The Weather:

Weather is one of the most challenging and unpredictable aspects of the mountain. Being in the Hoh rain forest, it sees 140+ inches of rain a year. Hence the glaciers exist despite being just under 8000 feet at the summit. I am told this year we were at 140% of the normal snowpack--which I was glad to hear since it would help ensure the crevasses were more likely full of snow. We planned mid to late June as that is when the snow is more consolidated, and wet avalanches seem less likely than in early June or May. And by early July, I am told the route becomes more challenging due to the opening of crevasses and melting of snow bridges.

On the one hand, we got fortunate with the short-term weather. A stable, high-pressure system moved in and provided clear dry weather. On the other hand, we had record highs. The day we started, June 23rd, the temperatures were not too bad--in the 68 F range. Day two started getting pretty warm, likely in the 70-80s. Day three was similar, but by then, we were on the glacier, and the snow and a breeze provided some relief. Day four, we woke up at 6800 feet, and even though we were camped on the snow, we didn't even need jackets at sunrise. Nor did we need jackets while waiting our turn to climb the final summit rock--it was 70+ degrees F at the summit! Day five started really getting hot. We measured 85-90 when hiking down from Glacier meadows to the Elk Lake camp, and we all laid down in the Elk lake creek to cool down! No sleeping bags were needed that night! On day 6, we hiked the last 15 miles out, and it was 100-108 F for that. We didn't miss stopping at any creeks to cool down and dunk in the water that day.

The Approach

We meet at the Hoh River Visitor Center parking lot. Since I got off work at 8 am in Port Angeles, we planned on meeting at noon. However, the line to get into the National Park was over 2 hours long. The rangers said the wait is this long between 9:30 am until 4 pm every day of the week. The park has fewer than 200 parking spots, and typically 80-90 of those are taken up by overnight backpackers such as ourselves.

The hike to the glacier is about 18 miles. Many people who plan to summit go 17 miles to Glacier Meadows campsite the first day, then summit the next. We wanted to leave plenty of time to adjust to the weather, cool down in the heat, and enjoy the mountain and the rain forest. So, starting at the trailhead at an elevation of 600 feet, we hiked 9.1 miles with only 400 feet of net elevation gain to the Olympus Guard Station for the first night. We cooled in the frigid and silty Hoh river and enjoyed watching Harlequin ducks work the shoreline.

We hiked up to Glacier Meadows on day two, climbing 8 more miles up to 4300 feet. We encountered the hazardous slide marked on the map and made our way down that and onto the snow in the avalanche slide before climbing up the other side. The park service installed a wood and cable ladder-type aid that seems fairly secure. There is also a rope, but the rope is halfway abraded through.

While camped at Glacier Meadows, we encountered snow, some mosquitoes (not bad), and other climbers who provided useful intelligence about the route. They told us that the hardest part is getting down to the glacier. We were told to follow the lateral moraine as far up as possible, then at the end take two short switchbacks down, and then traverse even further up until hitting a snow patch. They had tried dropping down to the glacier too early and wasted a treacherous hour finding a route. Their advice was spot-on, but using snow as a reference is marginal in this kind of heat--the snow patch they described had receded 10-20 feet downhill by the next day and was gone three days later.

Day three, we made that 1-mile hike up to the moraine and down to the glacier, where we roped up for glacier travel. The crevasses looked pretty small, and not every group we saw was roped up. We had two ropes—the 30-meter rope with Julie and Eric and the 60-meter rope with Franzi, Dorothy, and me. The Blue Glacier was quite the sight. The heat caused lots of activity-we could hear and see huge chunks of ice crashing down further up, but we maintained a good distance. I was a bit concerned initially about the heat making the snow too soft, but it turned out to be fine, even for the final steep climbs up to our camp on Snow Dome at 6600 feet.

At Snow Dome, we explored the warm rocks, dried our sweaty boots, melted snow, and enjoyed the mountain. We took pictures of the two buildings that are cabled down to the rock for the research station. No one was living in the station while we were there. We climbed Panic Peak, just above Snow Dome, for a great view of the Blue Glacier's terminus and the White Glacier on the other side. Dorothy got some turns in with her telemark skis, and we marveled at the number of ice worms that came out in the evening.

