Overview

The Cascadian Wilderness Endurance Series events present an exciting opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts to participate in a multimedia adventure blogging contest. These self-supported/unsupported events are open to trail runners, backpackers, fastpackers, and hikers, and each event features a unique and defined route which participants must complete on foot and in one push. Unlike traditional endurance races, there are no course markings or aid stations along the way, providing participants with the freedom to create their own adventure. It’s all up to you! Participants can choose to tackle the route solo or with a couple friends. There are no cutoffs, so participants can take as much time as they need to complete the route without pressure. This unique event is not just about the physical challenge or exploring wild and beautiful places, but also about the opportunity to capture and share the beauty of the wilderness through captivating multimedia content.

1. After finishing your route, share your trip report about your experience. You can do this by posting in the Facebook group, tagging us in an Instagram post, making a YouTube video, creating a photo album, or any other artistic endeavor you can imagine.

2. Submit your time via the event page on Ultrasignup. If you have a GPS track, please include it. If you happened to get the FKT for the year, you must provide GPS proof.

3. Each year a meetup will be held in Seattle to wrap up the previous year, kick off the next year, make any big announcements about new routes or changes, and hand out patches, awards, and prizes for the previous year’s participants. If you are unable to attend the event, arrangements can be made to mail your patches to you.

We strongly encourage all entrants to join the CWES Facebook Group and/or follow the @CascadianWildernessEndurance Instagram to ask questions about the routes, gather and share trail beta, connect with other participants, scope out the competition, and keep up to date on the most recent news, information, and general goings on. This contest is brought to you by the Cascadian Wilderness Endurance Company LLC.

Graves Creek

This route is about 58 miles, has three big climbs, and about 15,000ft of elevation gain. It is a great mix of everything that makes the Olympics so amazing: big trees, dense forest, steep trails, river valleys, high open ridges, fun single track, and good odds of seeing bear, elk and other animals. This is a remote route with no road crossings and very few people (outside of the 13 mile Enchanted Valley and the North Fork Skokomish River Trail sections.) There are creek and river fords that have possibility of being dangerous at high water. There are a few sections like Graves Creek, Sundown Lake and Six Ridge Trails that get little use and even less maintenance. Excellent navigation skills are essential, especially on Six Ridge Trail where the trail itself often disappears in meadows. Expect this route to take a lot longer than a 50+ miler would normally take. Most people go counter-clockwise on this route, but you may go either direction.

Here's the route:
Start/Finish East Fork Quinault River Trailhead
Follow the East Fork Trail for about a 1/4 mile then turn right onto Graves Creek Trail. Turn left onto Sundown Lake Trail, left onto Six Ridge Trail, then left onto North Fork Skokomish Trail. Turn left onto Duckabush River Trail towards O'Neil Pass. The trail Becomes O'Neil Pass Trail, then turn left onto East Fork Quinault Trail and follow all the way back to trailhead.

Trailhead is at the end of a dirt road that should be easily traversed by passenger cars.

Rationale

Why should you pay $20 to complete one of the endurance challenges? A small part of the fee will go to cover website maintenance and domain registration, as well as getting patches made and other small goodies/swag. The majority of this fee will be donated to trail maintenance organizations.

Why are we even doing this? To get people out into the wonderful wilderness areas that we have here in the Northwest and to build the community of adventurous people! The trip report is just as important as actually finishing the route, and we love it when people come up with creative ways to share their experience. Information isn't always readily available for these areas, and maps can be scarce and not always reliable (especially the Pasayten and Frank Church/Selway Wildernesses.) That can intimidate some that aren't as experienced outdoors-people. The goal is to empower people to get out into these wilderness areas and hopefully to protect them into the future.

Event's current local time: 7:35 AM PT