On September 2, 2016 I (Wayne) went on a 4 day backpacking trip with 1 other person (Juli). Our objective was to backpack a portion of the Skyline Trail, and climb Kimta Peak. We did the full Skyline Trail trip in August of 2013 (see note 1 and 2 below). On that trip we intended to climb Kimta Peak, but we did a false summit of Kimta Peak instead. This time, we went the opposite direction with respect to the 2013 trip. And we hiked up the Big Creek Trail. On the first day we started backpacking at 12:30 PM, and reached Three Lakes Shelter camp at 7:00 PM.
On the second day we hiked to Three Prune camp. A fellow backpacker named Branden arrived at this camp also. We found out he intended to climb Kimta Peak too. He had just graduated from U. of Colorado, and he was checking out some National Parks in the West. I was amazed that out of all the Peaks in Washington State, he selected Kimta Peak (the Peak we intended to climb).
On the third day we intended to climb Kimta Peak. We left camp at 7:40 AM. We saw a herd of elk and a couple of black bear along the trail. We reached the summit of Kimta Peak at 2:00 PM. Although we were on the sumit for only 15 minutes, we took pictures and had a snack. We were back in camp at 7:25 PM.
On the fourth day we picked up camp and hiked back the way we had come a few days prior. We started hiking at 8:40 AM. We stopped for lunch at Three Lakes. After lunch we continued hiking and reached the trailhead at 6:25 PM. Branden was at the trailhead; I had an extra regular 7-up in my cooler, that I shared with him.
Note: Part 1 of this set of slides can be found at Trails & Routes->Olympics_S->Skyline Trail Trip 1A.
Note: Part 2 of this set of slides can be found at Trails & Routes->Olympics_S->Skyline Trail Trip 1B.
