Mount Olympus Blue Glacier

We were making good time and got to 5 mile island in two hours.  We saw some hornet nests, but thankfully didn't run into many hornets.

A little bit after 5 mile island the trail rises above the river, but there really isn't much gain.  For the first 12.4 miles the trail gains 400 ft.  We ran into quite a few people along the trail until about the 10th mile.  Then we didn't see anyone until Martin Creek Camp.  The incline really slowed us up to that campground, especially with 45 lb packs.  

There was a large group of park employees at Martin Creek that were doing repairs.  It was their last day there.  We reached Elk Lake by 7pm.  There were swarms of mosquitoes.  Good thing I brought repellent.  I was really looking forward to swimming, but when we go to the lake we quickly changed our mind.  We didn't even want to filter water there it was so silty and muddy.  We went back to Martin Creek and refilled water. By the time we got back the mosquitoes had disappeared!  We set up camp and readied for a 4:30am wake up time.

The next morning we headed out at 5:30am.  We ran into a couple grouse on the trail as well as the mountain goat the ranger warned about.  I got close and it ran away.  We ran into three backpackers that were going up to the lateral moraine but not climbing Olympus.  

I loved how you couldn't see Olympus until you rounded the last corner and were right above the blue glacier.  Unlike Rainier, where the summit is in sight the entire climb.  

The lateral moraine was a bit steep and there was lots of scree.  There was a strip of rock covered glacier that you could walk on without crampons for a quarter mile.  We reached the end before roping up and putting on crampons.  Looking up at the route, we saw what other climbers had been saying.  The route up to the snow dome had melted out, so groups were forced to scramble up the rock face to reach snow dome.  One ranger was saying that climbers were having 16 hour summit days.  So instead we opted to explore the Blue Glacier and return to camp.  

We ended up walking four or five miles along the glacier.  It was entire bare of snow, so there wasn't any hazard of hidden crevasses.  There were rivers running all throughout the glacier descending into deep blue holes.  It felt like another planet.  My friend Nick got a couple texts on the glacier.  I couldn't believe he had service all the way out there.  Had to yell at him to get off his phone, haha.

On the way back up the talus field, my trekking pole snapped...  We used a leatherman to bend it back and I had to hike with shorter poles for the rest of the trip.  Headed up the lateral moraine a helicopter was picking up the poop from the latrine down at Glacier Meadows.  

We got back down to Elk Lake, packed up and ate some dinner.  Ended up getting into Lewis Meadows campground at 9pm, right at dusk.  The campground was packed.  We had to walk to the end of the campgrounds to find a spot and had to set up our own bear wire.  We finished off a flask of whiskey before heading to bed.  It was a beautiful clear night.  I slept in my bivy two feet from the river bank with a waning crescent moon dipping past the horizon.  

We woke up and got some dehydrated breakfast skillets and bacon jerky and headed out for another 10 miles to the trail head.  We hiked around 40 miles round trip.  There were 7 or 8 llamas at Lewis Meadows, rented out by a climbing group for a summit bid of Mount Olympus.  I was a little jealous.  Wish we had another day to make it to the summit.  All in all it was an amazing trip.  I'll have to try again next year!