches, larks, bluebirds, and ravens. Hawks soar over the meadows, searching for small animals, because they are easier to find here than in the dense forests below. The perching birds are present in great variety. Most commonly one will see flycatchers, kinglets, chickadees, bluebirds, robins, and juncos.
Seeing humans as a source of food, the Canada jay can be found at almost any altitude except, perhaps, the heights above timberline. Hardly has one set up camp—or merely stopped to rest by the trail a few minutes—than a flock of these friendly “camp robbers” makes its appearance. Please keep all food secure and do not feed any birds or animals.
Throughout the Olympic forests, one is likely to first hear, then see, the “Mozart of the woods,” otherwise known as the Pacific wren. This little bit of feathered fluff with the big, happy voice flits about—along the trail, in the campgrounds, wherever the hiker happens to be—constantly trilling a lovely aria.
Other common birds include juncos and chickadees around campsites; crows cawing by the rivers before dawn; grouse drumming in the forest; pileated woodpeckers making a loud racket as they attack dead snags; and, at high lakes, ducks swooping over with a whooshing sound as they circle and come in to land upon the water.
Golden eagles are occasionally seen in the Olympics, gliding above the meadows while searching for dinner. Bald eagles frequent the coast of the peninsula, but they are rare in the mountains, although sometimes noted along the west-side rivers.
FISH
The rivers, creeks, and lakes in the Olympic Mountains contain many kinds of fish. Each fall and winter, salmon and steelhead (an ocean-going rainbow trout) fight their way up the rivers to spawn, forcing passage through rapids and cascades in accordance with their instincts. The Native Americans and the pioneer settlers depended upon the fish for food. The rich red flesh was eaten fresh when the salmon were running, and great quantities were dried and smoked for use at a later time.
Several rivers on the peninsula have been dammed, either to generate electricity or for flood control. As a consequence, salmon and steelhead are no longer found in the streams above the obstructions. The most notable example is the North Fork Skokomish, but dams are also located on the Big Quilcene and the Wynoochee. Two dams on the Elwha River have been removed so that this once great salmon stream can be restored to its natural state as a splendid breeding ground for fish. Deconstruction of the Glines Canyon and Elwha dams began in 2011 and was completed in 2014.
Trout are found in the mountain streams and lakes. The varieties include cutthroat, rainbow, Eastern brook, and steelhead. The regulations regarding fishing change from time to time; therefore, anglers should check with the National Park Service or the US Forest Service—whichever agency is the appropriate one for the particular occasion—before indulging in this sport.
During the pioneer years the rivers and creeks had an abundance of fish, far more than they have today, and it was a simple matter to catch large quantities. Many of the mountain lakes were barren, however, until fish were planted in them.
THE HUMAN IMPACT
The first humans who lived on the Olympic Peninsula were Pacific Coast Indians, whose ancestors had migrated to the region from Asia by way of Alaska. No one knows how long they were present before Western Europeans came, but archaeological evidence indicates they had lived along the coast for centuries. They developed a complex social system based on hunting, fishing, and gathering. Their settlements were limited to the coastal perimeter. Most of the food supply was taken from the beaches, the ocean, and the rivers, but the women went into the forest to gather berries and roots, and the men occasionally ventured into the interior to hunt elk and deer.
According to American Indian legends, before the time of the Quileutes the peaks of Mount Olympus were one big mountain—the abode of the Thunderbird. This was their god—an immense creature capable of darkening the heavens and responsible for lightning and thunder.
European seafarers sailing along the western coast of North America in the latter part of the eighteenth century were the first white men to view the Olympics. One of them sighted and named Mount Olympus in 1788. Eventually the mariners became daring enough to sail into Puget Sound, and a British captain named just about everything in sight. With the advent of the nineteenth century, the sailors departed the Pacific Northwest coast. During the next fifty years the peninsula was more or less ignored by Europeans, but after the boundary between the United States and Canada was agreed upon in 1846, settlement accelerated, and the native inhabitants were forced to cede most of their lands to the United States, reserving only small tracts for themselves. About this time prospectors and hunters began roaming through the Olympics, but they left no records or trails.
The first organized attempt to explore the Olympic Mountains occurred in 1882, when the US Army cut a trail from Fort Townsend, on the northeastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, to the Dungeness River. The soldiers were followed, three years later, by an expedition commanded by Lieutenant Joseph P. O’Neil that explored the northeastern Olympics.
During the severe winter of 1889–90, a small party of civilians known as the Press Expedition succeeded in crossing the mountains, but the explorers suffered severely from the hardships and almost perished. In the summer of 1890, Lieutenant O’Neil returned with a much larger party and thoroughly explored the country. As a result of his explorations, he recommended the creation of a national park in the Olympics, as did James Wickersham, a civilian who spent some time wandering through the Olympics.
Mountaineers began scaling the peaks in the early 1900s. The first ascent of Mount Olympus occurred in 1907, and by 1931, when US 101 was completed around the mountains, the major peaks had been climbed. Such exploits made people aware of the peninsula’s outstanding qualities and brought into focus the need for a national park. The new highway made the Olympics accessible and not only resulted in a large increase in visitors but also meant that the region could be commercially exploited more readily. Thus it soon became apparent that the scenic resources of the Olympics needed permanent protection.
The story of conservation in the Olympics began with the establishment of the Olympic Forest Reserve in 1897. The reserve originally contained about 2 million acres and included not only the Olympic Mountains but also the extensive territory between them and the Pacific Ocean. However, commercial interests quickly succeeded in having large areas deleted from the reserve. The reserve was surveyed at the turn of the century, and in 1907 its name was changed to Olympic National Forest.
In 1909 President Theodore Roosevelt signed a proclamation creating the Mount Olympus National Monument, which consisted of 615,000 acres in the heart of the national forest. During World War I, however, President Woodrow Wilson reduced the monument’s size by 50 percent because of pressure from the timber interests. The monument was transferred to the jurisdiction