On day four, we got up at our usual time, 5 am, for the summit climb. This day felt easy with light packs and firmer snow. The 4th of July route, the one that goes straight up to the summit from Snow Dome, is out. According to the rangers, it hasn't really been an option for several years due to the bergshrund opening. We took the common Crystal Pass route. This route took us to the left of the false summit and then over the false summit from the east side. We were passed by a group of four as we approached the top of the false summit. The downclimb from the false summit to the saddle on the other side required a short wait as one section has loose rock, so we didn't want to kick rocks down on the other group. We could see another group of 2 rappelling off the true summit as we made our way down that section.

The True Summit

The final snow climb to the true summit looks steep and intimidating. But it has a good run-out, so a slip would leave one sliding down into a fairly safe bowl if unable to self-arrest. After this climb, we assessed the summit block for a route. The most appealing route is the 5.4 climb up the north face. Two climbers had just descended that route, and the group of four ahead of us prepared to climb. We were happy to watch them, and they seemed proficient. Another group of 6 came up behind us and also planned to use the same route. Then another group of four came up. The four also wanted to use the route but couldn't afford to spend the time waiting. Instead, they climbed back down to the saddle to look for the scramble route.

Two friends, who are experienced climbers, told us the scramble route up the more easterly side was the way to go, but it looked very exposed to us, and we didn't see a route that we were excited to try. The other group gave up on that route also.

The group of six who were waiting behind us were anxious to climb. They were sport climbers and wanted the climbing experience, but they didn't want to spend time on the summit as they still had a long day ahead of them to hike off the glacier. On the other hand, we wanted to spend time on the summit with our radios, and we were not in a rush since we were camped only 1.5 hours away. I brought rock climbing gear, but I didn't really care about the rock climbing moves. I just wanted to get on top of the activation zone. The activation zone is the area no lower than 25 meters below the true summit, as defined by the SOTA (Summits On The Air) ham radio program. So I made a deal with the other group. They could go first if they set our rope at the top so I wouldn't have to lead the climb. That would make it faster and safer for us. They were thrilled to agree.

This arrangement worked out well in many ways. For one, we were able to watch them and learn from their mistakes. Two ropes got stuck when they tried to pull them down, so we learned where not to put the rope.

We also were able to watch in horror as the group of four lost their climbing equipment. Their leader packed his group's rope in his pack, along with all his climbing gear. They intended to walk down to the saddle and over the false summit before roping up. But when he picked up his ice axe, which was securing his pack to the hill, his pack started rolling. Slowly at first. Eric and I were nearest, and both of us started to rush for it. But our rushing was slow motion as we had just removed our rope and crampons in preparation for the rock climb. And we were only a short distance above a small crevasse. The pack rolled over the edge--and not toward the saddle--it rolled down the 4th of July route and likely continued hundreds of feet before being swallowed up by the giant bergshrund. It would be impossible to see and impossible to retrieve. The four definitely did not feel comfortable climbing all the way off the glacier with no rope. Since we had both a 30-meter and 60-meter rope, Eric gave them his 30-meter rope. We were lucky to be able to do so--initially, I had planned to only bring my 30-meter 7.8 mm half rope, and that would not have left us enough. But a few days before the trip, I got the 60-meter, single, 9.8 mm rope for the final summit rock climb. I felt a bit nervous about only having one rope, especially after seeing others get their ropes stuck on the rappel.

We had arrived at the summit block at 10 am, and it took until just before 2 pm before we got our turn at the summit. Andrew, from the group of 6, provided a top belay for me to climb up. I didn't realize the rope wasn't on the 5.4 route, but instead lead me up a 5.7 or 5.8 route. Once I got to the top, I was unsure if Franzi would be comfortable climbing up that. But fortunately, I saw the 5.4 route that I should have taken, and others at the bottom could direct the following climbers up to the left where I should have gone.

