The Enchanted Valley and BEARS !! ONP 6/17/12

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roadtripmom
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The Enchanted Valley and BEARS !! ONP 6/17/12

Post by roadtripmom » June 24th, 2012, 8:04 am

Last year I hiked to the Enchanted Valley to see the bears and saw NO bears. I went just a little late in the season. I planned my vacation this year to coincide with bear activity in the valley and it was incredible ! We drove down Sunday night and slept in the car at the trail head. (three of us in a Kia, I do not recommend it) You can get a permit at the rangers station in Quinault after hours at the kiosk. Early Monday we were packed and off.

The trail is gorgeous and the blue water from the glacier is beautiful. We saw elk within a mile from the trail head. At one point a cow elk and her calf ran into the river when startled by us and the poor little calf could barely stand in the rushing water. We walked quite a ways up so as not to scare them further and we could hear the little guy bleating to his mama. He had made his way back to the bank and mama elk had kept going in the river! I felt terrible ! He kept bleating until mama found him and all was well. We saw one bear on the way in and he was huge ! He ran behind a tree and watched us hike through the meadow. Yahoo ! My first bear sighting :D

A soon as we reached the valley, we set up camp and explored a little. There are bear wires at the campsites and bear canisters are not required. We were exhausted (13.6 miles according to the sign, but 15 by gps) and went to bed early after a dinner of chicken fajitas. (Winco has dried re-fried beans and they were good !) I love my Jetboil !

The next morning it was a little misty but the temperature was nice. There was only one other group in the valley and they were packing up to leave. We had oatmeal with dried cinnamon-sugar apples, cranberries and almonds for breakfast , yum. I took Via for my coffee and I have to say I probably won't go that route again. It isn't fabulous. Then our second BEAR sighting ! He was a little guy and grazed for a long time , looking up for a photo op now an then. We watched him all morning.

We relaxed and explored the valley all day and enjoyed the solitude and waterfalls. We saw another bear( #3) on a short hike and then a big one (#4)wandered out from behind the chalet in the afternoon. When he was tired of grazing he decided to take a nap...right next to the privy ! Another group of three had arrived and set up camp in the meadow close to the privy and they gathered their things and moved to another site. It was a little funny actually. The brunette in the group never took her eyes off that bear. She was freaked out. Honestly he seemed much more interested in eating grass. He got pretty close to our camp later on but just sniffed and turned the other direction. While we were watching him walk away another one came out of the woods behind our camp. :P

The next day on a day hike towards Anderson Pass we saw two more. Total bear count=7.
We met some really great folks during the trip and the weather cleared on Wednesday and Thursday and the Valley was magical. I highly recommend this trip if you need a bear fix, but timing is everything.

Lessons learned on this trip...
1. Starbucks Via :(
2. Instant mashed potatoes :(
3. Dried re-fried beans :)
4. Taking a rest day :D
5. My $40 Alps blow up mat :D
6. I need practice starting a fire (especially when everything is wet)

Me and my crew at the trail head. Let's do it !
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Marina, loving the view.
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Goodbye Enchanted Valley. Thank you for a magical week.
Filling my bucket, one hike at a time.
Amanda

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bobcat
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Location: SW Portland

Re: The Enchanted Valley and BEARS !! ONP 6/17/12

Post by bobcat » June 25th, 2012, 11:09 am

Phenomenal! I have until now shirked the Enchanted Valley because of the almost guaranteed dampness and crowds, but guaranteed bears seems to cancel those factors out.

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BigBear
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Re: The Enchanted Valley and BEARS !! ONP 6/17/12

Post by BigBear » June 25th, 2012, 12:00 pm

It's a great place to camp. I've done it three times, but not recently. The first time I saw zero bears (Labor Day), the second time (mid-July) I saw one and the thrid time (Independence Day) I had 16 sightings of likely 12 different bear based ont heir size and coloring. The key to sightings seems to be the snowline, the low it is, the lower the bear are.

They seem to hang out above Oneil Creek. The lowest I've seen them is a half-mile or so belwo Pyrites Creek (10 miles in).

Good to see they are still eating well.

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Elizabethb
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Re: The Enchanted Valley and BEARS !! ONP 6/17/12

Post by Elizabethb » June 30th, 2012, 7:36 am

Great trip report! What is the total mileage and did you start at Graves Creek?

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wolfofthesteppes
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Re: The Enchanted Valley and BEARS !! ONP 6/17/12

Post by wolfofthesteppes » July 2nd, 2012, 9:20 am

Elizabethb wrote:Great trip report! What is the total mileage and did you start at Graves Creek?
That sign in the pic is the Graves Ck entrance, i believe.

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