Mileage: 9.2 miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 3300ft/4480ft
Map: Green Trails Grisdale No. 198, Custom Correct Quinault-Colonel Bob Wilderness
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Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty Please.
Hike Details:
Colonel Bob Peak is a 360 degree vista of the Olympic Peninsula but it is a climb to get there! Climbing up on the Pete’s Creek Trail through humid rainforest along its namesake creek, you quickly gain on the summit on switchbacks through the washes and slides from the rocky peaks above. Expect vegetation crowding the trail and cougars have been spotted in the area. A short scramble is needed at the top and your hands may be necessary in many spots on the last mile of the trail as it seems to head straight up! It is important to watch your step, this rocky trail can be an ankle twister.
My Hikes:
7/17/2020
Another hike on the repeat list for this year and I watched all week for a clear day in the forecast. I woke to sunny skies on the beach and decided today was the day! Best laid plans…
It has been 6 years since I’ve hiked the Colonel and I did it as an overnight that time. Even got to see a cougar! Driving up to the trailhead this time it all looked familiar and there was only one other car in the lot. The privy was locked, so make note. Also, there are two trails leaving the parking lot, you want the one going UP across the road from that privy and next to the sign for Pete’s Creek.
The first mile before the crossing of Pete’s Creek was fairly mellow, a few logs down and huckleberries to munch. A slide at .8 miles was easy to navigate but required hands. There were blue skies above and superfluous flagging and cairns. The creek was dry (or running underground) so it was just a walk over a boulder riddled bed to the other side. You could still hear the water gurgling further up, though!
A larger wash down from Gibson Peak soon appeared (I think it has been there awhile now) and a few more trees to hop over. Continuing to climb, the trail is deeply eroded and could use some serious check steps. At just over 2 miles, there was a small established campsite with access to Pete’s Creek.
Now for the beginning of the switchbacks on the talus slope with SO much vegetation to push through. Luckily, it was not wet and I still had blue skies above but no direct sun which kept things cool. I remember climbing this in the afternoon last time and it was hot and miserable! Columbia lilies, Indian paintbrush and Columbine were everywhere. Whether started by game or lazier hikers, there were obvious cuts in the trail. Please don’t cut switchbacks!
At 2.6 miles up, I reached the junction with the Colonel Bob Peak trail and stopped for a snack at a convenient boulder. Dehydrated sweet potato bark, thanks for asking. I knew I was not done with the climb yet!
From here, the trail continues through head high brush that is causing hikers to to walk on the outslope eroding the trail badly. If you can, walk to the inside, a little thimbleberry leaves won’t hurt you. I could see the gap I was aiming for as I looked up and watched the clouds move in on the ridgeline. More switchbacks, more cuts in switchbacks.
Things straightened out a bit at 3 miles as I approached the gap but there were a few more logs to climb over and flora to push back. At 3.25 miles and 3442 miles I rounded over the gap and was met with the rainy mist stuff on the other side. that means you are walking in the clouds now. Yay.
Now it was down to Moonshine Flats. The trail was muddy but thankfully bugs were at a minimum. The trail moved through boulders and rock outcroppings (perfect terrain for cougars) and a multitude of social trails make it a bit confusing. There were a few orange diamonds on trees to mark the way but better seen on the way down. You know you are on the right track if you have to go down a rock face and cross a small stream (Fletcher Canyon).
There were two campsites that I saw but they are SMALL and I wouldn’t say ideal. One is right off the trail and too close to running water and the other is down in Fletcher Canyon a bit. I didn’t explore more than that but I wouldn’t plan to bring a large group up here. It takes about .25 miles to walk through the flats.
Pressing on, I walked past shouting stars and burgeoning bear grass to ascend once more. Steep, flat. Steep, flat. More trees to hop over, more roots and rocks. Glacier lilies were prominent and in about half mile I reached the first ridge and turned north. Here things leveled out (comparatively) as I walked in the forest muted by fog towards the rocky peak, angling northeast around it .
At 4.5 miles, I reached the second ridge and the final turn west for the summit. No views at all. The last push is etched in the rock and I kept left to reach the southwest point for 4.6 miles and 4490 feet. I had only passed one couple thus far who said they had views until about 9:30am when the clouds began to roll in.
I waited close to two hours at the top waiting for the clouds to disperse, taking pictures of the stonecrop and paintbrush clinging to the rock and reminiscing on the views I had so long ago. Four other hikers gained the summit while I was there but we were all out of luck. The summit register is old, the last entries are from 2014 (before my first trip here). Could use some fresh paper but there were a billion pens so all is good there.
My trip down was uneventful and I passed two sets of folks headed in, one a family with good size overnight packs. Someone mentioned about needing to eat trail mix to lighten her load…
Now, I don’t know how it happened because I didn’t take any side trips on my descent BUT my total mileage came to 10.25 miles (should have been 9.2). Weird. Oh, and the summit was probably clear around 3pm.
The trail had about 8-10 logs down and infinite ankle-twisting rocks so watch your step!
8/2014 It is funny how some hikes will just catch your eye. This obscure little gem caught mine because my grandfather was a Colonel Bob so it only seemed fitting to go check it out. After getting to the end of 2014 without a trip in the Olympics, I used a few days before Labor Day and going back to work to head over for a one nighter on the Peninsula. The trailhead had plenty of signs warning of cougar in the area, so you can guess what was on my mind most of the hike. Also, be careful at the trailhead, it is easy to accidentally take off on the Pete’s Creek Trail headed in the wrong direction as it crosses the road.
It was on this hike that I declared that rain forests were better to hike in any time except summer because the humidity and very busy spiders are not conducive to hiking with a full pack. Even when I cleared the forest, the tight, steep switchbacks up the slope were overgrown and slowed me down dramatically. I could see why some folks take the longer, easier trail from Lake Quinalt. I didn’t arrive at the campsites below the peak at Moonshine Flats (3.2 miles in) until dinner time and I quickly set up camp and had a bit to eat before heading the rest of the way to the summit.
It is a bit of a scramble up to the peak but I had left most of my gear down at camp so the load was light. The views from the were amazing: the ocean, Lake Quinalt, Mt. Olympus all with a sunset glow. I must admit I didn’t sleep well with the thought of possible wildcats circling my tent. Luckily, nothing but imagination kept me awake.
The hike out was quick and uneventful but once in the car I had my excitement for the trip. Driving down the road, I did have a cougar cross in front of me! Oh, I was thankful to already be safely within the car.
I wrote more about this hike on They Say You Will Never See One Coming.
Directions: From Hoquiam, drive north for 25 miles on US 101. Turn right onto Donkey Creek Road (FR 22, signed for Wynoochee Lake Rec Area). Follow the paved road for 8 miles then turn left onto FR 2204. Continue 11 miles (mostly gravel but in good shape) to the Pete’s Creek TH on the right. You will need a Northwest Trail Pass.
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