Church Creek

5/30/2015
 
Church Creek trail can pretty much be summed up in one word ... Wow.

Trail descriptions for this trail are few - we had to rely on trip reports from previous hikers and even then they didn't give much of an insight as to what lay ahead of us.

The trail winds its way through some beautiful old growth forest, deep into the Skokomish Recreation Area in the lower Hood Canal district of the Olympics. The serenity was amazing; birds singing in the trees, grouse grump-grumping in seeming cadence with our footsteps, all to the music of running water just out of sight. These were the only sounds that broke the silence. Wow, what a good workout. We were prepared to gain 2330' in 3.2 miles. That elevation-to-distance ratio was in keeping with what we'd been hiking lately, with a slight push on the gain to increase our conditioning. What we weren't exactly expecting was for that gain to come all in the first two miles of the trail, followed by a descent of about 1500' down into the basin where Church Creek originates. We also weren't expecting to navigate the massive trees that had fallen across the trail.

Me, trying to figure out how to get around the massive tree you see behind me.

Oh, but once you make it up and over that ridge into the basin. Wow.

Church Creek originates from a pond, or 'tarn', that was crystal clear and surrounded on all sides by various peaks and ridgelines. It was so clear that you could see the speckled sides of the trout swimming under the surface, and the red bellies of the salamanders that wandered the bottom. We followed the trail around to the far side of the pond where we had lunch and reveled in the beauty and serenity of the basin.

 

After lunch it was back to the trail for our up-and-over return trip. The final descent of the trail made me realize how far I have yet to go on my conditioning. I fell behind Holly and Ken, struggling with the degree of decline. Chris M and Mike hung back with me on the trail. It has shaken my confidence in my ability to handle the descent of Mt St Helens climb, and made me realize that I need to up my game if I'm going to make it.

 

I have added a high-protein powder to my daily fruit smoothies in the hopes of developing some muscle mass in my legs. I am now consuming 60g of protein in the mornings, along with additional amino acids and other muscle building goodies. My weekday workout regime will be adjusted again to concentrate more on building muscle and bumping up my stamina/endurance a bit more.

 

All in all, this was a great conditioning hike with a wonderful payoff at the end of the trail. I plan on doing it again next year, but as an overnight - and I'm bringing a fishing pole.

 

Distance hiked: 6.4 miles
Elevation gain: 2300'