Hoh River Trail to Blue Glacier — Monday, Jul. 29, 2019

Stayed overnight at Willaby campground at Lake Quinault and picked up permit there. The next morning drove to Hoh to start a 2 night backpack. I was a little too ambitious and we hiked all the way to Elk Lake the first day. Even though the first 12 miles don’t gain too much elevation, it’s still a workout and by the time we reached the switchbacks, we were feeling a bit trail weary. The camps at 12.4, 13.1-13.3 mi are great alternatives if you want to pass Lewis Meadow but not climb all the way to Elk Lake- although these don’t have bear wire. We also really liked 5 mi Island (only 5 mi in but good river access). The lake is very marshy on the perimeter and we hiked back a ways past Martin camp to get water from the creek. Otherwise the campsites are pretty good at Elk- there was a group of men that were extremely loud and laughing past nightfall both nights we were there. They were obviously having a good time but it’s not respectful/mindful of others’ experience out in nature so just throwing it out there to remember to be considerate of other visitors.
Next day we day hiked to Blue Glacier. The trail along the ridge line offers great views of Olympus. We ran into quite a queue at the ladder. It was steeper/more exposed than we had anticipated and my partner opted not to do it (fear of heights). I rappelled down using the rope on the side of the ladder (same thing on the way back). It’s definitely an adrenaline rush. I started with the lateral moraine- the meadow on the way up is amazing. It was sunny at the time and I could see 2 climbers coming down from the peak which was cool. The terminal moraine is less elevation so I was glad to do it after the lateral which was a pretty decent climb. Overall the trip was great and we would definitely return.