[raz2sea]

Back in May I wrote out a list of all the hikes I wanted to do, on that list was to hike the entire Hoh River trail up to Glacier Meadows, which sits just below the Blue Glacier coming off Mt Olympus. I took a 4 day weekend to accomplish this trip and got my reservations so I could do 9 miles each day for the approx. 36 mi RT hike. The Start On Fri morning I departed later than I wanted for the Hoh River TH. After a 45 minute wait to catch the 8:40 am ferry to Kingston, and a stop to visit Goats Gone Wild to meet her new cats, I arrived at the Hoh Visitor Center just after 2pm. Geared up and hit the trail about 2:30pm. Ahead of me that day lay 9 miles of flat hiking. In the first 3 miles I had worked on several re-routes with a WTA work party last year so it was interesting to see how they looked 18 mos later. I recognized 2 of them and even saw a retaining board I remembered hammering into place (of all the things I worked on that week , why that one 2ft board I remembered is beyond me). Most of the 1st reroute is a bit muddy but passable. One reroute I suspect was washed away since I could not find it anywhere or I just didn’t recognize it.

TH sign

The Hoh River has a lot to offer, monstrous trees in excess of 8 ft across and 150+ ft high, moss covered Oaks that look like they walked into this place from Fangorn Forest (in fact the forests along the Hoh remind me a great deal of how I pictured Middle Earth in Tolkien's books). Meadows created from the silt left behind over eons of the Hoh River meandering back and forth, breaks in the trees where you can see the river and understand just how powerful it is when you see a 100ft tree laying on a gravel bar in the middle of the river.

Day 1 At first things went well, I reached the Mineral Creek bridge, about 2.5 mi, in just over an hour but I was already feeling the effects of a pack that was more than I’ve carried this year. The next 6.5 miles would be rough and take nearly 4 more hours to finish but I did at last get into the Olympus Guard Station just at Sunset. I setup camp but was exhausted so I munched on an energy bar, drank the rest of my water and went to sleep a little after 8pm.

Happy Four Shelter

Day 2 I awoke the next morning after a bit of tough sleeping, sometime after 11pm it had started raining, and raining hard. What woke me was water dripping onto my face, evidently I need to seam seal an area of the rain fly that is dripping water and then it drips down through the tent screen. This would go on all night and I would discover the same thing at my feet which got the lower half of my sleeping bag wet, but not terribly. I laid in my tent until the rain stopped about 8:30am and I could see the promised blue skies for Sat afternoon. Made breakfast, which was Fri night’s dinner, and began to pack for the next part under sunny skies. Hit the trail about 11am for Glacier Meadows figuring to get in there by 6pm. I knew this day would be rough with almost 3000ft of gain in the last 5-6 mi, after having 12 mi of relatively flat hiking. As I proceeded down the trail I noticed the sun had disappeared and low grey clouds had moved in, hmm maybe just valley fog.

Olympus Guard Station

High Divide, wasn't I just there...

The clouds and rain roll in

As I was hiking I saw the usual banana slugs but one caught my eye, an albino slug.

About 1:45 I reach the High Hoh Bridge after my first real continuous ascent and with a 40+lb pack I was starting to really struggle but I was determined to proceed on. The thing that amazed me is that the Hoh river at this point is no longer the wide meandering river we’ve all seen but a swift moving gorge cutting river, much like those I have seen in the North Cascades. The High Hoh Bridge is called such because it 1) is in the upper part of the Hoh River and 2) Site about 100ft above the river. How they managed to get all that steel back there is amazing.

The High Hoooooooh (RIP Ed McMahon) Bridge

Yours truly not so happy looking

I sure hope this bridge is as sturdy as it's supposed to be

After I passed the High Hoh Bridge the rain began and it was hard and sudden leaving me almost no time to get back into cover and get the rain cover on my pack. By the time I got it on everything was soaked, along with me. Now my feet are hurting, I’m wet and there’s a cool breeze but I press on. As I reach the crossing at Martin Creek, about 14 mi in, I pass several tents at the campground with tarps over them, large pieces of cut firewood and work tools. I realize there must be a trail crew that’s working up this way. I reach Elk Lake about 2 hours after leaving the High Hoh Bridge with 2.5mi to Glacier Meadows. I start realizing it’s now 4pm, my pace has slowed down to just about 1 mi and hour and I have the steepest part of my trip yet to come. As I round Elk Lake I start hearing hammering and a chainsaw and then see a NPS crew rebuilding the Elk Lake shelter that had been taken out by a tree sometime in the last couple years. The roof was what needed to be rebuilt completely and all the pieces have been cut from wood along the trail and hauled there by them or horses that come up to bring supplies. The 16ft cross beams have been cut lengthwise using a chainsaw but so straight they may as well have been cut with a table saw that uses laser alignment!! Even the cedar shingles are hand cut.

