
| July 24-31, 2004
For our big 2004 vacation, my girlfriend Amy and I decided to spend a week in the Olympic Mountains. Aiming for Mt Olympus, we hiked in along the backpacking mecca of the Hoh River trail 18 miles to the base of the mountain. The approach was pretty uneventful, but there was some interesting wildlife on the trail (pack llamas).
Once reaching the Blue Glacier, we switched from tennies to boots and roped up to work through our way up the crevasses.
The terrain switched from blue ice down low to snow up higher as we ascended the Snow Dome. This was interesting hauling up full packs but paid off later (UGH!) The icefalls were incredible and we built our camp atop the Snow Dome--our home for 4 nights.
Our day hikes were interesting. We observed a large mudslide coming off Mt Athena. We also visited the summits of Mt Olympus' west peak and Mt Tom, a neighboring peak. I was surprised to read in the register that the last ascent was in 2001--strange being adjacent to the heavily visited Oly. (yes I realize that everybody doesn't sign these things, but still!)
Mt Tom was a straightforward mountain, but required descending the west face the Olympus massif to obtain the White Glacier and the slog up to the summit. So afterward it meant re-ascending Olympus which was a butt-kicker.
Our rewards for camping up high on the glacier included great views of sunrises, sunsets, the Northern lights, and the "Goat Show"--watching the antics of the local mountain goats inhabiting the area around our camp. We saved our best meal for the last night up there--spam & potatoes!
This final night also provided the best sunset of the trip--over the fog-laden valleys leading out to the Pacific.
It was definitely a great introduction to a special place. |