Hiked out to Olympus Guard Station for an overnight on Saturday - did not go past this point on the trail. We started at 11:00am and arrived at camp at 4:15pm. Crowds thinned out by the Mt. Tom Creek camp area. Beautiful green trail, but it was very very muddy - I would say half the trail was mud pit. It was hard on the joints trying to avoid the mud walking out on Saturday - much easier Sunday when I just embraced the mud and walked straight through. 

We saw others ford the two stream crossings, but we were able to cross them on fallen trees. At the first crossing on day 1, we took the closest big log on the left. Getting up on it is not super secure - poor handholds while you traverse the root base to get on the log. At the same crossing on the way back, I took the second log slightly past the big first one. This log was ok for the return trip - easy to get on, and the dismount was ok sliding down the roots with some careful feet placement, but it would be challenging to get on walking in the other direction. At the second crossing, we took the side trail (off to the right on day 1) that eventually reached a gravel bed that we crossed to a short fallen tree crossing and found the trail again shortly thereafter. 

We took breaks at Mt. Tom Creek and Five Mile, and we camped at Olympus Guard Station. All of them seemed quite nice with obvious campsite options and rather nice pit toilets (except Mt. Tom Creek - no pit toilet). We used a bear can so didn't need the bear wires. Saw deer at Five Mile and Olympus Guard Station, and saw a bear at Mt. Tom Creek.

Excited to return when it is less muddy for a longer trip.

We stayed 2 nights at the 5-mile campground and day hiked to the Olympus Guard Station.  This is a truly magical rainforest hike.  Other trip reports provide great descriptions of this hike so I'll provide a few  points that I didn't read elsewhere:

1)  All blowdowns are now cleared from the trail as far as the Olympus GS.  Great work by the trail crew!  There are a number of muddy sections but these are easy to get through.  Stream crossings were easy - we chose to take our boots off for one and use water shoes, but it was only a bit above ankle deep and did have a log crossing option for braver souls.

2)  While we had the 5-mile camp to ourselves, there are numerous great sites to pick from here, at Happy Four and at the Olympus GS.  I would not be concerned about heading in even if quite a few others have camping permits.

3)  This is a gentle hike.  There are no long or especially steep uphill sections and there are no sections along steep drop-offs.  

4)  This is truly a rainforest hike.  There are few other views.  But the rainforest is incredible, with century old trees, absolutely massive nurse logs and signs of wildlife all around (we saw cougar prints on the trail).

It started with a bobcat crossing the trail after the visitor’s center and the magic continued. There's the majestic Mineral Creek Falls after 2 miles which has a worn side trail leading up to it. One major blow down 8 miles in required climbing up and through but the trail was otherwise clear. Standing snow started after Elk Lake at 3200’ and quickly became 1-2ft deep in sections. The trail was buried after the second stream where navigation was required by gps for most of the rest of the way besides some easier to follow sections under tree cover.

For the 3 steep chutes before reaching Glacier Meadows, the first was mostly melted out. The areas between the chutes have steep snow drifts where nanospikes and poles were helpful. Never felt like an ice axe or heavier traction was needed. The second chute was the most technical section of the trail and saw through an opening there was heavy water flowing below. Crossed it uphill from the gap which was steeper and icier that needed traction and poles but it felt safer staying away from the softer snow that could collapse. The 3^rd chute/washout was surprisingly snow-free with the rope and ladder in great shape after the winter.

The Glacier Meadows camp is buried, with snow reaching almost the top of the privy and emergency shelters though the shelters have openings that can be climbed down. Once getting out of tree cover, the steep climb was heavy in the 1-2ft of snow but there were no signs of previous slides until higher up before the lateral moraine. This section has a giant hole in the snow over 12ft deep that didn’t look inviting getting close to so kept uphill of it. Upon reaching the lateral moraine, the glacier put on its spell. Only once getting out of its clutches was the hard snow falling and drop in temperatures apparent which needed getting down to lower elevation where it was a more tolerable heavy rain. Completed out and back in 13 hours with running the first and last 13 miles.

Early season backpacking on a sunny weekend. 

Pros:
-Much less crowded than peak summer season, only encountered a handful of other hiking parties (less than 10!), mostly near the trailhead. Tons of available parking at the trailhead. Flushing toilets available at the open visitor's center. Water refueling station at the visitor's center was out of comission, but suspect the adjacent Hoh campground likely had available potable water if needed
-Easy flat trail to ease back into backpacking, surrounded by ferns and moss-draped trees
-No bugs!
-No snow up to Olympus Guard station

Cons:
-A bit chilly in the AM, not cold enough to freeze the tent though. We protected our water, so not sure if our water bottles would have frozen.

Trail conditions:
Trailhead -> Mt Tom Creek: muddy and a bit damp. Occassional muddy puddles that required some attention to step on rocks/roots to avoid getting wet. Trekking poles and hiking boots helpful in this regard.
Mt Tom Creek -> Five Mile Island: a few blowdowns. More mud. Just 0.3mi before Five Mile Island, a creek crossing that I was glad to have hiking boots for. 
Five Mile Island -> Happy Four: a morass of blowdowns just after Five Mile Island can be bypassed by walking off trail towards Hoh River and avoiding the multiple blowdowns completely.
Happy Four -> Olympus Guard Station: more blowdowns in this section, but less muddy. Dry gully crossing at 6.4 miles in is a bit difficult to see the trail on the other side due to erosion. After descending into the gully, start walking to the right and look for the trail ascending out of the gully. Two creek crossings ~8 mi mark require fording or crossing via downed logs. The downed logs were not too bad even with fully loaded packs.

The first several miles of the trail was in good condition with just a bit of mud, as it had been dry and sunny for a few days. Just before five mile island, there was a long stretch of shin deep water across the trail. We knew to bring waterproof hiking boots, but had not expected quite this much water across the trail.

We saw a bobcat along the Hall of Mosses as well as numerous elk and a Pileated woodpecker along the Hoh River Trail. 

The Hoh River Campground only had a handful of sites occupied Saturday night.