I belayed Dorothy and Franzi up, and we set to enjoying the summit. Eric didn't intend to do the rock climb but instead climbed another false summit to the west. Dorothy took pictures with the book she had spent the last year illustrating "The Search for Dragon Proof Snow," and Franzi and I got busy on 2 meters. We used Franzi's FT-818 and a 3 element Arrow Yagi antenna. Instead of bringing the boom, we used mounts on a ski pole for the elements. We had full cell coverage on the summit, so I put a spot out for 146.56 FM. Initially, we didn't get any contacts. I could hear activity on 146.52, as expected since it was June 26th, ARRL (American Radio Relay League) Field Day. So we switched to 146.52 and got a few contacts before asking folks to QSY over to 146.56. Once we had 8 contacts each, Dorothy was ready to head down. I wasn't sure about keeping Eric waiting longer, as we had already been near the summit for 4 hours waiting to climb the rock. On the one hand, I felt guilty about making the non-SOTA members of the group wait. On the other hand, I felt bad about not taking the time to set up the HF antenna and giving more chasers the opportunity for a unique summit. But I also knew from past years that HF contacts with Morse code or SSB could be tough for me to get on 20 and 40 meters when the spectrum is full for field day. I wanted to try 30 meters, but Franzi doesn't do Morse code, so I would also be making her wait. And I was still nervous about getting the rope down after the rappel. So we packed up our stuff and headed down.  The rappel went fine, and we were able to get the rope down without a hitch. Dorothy headed down before us and retrieved her skis at the top of the false summit. Her ski down to camp took minutes, whereas we took another 1.5 hours.

On day five, we packed up camp. As expected, our time camping on Snow Dome was worth it. We saw the full moon, sunrises and sunsets, saw climbers going past us in the distance at night and coming down during the day. We contemplated the life-cycle and philosophy of the ice worm. And we basked in the sun on the rocks. And we pooped in bags. There are no outhouses, and EVERYTHING that is packed in on the glacier must be packed out. The snowmelt was amazing. I would fill our bottles and pot with snow, and within hours the snow would be melted, saving us from using fuel. I anchored our tent with cord tied to rocks buried 18 inches below the surface and covered each anchor with an additional 18-24 inches of snow. And still, the anchors melted out and needed to be reburied every 12 hours.

Dorothy again put on her skis and headed down ahead of us. We made good time, taking about 1.5 hours to get from our camp to the lateral moraine. But it only took minutes for Dorothy. Instead of waiting for us there, she dropped her pack and headed up to Glacier Pass for another run down the Blue Glacier. I'm not sure I would have felt comfortable skiing alone like that without a rope, and where nobody would be able to see if I fell in a crevasse, but she said she could see the crevasses on the way up. 

The climb up the lateral moraine was a bit easier than the climb down. By now, other climbers had used the same route, so the path was more obvious. And it always feels safer going up rough terrain than down. We arrived at the top of the moraine at 8 am, while it was still in the cool shade of the mountain. 

Dorothy had been entranced by the good snow conditions near the terminus, and had continued to ski down past the end of the glacial terminus and away from the trail and camp. She hoped to climb up to the trail, but the entire drainage was hemmed in by shear cliffs. So after hours of trying, she confirmed that the only route up out of the terminus area is to climb back up to the lateral moraine.

After some time for Dorothy to rest, we headed down to the Elk Lake campsite for our last night. We did this in the heat of the day, and we were all spent. Fortunately, Elk Lake is not fed by glacier melt, so the water was the perfect temperature to get in and cool down. I found a nice spot, about 8 inches deep, and lay down in the clear water, wearing the clothing of the past five days to wash it at the same time I rinsed the salt off myself. While laying prone and cooling my face, I looked up and saw a pine marten watching me from a nearby rock. It slowly made it's way upstream towards where Franzi and Dorothy were filtering water. I got up after a while and went to ask if they saw the marten. Just as I saw them, another pine marten came walking down the trail from the other direction, this one carrying the hind quarter of a snowshoe hare. It ignored me and walked past me, not 3 inches from my foot.

