Last week Becca and I climbed Mount Olympus, along with our dear friend Helene. We had some bad mosquitoes and bad weather, but nonetheless had a great trip. This was all of our first times on Olympus, and next time, I’d like to spend longer in the alpine and climb more summits - my biggest gripe with this trip is that you spend such a small fraction of the total time above treeline.
Becca and Helene on the lateral moraine above the Blue Glacier, a classic view. Mount Olympus’ three summits are hidden in the clouds behind.
We left Seattle Thursday night and drove to lake Quinault to camp, then finished the drive Friday morning. With a bit of gear reorganization, we started hiking around 10:30 under a broken overcast. The Hoh River trail is lovely, and we had a grand time gawking at the mossy cedars and maples.
Becca and Helene amongst the cedars along the Hoh River.
We stopped for a few breaks along the river, including at the Olympus Guard Station 9 miles in, where Becca took advantage of the porch to get a quick climbing workout in.
Becca training during a hiking break at the Olympus Guard Station.
At 13 miles, the High Bridge over the Hoh River is stunning, crossing the river far above a narrow fern covered chasm.
A view from the High Bridge straight down into the Hoh River.
From the bridge, we started climbing through pleasant forest to Martin Creek. The falls on Martin Creek are hard to get a decent view of, but are really quite beautiful. We arrived at our first camp at Elk Lake just before 19:00 and set up tents. It was pleasant in the forest, but without good views, and we ate dinner under an ominous overcast that enveloped the surrounding ridgetops.
Saturday morning we got up at 6:00 and headed off a little bit before 7:30, still under thickly overcast skies. As we got closer to Glacier Meadows we finally got some views out of the forest to the mountains to the west. We set up camp at Glacier Meadows, with swarms of mosquitoes motivating us to move quickly, then headed up the trail with light packs towards the moraine, where we got our first stunning view of Mount Olympus, with all three summits shrouded in clouds. Descending to the glacier was straightforward and easy, and we crossed the flat lower slopes unroped before linking glacial slabs and snow patches up towards Snowdome.
Becca with her “snowman” friend on the lower Blue Glacier.
Helene enjoying some crisp snowmelt straight from the source before roping up for the upper glacier.
Climbing up snow patches towards Snowdome, with stunning Blue Glacier icefall and Olympus’ three summits in the background. The true (West) summit is indistinct at far right.
As we climbed up the last few feet to Snowdome, we ran into another party of two descending - by some total coincidence, it was Dan, a friend of mine, and his buddy. The advised us that the snow bridge over the bergschrund on the early season “Fourth of July” route was melting out, so we opted to summit via Crystal Pass instead. The traverse to the pass is pretty mellow, but with poor visibility and a few big crevasses, we opted to rope up.
Climbing back onto the Blue Glacier (and into a whiteout), with Mercury Peak in the background.
As we climbed higher along the gentle glacier, we quickly were enveloped in a whiteout, and it began to rain - premier alpine conditions.
Traversing towards Crystal Pass during a break in the clouds. Olympus’ summit is hidden in fog at right.
By the time we reached Crystal Pass, we were starting to get decently soggy, and the water saturated soft snow made for sloggy travel. Nonetheless, we continued up with bad visibility to the false summit. From here, we knew we needed to descend a short ways to the saddle between the true summit, but in the total whiteout it was quite disorienting. After a few false starts, we made our way down to the saddle, then back up to the base of the rocky summit block, thoroughly soaked with the ongoing rain. Getting off the snow and onto the rock was the hardest part, and Becca and I felt comfortable soloing the short fourth class scramble to the true summit - Becca gets bonus points for doing it in her fishing gloves!
Becca climbing class 3/4 rock to the summit of Olympus in truly terrible weather.
Summit selfie
We reached the summit and snapped a few quick photos, then I set up a short 20 meter rappel back to the snow while Becca tried to shake some blood back into her frigid fingers. A few minutes later we were back on top of the false summit and roping back up for the descent to Crystal Pass.
Becca rappeling off the summit through the clouds.
The soggy snow at least made for quick descending, and before too long we were starting to get a few views down into the lower Blue Glacier valley.
Helene and Becca descending towards Crystal Pass.
The rest of the descent was uneventful, and it even eventually stopped raining! We lollygagged back down the trail from the moraine to camp, enjoying the misty views and relative lack of mosquitoes. Unfortunately the near 100% relative humidity overnight kept us all fairly soggy, but spirits remained high.
Becca and Helene plunge stepping off the side of Snowdome, with Glacier Pass in the distance.
Sunday morning I got up a bit earlier as the ladies slept in, and walked back up to the Lateral Moraine to snap a few last photos before we headed down into the woods. Mount Mathias was still cloaked in clouds, but the Blue Glacier and Olympus were poking out - what a stunning view! The ice-filled valley that holds the lower Blue Glacier is really quite unique for Washington, and I had to force myself to leave and pack up for the hike out.
Mount Olympus’ three summits poking out above the clouds, with the ice of the Blue Glacier below.
We packed up camp and hiked out through foggy woods, and plenty of good conversation kept us entertained as we hiked.
Becca climbing up the ladder on the trail on the way down to Elk Lake, with foggy forest behind.
Eventually, the clouds burned off, and we even got a few rays of sunshine before returning to the car.
Myself, Becca, and Helene, happily changed into dry clothes and comfy shoes back at the trailhead.