KaskadskyjKozak Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Trip: Olympus - Blue Glacier Date: 7/17/2010 Trip Report: Olympus has been on my tick list for a number of years, but I have had trouble getting a combination of the time off and a good weather window. This year all worked in my favor. I went up with a largish group (6) for a four day trip. On Thursday we caught an early ferry to Kingston, picked up our permits, had brunch in Forks, and did a 5 hour approach to Lewis Meadows. On the second day, we slept in and did a very relaxing five hour hike in to Glacier Meadows. On both days we had beautiful weather. The trail is dry and snow free all the way to camp. There is currently a rope ladder set up just before Glacier Meadows and warnings to avoid a gnarly, melting-out avalanche gully. Camp itself has lots of snow-free sites and plenteous running water right by camp. Getting some elevation gain finally: The rope ladder: Glacier Meadows: Since we got to camp early we hiked up to the moraine to admire our objective. Great, great views. Later in the evening we saw bears right in the camp site. Needless to say, we hung our food very carefully and by the book. The ranger advised a very early start so we headed out of camp at 3 am on Saturday. It was cool and clear. The route was completely straightforward. We took the moraine to the far left and descended a climber's trail to the remaining snow/avy debris and dropped to the Blue Glacier to rope up. Very few crevasses are opening up, but we roped up anyways. We took a moderate slope up the Snow Dome, traversed to Crystal Pass, and then rounded the corner and proceeded to a notch below the false summit. Cramponing was decently firm until we rounded Crystal Pass, then got sloppy. Views from the slope up to the Snow Dome: Examining a gaper near Crystal Pass: We descended a steepish, very icy slope to the col between the false and true summits, and then ascended a steeper, sun-exposed, snow slope to just below the summit block. The icy slope down from the false summit: The summit block - reward for 6 hours of hard work: I had brought a very small alpine rack with me and proceeded to the right slightly where easy scrambling led to a belay ledge half-way up. I then led a short pitch of 5.easy to the rappel anchor and set a fixed line for my followers. At this point another party of 2 caught up to us and also led the pitch. We ran into nobody else on the route that day. KK summit stoke: Summit pron: We rappeled the climbing pitch and downclimbed the class 3 bit, then proceeded to reverse our steps back. The descent was straightforward and took about 3 hours. We had a great rest at camp, washing up, eating, etc, and opted to do the full deproach on Sunday. We headed out on Sunday at 6:30am. The hike out went great until about 5 mile island. Then it became more and more painful and mind-numbing. We got to the cars at 2 and proceeded directly to Forks for some real food. Pleasant views on the hike out: We got caught in bad traffic near Sequim and dealt with the normal ferry backup, getting back to Edmonds around 10 pm. This part of the climb may have been the most painful part. :-) Gear Notes: Ice axe, crampons, helmet, small alpine rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YocumRidge Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 Very nice ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBo6 Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Look like awesome photos. My monitor is pretty FUBARed so my resolution is awful, but in the summit porn shot which way are you looking? I can vaguely see that there is a break in the mountains then they start up again? River drainage? Looks like it was a great trip, I hiked into Five Mile Island over break for a day, I could see how it got pretty mindnumbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 Look like awesome photos. My monitor is pretty FUBARed so my resolution is awful, but in the summit porn shot which way are you looking? I can vaguely see that there is a break in the mountains then they start up again? River drainage? Looks like it was a great trip, I hiked into Five Mile Island over break for a day, I could see how it got pretty mindnumbing. the summit shot is looking "easterly"... you can see the false summit below as well as the middle peak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Nice! "Real" fool in Forks??? Where? Looks like you had a really nice trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 Nice! "Real" fool in Forks??? Where? Looks like you had a really nice trip. More real that Mountain House and nuts and twigs. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoroastr Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 Looks like a blast! Congrats, and thanx for the share! I have got to make it out there some day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinomyte Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 How hard are permits to come by? I know I could probably google it, but share the knowledge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 How hard are permits to come by? I know I could probably google it, but share the knowledge! Elk lake and Glacier Meadows have quotas. You can reserve a spot up to a month in advance (and are not charged until you actually show up). Just call the wilderness information center in Port Angeles to find out if there are spots open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinomyte Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Thanks KK. A buddy of mine called and got us next Fri and Sat! Hope theres a ice trail and maybe someone I csn join up with, as mu buddy only hikes! If anyone is climbing Sat the 31st, let me know, 'cause I'll be there weather permitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinomyte Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 I meant "nice" trail, but I guess an Ice trail would do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teh Phuzzy Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Nice to see that it has dried out and cleared up since the fourth when we hit Constance. Looks like great fun, nice TR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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