Soon after we returned to our camp. We hoped to sleep without the tent, but we encountered a few too many flies and mosquitoes. With the heat, I went to sleep wearing a wet long sleeve shirt and long pants, with no need to use my sleeping bag. I figured I would dry by morning and the wet clothing would help cool me down for a better sleep.

On day six we were feeling good. We had reservations for another night at the Olympus Guard Station campsites, but that was only 6 miles away, and all downhill. We thought we might stay there to avoid hiking in the heat of the day, but once we arrived we decided to press on and hike all the way out. The hike slowed down after that. The trail was mostly flat, following the river, and had some open areas in the sun. The day was heating up. We slowed to 2 miles per hour, but we had to stop every half hour and rest, drink water, and cool for 15-30 minutes. Our thermometers said 90-95 degrees F in the shade. Near the end of the trail, a ranger said the weather station at the trail head read over 105. Despite the heat, the parking lot was full of visitors.

Beautiful weekend for a 2-night backpacking trip.  Hiked to Elk Camp where we camped for 2 nights.  The trail to Elk Camp is mostly flat (or rolling) until the very end where there is quite some elevation gain; a good work out before dinner.  The trail was beautiful, large trees, many wildflowers and the first ripe salmonberries.  Several log crossings, each a bit different than the other which made it fun.  While the map shows the lake at Elk Camp, camping is not close to the lake and the water source near the emergency cabin is a very small trickle.  However, hiking up on the route towards Glacier Meadow, there are better streams not far from camp.  The group camp holds 4 to 5 tents at most.  There are bear wires in camp for the ursacks (not..bear canister and backpack!).

We hiked up to Glacier Meadows and the Blue Glacier viewpoint the next day.  A beautiful ~6m RT hike with increasing elevation gain and mountain views.  There is plenty of water all the way up to the 2nd snowfield.  There was one sketchy snowbank early on which we did not cross and on our return it had caved in (instead we crossed 100 ft above the trail).  The highlight of the trip was the ladder at the washed out section.  The section is steep and bare with sand and lose rocks but do-able.  What makes it hard are the missing steps in about 3 places.  Near the bottom there are no steps and no more rope.  It's a very steep section of sand and scree and a trekking pole helps to get down.  Later, we figured that we could have transitioned to the purple rope which goes into a different direction.  Once on the bottom, you hike up on the snowfield until you see the trail.  Some cut through the brush to meet the trail. Going up was much faster and easier and quite fun.  One at the time because of falling rocks. 

At Glacier Meadows camp there were still many (and sketchy) snowbanks.  We mostly followed the boot path or made new trail depending on the condition of the snow.  There are two snowfields to cross to get to the viewpoint.  At the viewpoint, beautiful lilac heather and a great view of the indeed "blue" glacier.  A great place to have lunch and watch for small dots (climbers) coming down across the way.  We glissaded down the 2 snowfields which was super fun and fast. 

There are a few fallen trees on the trail to Glacier Meadows, a few small and one large tree... (10T 448160 5300182 and 448155 5300196).

Overall a memorable backpacking trip in a beautiful forest, along the river and then reaching the Blue Glacier viewpoint.  Micro spikes and trekking poles highly recommended. 

We didn't go all the way to Elk Lake or Blue Glacier - we stayed at the Olympus Ranger Station campsites - but thought this still might be helpful to those heading farther.

We arrived at the Park Gate around 9AM on Saturday.  There was no line to get in at that time.  The turn for overnight parking was signed and relatively easy to find if you're looking for it (it's over by the campsites).  The restrooms at the campsites were pretty clean and stocked with TP and soap both Saturday morning and, more impressively, Monday afternoon.  Kudos to those maintaining these! 

As others have mentioned, the trail is pretty muddy in places and you will get dirty. Isn't that part of the fun, though? 

