We have been planning to hike the Hoh Lake trail for severals months now and finally finished our goal this week! What a great trail and to borrow from skiing vernacular you will definitely earn your turns! This trail is one long series of switch backs that seem to gain altitude until there is no more to gain. Not sure how many switch backs for sure, some guide books say 32. I counted 17 on the front side of the climb, but lost track after that. The trail was clear until about 2/3 of the way up and then we ran into the trail crew and one heck of a log jam. There must have been 20 trees down and the trail was totally gone. The going was slow since we were backpacking the trail, lots of taking the pack off hauling it over and under massive trees and putting it back on only to do it again. We made it to CB Flats and decided to camp there and hike up to Hoh Lake and beyond the next day. We finally made it up to Hoh Lake and then another 3/4 a mile where the trail turns back towards Bogachiel Peak. We had picture perfect weather and views of Olympus and the rest of the range were stunning. It was most assured the crowning moment of the trip! The trails was still hard to follow in several places and we made good use of the ice axe when crossing several avalanche chutes still filled with snow. We saw lots of wildlife including 2 bears grazing on the far side of Hoh Lake. They were quite a ways away, maybe 150 yards? Close enough for me anyway. My advice when hiking this trail is take the essentials only! We had too much stuff and that made climbing more strenuous, but you live and learn!
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