Clallam County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: July 23, 2004
Author: Bill Jacobs

On July 23, five county highpointers reached the summit of Gray Wolf Ridge - Dean Molen, Dennis Poulin, Bill Jacobs, and two Konventioneers, Roy Wallen and Kevin Williamson. Kevin had successfully climbed Grand Teton and Mt. Rainier in the preceding few days and was using this as a warm-down. Congratulations, Kevin. Spectacular weather provided magnificent views of Mt. Olympus, the San Juan de Fuca Straits and Victoria BC region, and the San Juan Islands.

Road Directions to Trailhead

From US 101, a couple of miles south of Sequim and 100 yards south of Sequim Bay State Park, turn west onto Louella Road (Dungeness Trail sign) for 0.8 mile. Turn left (southeast) onto Palo Alto Road for 5.3 miles. Turn right at the sign pointing to Dungeness Forks Campground. Travel 0.2 mile to a gravel road with another sign and there turn right crossing over a bridge toward the campground. At 1.6 miles, turn left onto Road 2870. At 2.4 miles, turn right continuing on 2870. At 4.7 miles turn right onto Road 2860-120, sign is hidden in brushes off on the right side. The trailhead is another 1.6 miles ahead.

Trail Directions

The trail starts as single-lane path then crosses a creek turning into an abandoned jeep road. Approximately 348 yards past the creek is a berm crossing the road. Off to the right look for an obscure trail leading uphill. Follow this as it eventually connects back to the jeep road. Cross the jeep road and continue up for a steep mile to a flat area. Prior to entering the open flat area the trail heads 90 degrees to the left, a turn easily missed. If you bypass the turn and continue through the open area, you will link up to a false trail that dead-ends on the side of a hill about a quarter of a mile later.

The "real" trail eventually comes to a wide-open area above the tree line. Here there are several options. The shortest route is to turn left and head straight up a steep incline to point "6537T" shown on the topo. Then travel across the ridge line to Baldy.

An alternative route is to continue on the main trail across the ravine and follow the tree line to the saddle straight ahead at contour 5,920 feet. From here you can turn left and take the ridge up to the previously mentioned "6537T" point or (our consensus as to the best route) head down into valley straight ahead and work your way gradually up to Baldy from the northwestern side.

When arriving at the previously mentioned 5,920-foot contour-saddle look for a game trail directly in front of you going down hill in a northwesterly direction. It drops about 200 feet into the valley but has a lesser elevation loss then following the two other routes over the ridge lines. Climb up through the valley passing into an amphitheater-like setting. Stay as far right as you can while working your way up to Baldy.

On a clear day you can see Gray Wolf Ridge from Baldy. The remainder of the trail is fairly straightforward and needs no amplification. One note, if traversing steep scree is to your liking, you can bypass the climb to Baldy after descending from point "6537T" by cutting beneath Baldy's south side.