Elk Lake Shelter being rebuilt

I stop and talked to the crew for a few minutes and then head off, about 20-30 minutes later I’m making very slow progress and the rain begins again. My spirit is thoroughly crushed and I come to the conclusion there is no way I can make it to Glacier Meadows before nightfall and I have no wish to hike in the dark, particularly with the ladder climb to cross the washout ¼ mi before Glacier Meadows. I return to Elk Lake to find not another soul is camped there so I grab a spot and setup. As I’m setting up my tent the rain begins in earnest again and now I find the inside of my tent has taken on water in the short time it takes me to get the rain fly on. Talk to the NPS crew a bit more and discover one of the guys was part of the NPS trail crew I worked with during the WTA weeklong 1 ½ years earlier. They offer to let me warm up and dry out a bit by the fire they have going to dispose of old lumber. Make dinner and retire a little after 7pm. Wake up on an off to hear rain still falling but then I wake and hear nothing but the forest at 4am. Near silence, not even the trees are dripping water, all I can hear is the rustle of leaves and the occasional critter scampering about. Even the river sound is almost unnoticeable. I doze back off for a bit more. Day 3 I awake at 8am and start packing a very wet tent but the skies are clear and promise a sunny day.

Camp raz2sea, Hoh River edition

After getting some much needed food and water I hit the trail at 9:30am uncertain if I am going to hike back to Olympus Guard Station, where I had a campsite for Sunday night, or will I hike all the way out. This internal and sometimes external debate with myself would continue on for hours. I reach the Olympus Guard Station at 12:45 and decide to take a long break to 1) decide if I will camp here tonight or move on and 2) dry my gear out in the noonday sun. While my gear dries and I ponder the rest of my day I refill both my water bottles and grab some lunch. My feet are terribly sore but at this point what concerns me is the knee that I hyper-extended when we went to Excelsior Pk at the Solstice GTG. I noticed it’s quite swollen and a bit stiff. I decide my best course is to get off the trail today because if my knee gets worse I may not be able to make it out the next day. My gear dried I repack and prepare for the next 9 miles. Plenty of water and food but will my feet and knee make it? That is the question I hope I don’t have to answer no to. I get going and at first the pack feels much better even though the gear is dry I am now carrying 2 full water bottle so it’s not like I save any weight, I assume that I have now distributed the weight better. Boots that have not yet dried from the prior 2 days of hiking and socks laden with sweat do not do well for keeping blisters at bay. As I continue on I lament the fact that I had seen few animals except for a couple Grouses and the typical chipmunk. No sooner I come to a clearing and hear many twigs breaking, I look over and it’s Bull with his harem of 5 Cows, uh oh…

Bull Elk and his ladies

While he was not happy to see me there, I was a safe distance away that he didn’t feel any threat from me but they were all watching my closely. I had already been warned the Rut was on and had heard many Bull Elk bugling the prior 2 days but this was the first encounter. I continued on and tried my best to keep from thinking about my feet by concentrating on the fact my pack would soon be off my back and I would be in comfortable and dry shoes. In fact in an effort to finish I switched to my camp shoes rather than keep my wet boots on for the last 3 miles. I stopped at the Mineral Creek bridge for my final break to refill water bottles and eat. This would be the last grueling 2.5 miles of the trip and all I could do was just walk through the searing pain my feet were experiencing from 8 blisters, 3 of which were directly walked on with each step, plus I have now, ehem, chaffed badly in all the wrong places. As I’m heading out I begin to run into dayhikers and one backpacker heading in. I remind a family that wants to see the Mineral Creek waterfall that they only have 90 minutes of daylight left, Mom seems glad to know this since Dad didn’t seem to have any idea. Shortly after passing the family of 4 I hear closer Elk calls. They seem to be coming from the hills above so I press on, then I hear a call directly in front of me, I freeze, terrified and mesmerized to hear an Elk call so close. Then I see it 40ft in front of me and just off the trail; a huge Bull with a rack bigger than me, 8 Cows in his harem and he is definitely not happy to see me as he stares directly at me and does not move. I backpedal, even using my trekking poles backwards just a few feet, this seems to appease him and he moves his harem away from the trail and they disappear. As I continue on I pass the area and the Bull Elk is still standing at the edge of the forest watching me and as I pass he too vanishes into the forest. Soon after I pass the 0.9mi camp marker and know that in about 20 minutes I will be at my car. My pace quickens despite the pain in my knees, my shoulders and most excruciating, my feet. I feel like I must look like an old man walking since I am hunched over my trekking poles just trying to keep myself upright until I can get my pack off. Then finally, relief at 6:30pm. The TH sign comes into view and I limp over to my car, unload my gear, change to dry socks and I being my journey back home for a nice hot shower, my comfy bed and my cats to keep me warm. As excruciating as the trip was on my body it’s also a grand accomplishment for me, even if I did not reach my ultimate destination; Longest backpacking trip at 31 miles; most miles in one day at 15+. As I always do I learned a couple things: 1) I really need to pack lighter 2) I need to get my boots checked and see if I have a proper fit, sure wet socks do not help but the boots seem to blister me in the same spots every hike 3) I should not have put that stick of body glide back at REI the other day… Stats: 31 mi RT in 3 days Roughly 2500ft of gain 8 blisters 1 knee that is now a grapefruit 2 Bull Elk that I am thankful for not charging and goring me