Flowers were still in fairly early days.  A lot of white.  There were some buttercups, a few salmonberry flowers, and we saw a single columbine plant but other than that it was a lot of white; vanilla leaf (not much in bloom at the TH but density increased as you progressed), bunchberry, large flower fairybells, what I think were foamflowers, and more.  See photo #3 below.

As Lenore mentioned in earlier their trip report, there are three unbridged water crossings before the Olympus Ranger Station (ORS) and one immediately after (the Hoh Creek crossing).  These are at roughly 5.32 miles from the Visitor Center, 7.83 miles, 8.18 miles, and 9.6 miles (distances per Gaia). See Photo #1 above for photos of all four (please note the logs are higher up than what they appear in the photos).

At the first crossing, there are spur trails going to three different options for crossing.  We took the "last" option (Option A in Photo #1) coming and going.  This seemed to be what most were doing.  The log was stable, but I could see it being quite slick if wet.  Other log options had jumps to be made for mounting/ dismounting or else a more bumpy top surface.

At the second crossing (~7.83 miles) there is a very large log that can be used.  This was wide enough you could even use your poles to help with balance if needed while crossing.  Also might be trickier when wet, but for us it was pretty easy sailing.

The crossing at ~8.18 miles has a log jam - similar to the driftwood stacks you often run into at the beaches where the THs meet the beach.  Heading out we tried the log jam.  The logs seemed to be sturdy without significant shifting/ wobbling, but my shorter companion had some trouble at a couple places where a slightly longer step is needed.  Also, if you happen to come up on someone navigating this log jam, please wait until they are across until starting over yourself so you don't startle the person!

On the way back we just forded this, which was much less nerve wracking.  The water on my 5'-3" companion was about to the middle of her knee and the current wasn't bad.  We used poles and didn't have trouble getting across.  Talking to some other hikers, they indicated that this time last year the river wasn't fordable at this location, however.  I imagine as temperatures and snow melt increase, fording might become a trickier option.  As always, assess current conditions before committing to the crossing.

The final crossing we hit on our "rest" day after camping at ORS on which we were just exploring the area a bit.  This is the crossing of Hoh Creek (which meets up with Hoh River downstream a bit).  Most people seemed to be taking what is noted as log option A in Photo #1 below, but neither of us would have even considered doing so.  There were a couple transfers needed to be made from one log to another and also a step up over a large tree that had fallen perpendicularly onto the other two "bridge" logs.  The second option over, log option B below, was a large tree that was easy to cross, but the mounting/ dismounting was difficult.  Getting on/ off on the west end required climbing up the roots like a ladder.  On the east end, once you got off you still had to make your way through several other blowdowns and them cross a small lagoon, which on Sunday could be done by rock hopping but I wouldn't count on that always being an option. There is what looks to be a third log option (shown in photo #1 above), but that log is rotten; it is broken in two with the break about 2 feet from the eastern end and so not a usable option.  We did see one person ford here; on Sunday it was about up to her knees and I would guess she was around 5'-5" in height.  Current looked to be a little faster than at the previous crossing, but she managed with only a little trouble.

We just stopped here and had a nice lunch.

The campsite we had at ORS was very nice and peaceful.  Thanks to the volunteers that were manning the Ranger Station we found a site away from the rest to the southeast of the Ranger Station building.  It was under a huge big leaf maple and quite large; in addition to having space for probably two 2-person tent or three 1-person tents, there is a "kitchen" area off to one side, which is always a plus in my book.  As an added plus there was easy access to a small creek that was crystal clear, so we didn't have to try to filter the Hoh.

The volunteers manning the ORS mentioned that there is a resident black bear in the area, but we never saw him.  The only wildlife we saw were lots of birds, even more slugs (including one that traveled up, over and through our unused fire pit and continued on through our entire campsite), and a raccoon.

Also of interest was the many very sculptural trees along the trail.  I have no idea how some of them grew into the formations they were making, but it was definitely beautiful.

There was quite a bit of traffic on the trail, especially in the first few miles, but not as bad as I was afraid it might be.  Overall it was a very nice weekend!

