Troll hunting on Olympic's Staircase trail

Guest Post: Mary Thygeson

“The weather has been so beautiful that I decided to head out without my fearless leader, Jeff Slakey. My friend Jill and I headed to Staircase for a hike.“

The ride from Olympia to the Olympic National Park Staircase Entrance above Lake Cushman was easy and well-marked and we arrived in a little over an hour. Once there, there were several options, but we chose the shortest, the Rapids Bridge Loop.

An ear to the ground.

As we began our walk, we noticed right away that someone was listening and probably watching so the quest was on to find a River Troll.

The trail itself was easy and followed along the river. Flat in most places with a few rock and man-made stairs.

As well as a few surprises here and there…

The river is low this time of year, but it revealed some beautiful rock formations.

The trees were fascinating as well. Fun to find faces in the bark – but no troll yet!

The whole loop took us a little longer than advertised, but with stopping for pictures and troll hunting it took us about and hour and half. So much to see in such a short and easy hike and well worth it on a beautiful Fall day.

We will definitely be going back in the Spring to see the changes!

But wait… we finally found two shaggy-haired trolls. Can you see them too?