The bomber crash site, Olympic Peninsula

The slope above the debris field for the B-17 that crashed on Mount Olympus in 1952

On Sept. 27, 2018, Paula Everdell and I hiked the Tubal Cain Trail in search of the debris field for a B-17 that struck Mount Olympus on the Olympic Peninsula in 1952 and skidded downhill to a stop. Of a crew of 8, five survived and were rescued the following day.

Paula on foot log

The crash site is above the opening for a shaft that was the property of the Tubal Cain Copper and Manganese Mining Company. To get there, we hiked a 1,600 foot elevation gain and 7.2 miles round trip, according to Washington Trails Association. Says the association's Web page:

. . . enter shaded forest and soon pass by a shelter and camp. Cross Silver Creek on a footlog, then begin a gentle ascent on a well-sloped trail lined with rhododendrons. The trail remains in the shade, and the rhodies remain the best view until they yield to mature forest at about 2.5 miles. At 3.0 miles, a mine shaft is visible on the hillside left of the trail. A few yards past is a junction with the Tull Canyon trail, which doubles back sharply to the mine shaft.

 If the 1952 B-17 crash site is your destination, take the Tull Canyon trail to the mine and past. This trail is steep, gaining 450 feet in 0.6 mile, passing countless enormous boulders poised on the steep slopes all around you.  

The footlog allowed easy passage over Silver Creek, near the trailhead.

The hike can be kind of a drudge, because there's not much scenery.  The banks are steep and the falloff impressive, and perhaps that is why we missed the Tull Canyon Trail sign, which was above the walking path. We ended up at the wrong mine shaft, catching up with Chandler, a 23-year-old woman from Georgia, who had passed us earlier on the trail and disappeared ahead. Chandler had become puzzled as to where the Tubal Cain Mine was located. The path just seemed to come to an end -- and in fact did. But we climbed a steep slope and encountered two individuals coming out of a different mine shaft. Jim, the father of the father-son combination, obligingly took our photo:

Chandler, on the left; me, and Paula on the right (my left)

 Then they explained that they were camped near the debris field as well as Tubal Cain mine, which we had passed.

A stream gushed from the mine opening; high above there was an ominous overhang.

Jim, who likes to explore old mines, believes this is the remnant of an ore car.

We hiked back down the trail with Jim and his son, Jesse, probably a quarter mile, and then found the path past the Tubal Cain mine and on to the debris field. This was the steepest part of the trail.

I had to clamber a couple feet up the bank  to get to the level of the entrance to Tubal Cain mine.

The crash site wasn't particularly impressive--just airplane scraps left behind and not worth carrying out. It lay in a bog at the bottom of the slope seen at the top of this post.

My best guess is that this was the floor of the aircraft.

This appears to be part of a wing -- mostly empty space, for lightness, quite sturdy.

Another wing, perhaps?

The B-17 landing gear

After the hike, Chandler, a graduate in philosophy, joined us for dinner at my WorldMark Discovery Bay time share condo. Before that, on the return hike down the trail, she shared stories of her family  as well as her plans to work on a California marijuana farm during the fall harvest.

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 7.2 miles
Elevation gain: 1,600 feet
Conditions: Comfortable and dry
Load: 20 pounds of backpack

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1470.20 miles

Elevation gain: 52,820 feet  -- 4,824 feet to my fourth Rainier.

The sheter and camping area

Tubal Cain Copper and Manganese Mining Company