A terrific hike offering a survey of the great variety the Olympics offer. Starting in lush rainforest and transitioning to alpine lakes, snowy peaks, and glaciers. 

Hike: We did this as a 3 day hike. The hike along the Hoh river is lush and green. Large ferns and moss carpet the valley floor in old growth forest. Day 1 we camped at Lewis meadows, though this made for a long 16-mile second day up to the terminal moraine and back down. It would probably be better to camp at Elk lake at the end of the first night. There are many campsites in Lewis meadows, and bear wire, which is nice. The climbing down the ladder at the washout is a fun obstacle; just watch out for rocks tumbling down from above, as well as broken rungs. This second day is quite a climb. The last mile was on a continuous, at times quite steep, snowfield. The views from the top of the terminal moraine look down onto Blue Glacier, and Mt Olympus towers immediately behind the glacier. Some of the most incredible views I've had in Washington. On the way back down we stopped for a refreshing swim in Elk lake, which was surprisingly not that cold. 

Animals: A great array of wildlife. Saw a fox, grouse with chicks, black bear with two cubs, deer (buck, doe, and fawn), and goat. 

Wildflowers: Most of the flowers were above the washout up to the moraine. Tiger lilies, columbine, and yellow monkeyflower in sunny patches after the washout. There were fields full of avalanche lilies as we got within a mile and a half of the end. On the rocky sections on the terminal moraine there were David's penstemon. Nuphar polysepala (yellow pond lily) blooming on Elk lake.

Did this as a day run up Mount Olympus.  

The trail is in great shape until the ladder.  We absolutely flew through the first half-marathon.  Things slowed a bit as we began to climb.  Made it to Glacier Meadows in about 3 hours.  From there things slowed. From Glacier Meadows camp there was intermittent snow and the snow started in earnest on the last climb before the glacier.  The creek is melting out fast but just follow the bootpath and you'll have little difficulty.  The entire way back down was smooth sailing.

The ladder is a little sketchy at the moment.  It is missing a couple of steps and is wobbling all over the place.  I really enjoyed it but it's worth noting.

I was attacked by some sort of wild chicken/turkey.  It was far more terrifying than it sounds.

While bugs were not a problem on the trail at all, they were horrific in the evening as we were preparing to leave.  Just whilst removing my shoes I must hove gotten bit ten times.

All in all a great day!  Can't recommend this trail enough! 

We went out to the five mile marker on the Hoh River Trail. It was lovely hiking along the river and seeing the magnificent old growth forest. Since it was 4th of July weekend, the first couple miles of the trail were packed with people, but the farther you go out the less people you see. If you are planning to camp out there you need to fill out a form and attach it to your pack, which we did see many people do. However, be sure to do this early in the day as we saw many people hiking out on our way back at around 4pm, more people than there were campsites for. All in all a lovely hike with minimal elevation gain, but still pretty views of the Hoh River and surrounding forest, as well as a couple of peaks nearby. 

This was a decent backpacking trek. We (2 of us) did it in 3 days 2 nights. We went the 10.5 miles to Lewis Meadows, where we stayed both nights. We did the remaining 17 miles to the base of Olympus and back to camp on the middle day.

Trail was well defined and basically snow free except near glacier meadows and the glacier/Mount Olympus itself. There are some fallen trees on the trail that you will need to go over/under (usually without much difficulty).

To cross water deeper than an inch or two, there are usually bridges; a combination of built ones and log bridges. The log bridges are generally in good condition and a superior choice to wading through the water. One exception might be the log bridge right before you get to the Olympic guard station; It was a somewhat narrow tree that, while solid, made me want to cross slowly and carefully (no one who used it fell, but other log bridges I would have almost felt comfortable running across compared to this one).

As for the snow, we did fine with micro-spikes. The snow was pretty melted out underneath, so I would imagine it might be riskier in another week or two. It was fine for walking and glacading on this trip though. There is a ladder and a rope laid out at one point before getting to glacier meadows that it would be wise to use.

There are many water sources. If you bring a filter (DO bring a filter), you might only need to carry 1 or 2 liters at a time. We carried 3L and passed many creeks/rivers without refilling. 

While camping, there were only minor annoyances (neighbors, bugs, very light rain on the last night - in that order). Camped next to the river, it was relatively pleasant. Didn't use bug spray, didn't regret it too much. Maybe should have used sunscreen, only really needed it near the glacier.

Bear cannisters are a great idea if you don't want to fight for space on the bear wires, although we didn't see any bears. There were some not very shy deer grazing in the meadow near the camp site that we saw several times.

Since it was a holiday weekend, things were pretty crowded. We wanted to camp closer to the glacier, but all the spots past Lewis Meadows were taken (as we were informed when checking in at the visitors center). Would recommend planning ahead, showing up early, etc.

I have one final recommendation: since most of the trail is a (relatively) flat walk through mossy forest next to a river, and the real views don't show up until about 15 miles in (nothing against the forest walk), consider doing what it takes to extend your trip to include climbing Olympus. Now that I've gone to the base to see it, and endured almost 40 miles of walking, I would have gladly gotten training, gear, and added a day or two to the trip to include a climb up Olympus. The glacier view is _majestic_ and many others there like me agreed that we might want to come back to climb Olympus.