Royal Basin

My first ever backpacking trip in Washington State was to Royal Basin. This was back in the summer of 2004. My friend Jim “Hot Pants” Watkins (don’t ask) was visiting and we both wanted to do a trip in the Olympic National Park. He knew the Park well, but I’d only heard about it, and mostly the moss-laiden rainforests and surf-bounded coast. My Falcon Guide to Washington Hikes listed Royal Basin as a “rain shadow” hike because it is in the northeast corner of the park and most of the moisture from the Pacific Ocean gets caught by the peaks farther west. I love rain shadows hikes, or more accurately, I don’t like hiking the rain.

That first trip to Royal Basin got me hooked on the Olympics, and I’ve tried to return to the Olympic Peninsula every year since, either to hike or explore the coast or sometimes just hangout at Lake Crescent. One of my colleagues at Highline, Gregory Reinemer, is another avid fan of the Olympics. Having grown up in Everett, WA and then living most of his life in Olympia, he’s spent decades exploring the the Olympic Mountains. Gregory is a now-retired physics professor, but has done many things throughout his life including starting a bakery, plumbing, building houses and living on an organic farm. He’s well-read, well-traveled, loves baseball and is a darn good chess player. In short, he’s about the perfect best person to spend several days on a trail with (my wife wonderful Giovannina not withstanding.)

I did my first backpacking trip with Gregory and his wife, Betsie, in the summer or 2006 – Obstruction Pt. to Grand Valley and over into Cameron Basin. Awesome trip. Spectacular weather (another one on the dry side of the park) and great company. Gregory and I teamed up again in 2007 for the Seven Lakes Basin route, where we saw a lunar eclipse and donated pints of blood to the local mosquito population.

We tried to make our Olympics trips an annual pilgrimage, but life seems to always have other plans. But we’ve been lucky that the last few years things have worked in our favor. Two years ago Gregory did a five day hike up the Duckabush River, explored Marmot Lake and then came out the Skokomish and Staircase. Last year Giovannina and I along with Gregory, Betsie and Betsie’s son, Collin, traversed Anderson Pass from Enchanted Valley out the Dosewallips.

This year, we only had a few days to set aside and so Gregory picked Royal Basin. I hadn’t been back since 2004, and was thrilled at the idea of heading back. Alpine meadows teaming with wildflowers. Alpine lakes craving to be swum. Towering peaks lording over you like a race of imperial giants. All accessed by the most idyllic duff-covered trail through a deep mossy wood shaded by majestic Douglas-fir trees. We might even find mushrooms!

I won’t bore you with an extensive trip report. Basically, it was awesome. The hike up was mostly in the shade, with the cold, pounding river beside us. We got to our campsite at the lower meadow around five pm, and it stunk. If you can, get a site at the Royal Lake. It’s way better. That’s where all the cool kids hangout. The lower meadows are full of mosquitoes, are dusty as hell and there are deer that try to lick your pee. Of course, you get the same things at Royal Lake, but there’s a deliciously swimmable and inviting alpine lake, with crystal clear water through which you can watch fish swim. You can even try to catch the fish, if you’re into that sort of thing. But we got a permit for the meadow, so that’s where we camped for two nights.

On our second day, we explored the basin. I swear Gregory is part mountain goat. The dude has twenty five years on me and was bounding over scree fields and glissading down snow fields while I fumbled my way across the landscape a drunken astronaut in a space suit. The man is made for the mountains. The scenery is absolutely stunning. Wildflower strewn meadows. Towering rock faces. Alabaster snow fields. Rushing cascades of water. Blindingly blue skies. You really feel like you’re in another realm.

We spent the better part so the day exploring off trail, moving between cliff faces, scree and snow fields, fields of heather and forest glades. We were exhausted by the end and so rested for a while with the popular clique by the lake, leaving before they realized that we were a couple of lowly meadow dwellers.

The hike out on the third day was just plain lovely. Not too hot. Almost completely downhill. Not a lot of other hikers so we didn’t have to stop too often and don our masks for fear of giving or receiving Covid19 in the backcountry (that would suck). Gregory and I talked about all sorts of things – baseball vs soccer, which is actually a sport and which is a game in need of scoring; the multidimensional layering of our solar system and comets and black holes or something; how growing older is actually way cooler than everyone thinks, unfortunately you just hurt all the time. Like I said, just plain lovely.

Not sure what our next hike in the Olympics will be. I haven’t been up the Hoh River yet and I’ve been itching to do a coast trip. Whatever it is, I’m glad to have such a wise, willing and adventurous friend to do it with, or at least one that will put up with me and is okay that I write about him on my website.