Completed a wonderful two night backpacking trip along the Hoh River Trail earlier this week (Sunday to Tuesday). Hiked in from the Hoh Visitor Center Sunday morning nine miles to OIympus Guard Station. We were a bit nervous about the high mileage with our heavy packs, but the trail is in great condition and is almost entirely flat all the way to the campsite. We stayed at a group site right along the Hoh River nestled in a grove of trees. LOTS of bugs. There are community bear wires at this site which worked great - there was a massive bear scratch in the tree next to the wire, so you know they work!
The second day two of us woke up early and hit the trail at 6am to head up to Mt. Olympus and Blue Glacier, an 18 mile round trip day hike. For the first 4 miles from Olympus Guard Station, the trail continues along the Hoh River and stays flat. Moderate elevation gain begins after that, but nothing too crazy until you reach Elk Lake. Note: Elk Lake is not a pristine alpine lake if that's what you were envisioning. It's beautiful, but it's marshy and buggy (and looks like a place a herd of elk would enjoy!). After Elk Lake, the trail kicks up a notch and meanders upwards until you start to get some long awaited views of the mountain through the trees. Before you reach Glacier Meadows, there is a big slide area that you navigate via avalanche ladder - definitely the most sketchy part of this hike. There is a rope next to the ladder so you can also just rappel straight down the slide. Another note: there is no view of the mountain or glacier from the sites at Glacier Meadows. By this point we were pretty wiped, but we pressed on the additional 1.2 miles to see Blue Glacier. We choose to hike up to the lateral moraine (vs. terminal moraine), figuring we'd get a better view from up alongside it. We guessed right - the view is killer. The last portion up to the viewpoint was the hardest part. You pick your way up through a glacial meadow (filled with wildflowers still!) and a scree canyon with the occasional snow patch. The trail is marked by rock cairns so keep your eyes peeled for those. We had lunch with our glorious view of the glacier (which we had all to ourselves on a Monday afternoon!) and headed back to camp after some obligatory pics. Got back to Olympus Guard Station around 6pm so 12 hours round trip. Passed lots of Olympus bound climbers on our way back!
Our hike back out to the trailhead the next morning wasn't as painful as I thought it'd be, definitely a doable itinerary if you're in good shape. However, would probably be ideal as a three night trip. Also worth noting that you really don't get a view till the end of this trail - but you're hiking through beautiful, old growth forest along the Hoh River the whole way. Water to filter abounds along the entirety of the trail!
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