We booked a Lewis Meadows campsite and started our backpacking trip around 11AM. There were plenty of parking spots available, and no line at the entrance to the park. 

Since this year was rich for rains, the forest looks very nice and green. As a drawback to all the rains, it's very muddy. We saw many people hiking in nice shoes and clothes, but it's a bad idea. I enclosed the photo of my pants and shoes after one day of hiking. Also, keep in mind that mud is very slippery, so hiking shoes with good traction are very important. 

We hiked to Lewis Meadows (our Strava app calculated it as 12 miles one way), and the views are pretty much the same all the time. So, if you have thoughts to hike longer for better views, I recommend to hike as long as you enjoy it without pushing further in hopes for better views. 

There are, probably, 5 campsites at Lewis meadows and many more along the gravel (you can find them by going a little bit further following the sign to the river. There is a good access to the river (for water refill), a restroom, and bear wire. 

While we were resting at the campsite, we saw 4 dears peacefully walking and eating at the meadows. All the campsites are surrounded with trees, and nicely shadowed. To be honest, since the trail is shadowed almost all the time, I would save some space in the backpack and leave sunscreen home along with sleep mask and ear plugs. I always have a hard time sleeping in the tent because of noises and lights, but it was very dark and quiet). During the night the temperatures fell down a lot, and it was very cold. I regretted I didn't take a warmer layer and a hat. I was sleeping in a warm sleeping bag fully dressed up including warm jacket, and still it was very cold for me.

It's important to mention that the trail involves some river (stream) crossing. It's not too challenging, and has falling trees that you can use for crossing. However, I would recommend to have water shoes just in case if you don't feel comfortable, or if the trees become too wet and slippery after the rain (we didn't use ours, but maybe you would prefer this option). Hiking poles were very useful in stream crossing.

We read in previous trip reports that there is still snow on the way to the glacier, so we decided not even trying to hike to the glacier.  

On our way back (4 hours hike) we counted 30 groups of backpackers hiking towards us. When we were driving from the park at 2pm, we saw soooo many cars at the entrance to the park! I've never seen such a long line to the park! Honestly, I assume people had about 2 hours of waiting time. It might be just because of Memorial Day weekend, but just in case I would recommend you to arrive earlier if possible. 

I live east of Seattle, so car camped at the campground the night prior to get an early start. On trail I camped at Lewis Meadows for two nights with plans to day hike to Glacier Lateral Moraine viewpoint.

Lewis has 3 open campsites in the meadow, plus one designated spot each for groups and stock. There is also ample room to camp on the gravel bar. The closest water is either about 1/2 mile further up the trail at Slide Creek, or from the Hoh itself which is a fair walk across the gravel bar. There is a privy and bear wire. Not the most scenic campsite I've been to, but pleasant.

For the first 12 miles, the trail itself is mostly old growth forest with only occasional views of the river, and very little elevation change. It is extremely muddy in spots, and if you wish to follow LNT principles and stay on trail, be prepared to get your boots dirty. There are creek crossings of varying difficulty. One has an easy wide log, one has a skinnier log (there are construction materials staged here, so a bridge may appear soon), one has a sketchy jumble of logs to cross, and one has no apparent way to cross. The latter two I chose to brave the water with my Tevas, with the deepest water just above the knee on me (I'm 5'7"). Brrr!!

The trail abruptly gets steeper at 12 miles, but at least you leave most of the mud behind. The snow--mushy, deep patches of it--began about 1/2 miles past Elk Lake camp. There is a snow-covered talus field where the trail disappears and it will be helpful to have an online map. As the trail became progressively steeper and more snow-covered, I became more and more fatigued and eventually realized that I would not be able to negotiate the Jemrod Creek ladder safely. I turned back before I got to it so I don't know if it's accessible or not.

I hiked out on Saturday, and the trail became exponentially busier the closer I got to the TH. The parking areas the Hoh Visitor Center, both daily and overnight, were a zoo! 

There were a few other parties trying to get to the glacier at the same time, hopefully one of them got farther than I did and will post a TR. :)