Littleton Horse Camp is on the edge of the very popular Lake Crescent area of Olympic National Park. It's hidden away from the crowds, but still super close and convenient to all of the ONP activities and hikes on the eastern part of the peninsula - and was a perfect place for me to really put my new OOFOS to the test.
Campground Review
The Littleton Horse Camp is a haven in the midst of summer national park chaos! There are only a handful of actual sites - but it is a horse camp, so the sites are HUGE, and well spaced out. Each site has a table and firepit as well as an area with the posts to tie up your horses (or your hammock). There were lots of trees as well for hammocking!
Since this campground is in the national forest instead of the national park, there is a lot more flexibility. In fact, if you turn up here and there aren't any actual sites left, you can camp in any of the green space here around the trail head. When we woke up, we found a lot more tents in the common area then we did when we settled in for the night. The campground itself is the trailhead for Muller Mountain.
The campground wasn't well maintained during the weekend of our visit, there was a giant pile of trash by the trash can (which wasn't ever picked up while we were there), the drop toilet was in the kind of state that you don't want to go into unless you really have to, no one was collecting the $10 fee for the sites, and there weren't any envelopes to register.
There is no running water - or any water source, so you have to pack everything in. You're also only 4 miles from the Fairholm camp store if you have to stock up on anything.
The campground is not marked from the road, but it isn't hard to find if you're looking for it. It's 4.4 miles past Fairholm (ONP campground) going west, up a forest service road. This campground works as a great base for Lake Crescent (especially is Fairholm is packed out- and it's 12$ cheaper per night than the NP campgrounds)
Campfires were permitted here in fire rings despite the overall ban burn in the area. This changes and will be clearly marked throughout the National Park and Forest.
Overall, the only thing about camping here that wasn't optimal was that it rained for almost our entire visit! So we didn't get as outdoor time hanging out around a campfire here liked we'd hoped. When the downpour started, we drove back to the Lake Crescent lodge, ate lunch on their covered patio and did the Marymere waterfalls hike.
Product Review
As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - at the LIttleton Horse Camp (and all through my week of Olympic National Park camping and hiking) I tested out the Women's OOMG Low Shoe from OOFOS.
I was excited to test out a pair of OOFOS, because their shoes are designed to relieve pressure and speed up the recovery process for your feet. I do a lot of hiking, and was planning to hike an average of 6-10 miles per day during my Olympics camping adventure.
OOFOS come in both flip flop / slide style and a full covered slip on shoe style. I picked the full covered shoe because I'm always cold when I'm camping and I hate having dirty feet in my tent and sleeping bag. I wasn't sure if I'd like the way they look on- but I'm not super stylish in the campground anyway, so I went with the black full shoe with white sole.
The biggest challenge I had with my OOFOS was getting my size right! I'm a 9-9.5 usually, and wear my running shoes a half size up in a 10. I mistakenly went with the 9 since I wasn't planning on wearing them with socks, and they were too small upon arrival. I had to send them back for the 10, and luckily I still got them the day before I left for my trip. (note: the return process was pretty easy, customer service actually called me back when I left a message, and I see now that OOFOS has added to their site that they recommend ordering up on half sizes)
What I loved (and learned) about camping with my OOFOS:
- These are soooooo comfortable. I didn't wear them to hike, but I literally wore them every other moment of my trip (and I'm still wearing them every day a week later). The insole is soft, but supportive in all of the right places. It's like wearing properly structured marshmallows on your feet.
- The full shoe slips on and off as easily as a flip flop. While my camping mate was struggling with setting up her tent with half of her body in and out so she didn't have to take off her shoes, I was able to easily slip mine on and off any time I wanted to pop into the tent or into the hammock. The easy on and off, also makes this super easy for changing in and out of clothes.
- Because the insoles are made of the same recovery foam material as the outsole, wearing these sockless didn't feel super great in the rain. They felt much better in the rain once I put on some socks, and I learned to dry my feet off before I wear them without socks. (If you have sweaty feet, you'll want socks)
- I got the white soled shoes because they seemed the most stylish option, but they got dirty very quickly in a mucky campground. They do clean up pretty easily, but if you don't want to clean the soles, black may be a more practical option for the outdoor lover.
- I did a 14 mile hike the day these arrived in the mail, and they were amazing to put on my very tired feet and calves. I don't know the scientific reason that they work, but they made my feet happy. They will be the shoes I pack from now on to slip on when I take my trail shoes off.
