mikeL

The boat cost is $50 one way for up to six + gear. You must hike the mile down from the parking lot to the lake where they pick you up. Approximately 40 min. boat trip up to Desolation/Little Beaver area. Much shorter to Big Beaver and maybe cheaper, I don't know. Balance that against the 10-15 miles or more of slog up lake plus extra food. A $$ vs. time thing. I've done the slog east and west side several times each. Next time it's the boat, probably later this month. The drive around to the north end is much longer and boat launch can be a pain if the lake is low. I do know that some people do the portage down to the launch site at the south end.

Olympus requires basic glacier travel skills much like the volcanoes. Once up there you have the choice of three summits of nearly equal height. None are really difficult but one is decidedly easier than the others. Unfortunately it isn't the highest by a few feet. Middle Peak?? I'd have to look it up. In any event make sure your self arrest and prussik skills are up for it. You might also consider getting together a couple more people for another rope.

This is a great find! Bill Cox, who made the original Traverse, was my neighbor for many years. I'll forever regret that I never sat down and talked to him in detail about those days. One's priorities do change I guess.

This wasn't always the case and I think this is why older guidebooks list access via the US side. First of all that logging road up Depot Ck from Chilliwack is relatively new. That's why the brush is still so bad on the Canadian side as it's still new growth. Some friends and I know this brush very well, I'll get to that later. Another reason it used to be better from the US side is that there was a fire on Indian Creek in the 70's and the fire trail made for easy access for years but now the old fire is really brushy. A few years ago 2 friends and i attempted the Depot Creek access. Then we could drive to the end of the road. Our mistake was heading straight off the end of the road as I see from the above map. Thanks!! Anyway after a couple of hours of flailing around and only getting maybe an optimistic 1/2 mile we bailed and opted for Hanging Lake instead. We got off the flagged route and ended up bushwhacking straight up the border as we knew we couldn't miss the lake that way. The route it turns out curves around to the north. Guess I better give Depot Creek another try. Did you guys see the water fall?