What to say? This trail is incredible.
It seems most people take 3 days to do the full out-and-back to the glacier. I elected for a condensed 2-day trip and therefore had very long, but mostly enjoyable, days.
Day 1: I started at 4:30pm on Thursday. As others have explained, the first 12.4 miles of this trail are pretty much all flat through the green jungle alongside the beautiful Hoh River. There are some lovely views of the braided, glacier-blue river, and also a waterfall around Mile 3.5. There are ample campsites within the first 12 miles, none of which require quota permits. On the way in I saw about 4 banana slugs. Otherwise, pretty uneventful through this first 12 mile stretch.
Things start to get interesting after the 12.4 campsite. The climb begins, and at Mile 13 you'll reach the most amazing bridge. The bridge crosses a river at a height of about 100 feet (I'm bad at estimating distances) -- truly enough to make you catch your breath. There is one campsite right before the bridge and two in the .3 miles after the bridge, all of which seem lovely.
After the bridge, it's a bit of an uphill slog to the next two campsites: Martin Creek and Elk Lake. Although Martin Creek is closer to running water, Elk Lake was gorgeous. I'd choose to stay here next time. Both of these sites are 15 miles in from the trailhead: an ambitious first day (though this is what I ended up doing, and camped at Martin Creek for the night).
Day 2: from Elk Lake, the trail continues to climb and you start to navigate a narrow ridgeline. The mountains begin peeking out between thinning trees, and you start to feel the power of the Olympics.
After about two miles from Elk Lake you'll reach a crazy ladder/rope situation to help you down and across a steep drainage. The ladder wasn't the best with a full pack, so perhaps leave your stuff at Elk Lake and just bring a daypack up to the glacier, unless you're camping up there. Also, look carefully for the trail cairns that lead you back UP and across the drainage to where the trail begins again on the other side! I started to go further down the drainage, which quickly steepens and narrows into what looked like a snow-covered waterfall. Don't do this!
After the drainage crossing, you're almost at Glacier Meadows. And what a beautiful spot that is: a tranquil, small meadow with several campsites. I arrived early in the misty morning and saw a deer nibbling on grass near the bear hangs. It was a moment.
The glacier views are now only a mile or two away. I chose to walk to the lateral moraine, which seemed to be slightly further than one mile from Glacier Meadows. However, the payoff was insane. Getting to see the entire glacier and all of Mount Olympus was exactly what I'd hoped for and made the long days of hiking completely worth it. Note: there is still a bit of snow cover in and after Glacier Meadows. It was nice to have solid hiking boots (and not trail runners).
Now, for the way down: I decided (stupidly?) to hike all the way back to the trailhead on Day 2. Most people opt to camp another night, which would be wise. My walk out got really rough once I hit the flat stretch again. The last 10 miles in particular left me with the most sore legs I've ever had, and a serious lack of motivation to keep trudging along the flat (boring?) trail. However, I kept meeting nice people on the way.
This is a really special trail to get into the heart of the Olympic range. Doing it on a Thursday-Friday was ideal in that there were far fewer campers. I saw a ton of people hiking in Friday night, so tent spots might get scarce. That said, it feels really remote despite the foot traffic. An amazing hike all around!
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