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Hoh River Trail to Blue Glacier — Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020

Olympic Peninsula > Pacific Coast

Fabulous, challenging hike. I definitely recommend it. Here's some info that might be useful:


My Itinerary:

I hiked in to Lewis Meadows, an 11.5 miles stretch, and set up camp. From there, I hiked up to the glacier and back on the next day, a 17-mile round trip, and then back out on day 3.


One thing I would've done differently:

The hike up to the glacier was pretty grueling. There's no exceedingly steep sections, but it's a steady, unrelenting climb. Given the option, I would've preferred to camp at either Camp 12.4 or 13.2 to shave off some miles from the ascent to the glacier. Those camps are really small, however, and weren't available. 


Useful Details:

The Hoh River is very silty, which means it's a destroyer of water filters. In some sections, this made water more scarce than you would expect in the Olympics. It wasn't a huge issue, but it's something to be aware of.


The only water source at Lewis Meadows is from the silty Hoh, and it's a bit of a trek to get to it. If that's not an issue for you, the camp itself is very spacious, has plenty of shade, bear wires, and even a cedar wood pooper!


I found the notorious ladder section to be a 4/10 on the sketchy scale. I didn't feel like my life was on the line, but I was careful to move slowly and keep my focus. Once you've descended the ladder, you have to go up and across the rock pile to get back on the trail, which isn't visible from the bottom of the rope ladder.


Lastly, check the weather! I got dumped on for two days straight and came back a swamp thing! Still worth the experience though!! 

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