We tried out a couple of new to us trails that start at the Mora ranger station. The trail to James Pond is a .5 mile loop across the highway, fairly flat terrain. Slough Trail is .9 miles on the Ranger station side of the road, with a side trip to the Quillayute River if you take it, and comes back out on the highway, giving you the option of walking back on the highway or returning on the trail. We took the highway back.
Neither of these trails is well maintained, making an otherwise very easy (and short) hike more challenging. Especially the part where you navigate the fallen trees laying over the trail. On the trail to the pond, there’s actually a section where you walk along on a fallen tree and it’s fairly slippery going. On the Slough trail, one fallen tree that blocks the trail is semi broken in half, giving you an opening to sidle through. Another can be climbed over, or straddled to cross. The thick brush growing in on the trail in many places made us wish we had a machete in addition to a walking stick.
In case this doesn’t sound like much of an obstacle, with trees that grow 200-300 feet tall, one falling across the trail isn’t something you just step over. One log came up to about my chest, the other my hips.
But the ground is soft and springy to walk on and the trees are shady and the ferns lush and you really don’t find ugly hiking anywhere on the Olympic Peninsula. Nevertheless, these will not go down in our list of favorite hikes, and not just because of the cougars.
Yes, cougars. If you hike these trails, be sure and read the warning informational sign at the ranger station and carry a big walking stick.
So. Short and fairly level, good choice for beginning hikers. But the obstacles of trees and growth make them more intermediate. And if cougars make you nervous, you might want to pick another trail. Or self-medicate with lots of chocolate, which in addition to soothing nerves also helps make you look bigger in case you need to scare off an aggressive cougar.
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