Alex Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Climb: Mt Olympus-Blue Glacier Date of Climb: 7/3/2006 Trip Report: Some people had 4th of July town plans, some were off on other adventures, and I couldnt convince anyone including myself to go suffer up Goode; Gene had said something about Anderson River group, but my wife wasn't buying it despite Berdinka's rave reviews of Chamois, so looking around for the trip to do with my wife we settled on either the Buck Creek pass loop (40+ miles) or Mt Olympus (40+ miles) and for some reason I am always drawn back to "the list"...hmmm...says here Olympus is on "the list". Summer agreed to try it out. We caught the first ferry Sunday morning and hoofed it through Forks to the Hoh River valley. It took a while to drive around, and dink around to find parking and get the permit, so we were only on the trail at 10:45 or so. I'd never been there before so was really grooving on the old growth rainforest, the lovely medows, and the flat trail. Its really pretty casual! We were moving right along too, making good time. At 13.1 miles, where the trail starts uphill, our progress abruptly slowed - Summer is pregnant so she gets short of breath really easily now, and since she can't really use her hip belt on her pack (even as light as we were going it makes an incredible difference!) she was going alot slower up the hill. We reached Elk Lake after a slow grind up the trail and the trip was not looking good; I already started going into supportive-husband mode where I made up all kinds of positive spins on the situation. But Summer motivated for the last 2.3 miles to Glacier Medows, trying to help me out by at least getting us to base camp so I could solo the route the next day if she felt like she wasnt up to it. So we rolled into Glacier medows at 7:45 pm. We didn't have a tent, just sleeping bags, and found a small clear spot. Ate some food and went to bed as it got dark. Got up a bit refreshed at 4-ish, and quickly forced down some oatmeal before heading out. Glacier Medows at night is kind of a dark and dingy place, but several hundred feet above the camp sites the forest opens up into medows proper, with some snow still, on the way to the moraine. Summer was keeping up without much trouble, so I was getting more excited that we might get up this after all. At 5:15 we got our first look at Olympus, which is situated in a very dramatic alpine setting that rivals any in the Cascades, and descended to the Blue Glacier. Full Size http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=19192&size=big&sort=1&cat=500 The trudge across the lower Blue was long and really flat, with seasonal snow on top of blue ice making it relatively featureless going. We saw a group of 7 heading up Snow Dome just as dawn was breaking, and then a short while later a party of three traversing towards Crystal Pass. We reached the bottom of the long uphill to the top of Snow Dome and just ground it out. Full Size http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=19194&size=big&sort=1&cat=500 You get most of your el by getting up Snow Dome, so when Summer kicked up it in just over an hour, I knew we were in good shape. The traverse to Crystal Pass from Snow Dome is long and flat (long and flat is definitely the theme of this trip!) with just a few cracks here and there. We didn't rope up for this section, though many other parties did. The views are spectacular, with the Pacific spread out on one side, Full Size http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=19193&size=big&sort=1&cat=500 From Crystal Pass you cross to the NE side of the mountain, which has been baking in the sun since sunrise, and slog up the long, pretty low angle slopes of the upper Blue to the base of the false summit and summit pyramids. Then you move up around the false summit, down a short gravel slope, up a short steep snow slope to the base of the true summit. This is where we caught all the parties ahead of us. It was still early, and the group of 7 was very nice and taking a different (more solid) rock pitch to the summit block, so Summer and I quickly climbed up the "scramble route" on the SW side of the pinnacle, which wouldn't be "3rd class" even at Index - its a good though short moderate 5th pitch with loose rock on the top-out, something you wouldnt really want to downclimb. Despite the many people on the summit, it was very well organized and people were able to enjoy it without getting too crowded. Great views everywhere. Full Size http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=19195&size=big&sort=1&cat=500 As Summer and I bailed off the summit snowfield, MCash and his party came sauntering up! Funny how you can meet your cragging partners so far into the mountains! Anyway, the decent is alot of flat walking interspersed with glissading. It was baking hot on the mountain by 10:30 or so, bluebird day. We zoomed down and got back to camp at 2:30 or thereabouts, along with the parties of 3 and of 7. We were eager to get some miles in back towards the car, so broke camp reluctantly after a short break. We were hoping to spend the night at 13.1, but knew our feet and the bugs would actually dictate where we would stay: while there had been no bugs at Glacier Medows, 4000 ft down in the valley we were not expecting to be so lucky. We got to 13.1 and not only were there bugs, but there was no easy running water. So despite sore feet we busted out another mile to 12.4, where we found a fantastic campsite on a gravel bar out on the river: windswept, bug free, cool, comfortable. The next morning we made it back to the car by noon, and back to town in time for fireworks! Gear Notes: Trekking poles, AL crampons (not used), 60m skinny rope for rap off summit. For summit pinnacle "scramble" bring 3 or 4 medium cams to 1". Approach Notes: Spotty snow at Glacier medows, route in very easy, fast, fine shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Olypen....my homeland, reprezenting! Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCash Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Nicely done Alex and Summer! A very fun climb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekend_Climberz Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Right on buddy! Glad the misses can still handle the whip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvs Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Way to get in there! I think we'll see you next year, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NealH Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Great trip! I can relate to going into supportive husband mode, as my wife and I did Clark a couple weeks when she was 19 weeks pregnant, after which she decided she was done for the season. Sounds like Summer might be even further along--very impressive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammy Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 I was in the party of seven...one of 4 parties on the summit block at the same time. It was great to see everyone cooperating, sharing resources, and keeping things mellow. Hope to see you and Summer out there again soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony_Bentley Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Forks had a great 10 minute show. I saw your party while I was being a day hiking gaper this week. We hiked a whole 3 miles in and then hung out on a gravel bar for an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 climbed Olympus several weeks ago. Rangers told us only one other party had successfully climbed it this year. glad you guys had fun too. We camped at the col just above the moraine of the blue glacier. Great little bivy spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 nice work on the second ascent of Olympus there Clint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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