[bobbi]

welcome to the rain forest! sorry that your trip was cut short of the glacier experience but you did more than some folks so....there's always next time! yep your list just about covers it. begin with the weight of your pack contents. time to get rid of stuff! extra socks are more important than the extra long lens. love your photos! with 15 miles under your belt for one day, we can do the 7 lakes/high divide loop. easier with only a day pack

[Canuck]

I was on pins & needles about the bull stories. Jeez. They scare me WAY more than bears. I'm glad you are ok!! Gorgeous pictures... this is a hike I really want to do but haven't yet. I think I'll wait until it's not the rut though.

[grasshopper]

I love the rainforests and would love to the do the Hoh to at least Olympus Guard Station. Great report! Doncha just love those elk? Fabulous animals.

[sarbar]

My dear man, we are going to work on yer pack weight! Get you to at least 30 lbs. Blisters? Have you tried these out? http://www.rei.com/product/728375 or http://www.rei.com/product/736314 For me they worked miracles!

[harrymalamute]

wow 8 blisters, way to carry on. besides weight i would change boots completely reguardless of brand or cost. oh ya while your sitting there icing your knee,count those damn tree rings

[silence]

lol ... yeah i love it .. i mean hohing it .. and sweet you got some quality time in the rainforest ... it never rains when we're there .. in jul we blew thru there too fast -- though i did enjoy it anyhow .. one can't help to .. i swear we did the last 3.5 mi to the ranger station in the dark fording creeks and crossing on logs that we never saw on our return .. i wonder what trail we were following??? sorry for all the misery ... i think blisters just go with the trail but still a great trip and photos .. thx for the memories .. you'll think back and love them too some day -- all the pain will be forgotten

[mossy mom]

This was my first solo backpacking trip. I started with 55 pounds. Now I go light/ultra-light. I too suffered on my first hike up there. Someday I want to do it with my ultra-light equipment so I can have more fun. I'm sorry you didn't get to see the glacier. I hope you can go back with more time, a different tent and a lighter load.

[Hikingqueen]

Wow, that was some hike! Sorry it was so wet. But you accomplished more than most would/could. And you got some awesome pics of the forest to prove it!

[goats gone wild]

Wow, mesmerizing TR, Rich. Blisters, Knees and (ahem) Rashes, Oh My. And THE RAIN!!! Whilst I was sitting on my fat couch, watching the big screen T.V. and petting my new cats, I heard the rain (make that buckets of rain) pouring down for hours. It was still raining hard when I went to bed. Last thing I said to Anna was, "I wonder if Rich is swimming in his tent?" Well, I guess you answered that. Seriously though, you are one mighty trooper to keep going. And I am soooooo envious of your bull elk encounters. How awesome you got to witness the rut close-up. What a life experience. (I live for stuff like that.) You lucky dog you.

[coho]

I like it over there. Thanks for the report.

[iron]

what issue are you having with your knee?

[raz2sea]

bobbi - Yep, once I get healed up I'll be ready to try the 7 Lks Basin loop. Now as for your socks being more important than lenses, what kind of photographer you think I am? Sarbar - Yes, I'm already working on a spreadsheet to see what I have, how much it weighs and then be able to plan what I need to bring much more effectivly. The socks, those look comfy, although the boots rubbed the blisters in on top of my toes, the ones that hurt were on the soles of my feet. Harry - I think I'll be checking out boots once winter hits, be a nice B-day/Xmas gift for myself. They do ok until Yes I will get those tree rings counted up. Working on them tonight but there's alot so it may take me a couple nights. Silence - The funny thing is I can't believe how fast the trip went by. Once home I felt like I ran along the trail even though it took 19 total hours to do the 31 miles. Of courseI spent almost 12 hrs each night in my tent... Yes, I will most definetly be back. I have a goal that need completing, maybe next year when I have my pack weight figured out. GGW - Fri wasn't too bad except for the leak in the tent that kept dripping on my face but it was the drenching I got Sat hiking and without my rain gear on. Just in those couple minutes to get my rain cover on the pack it was soaked and so was I. The Bull Elk bugling right in front of was certainly a highlight, If I wasn't so concerned about his next move I would have brought the camera out but I didn't want to spook him. Coho - Yea, it was Maple, Species FAIL on my part. Not sure why I though Oak when the leaves were clearly Maple. Thanks for the correction. Iron - Right now I have a swollen knee that I can't bend all the way because of the swelling. It's the same knee I hyper-extended badly back in late June and never had it checked. Trying to get a doc appt this week to get it checked.

[Yet]

Man, I need to wring myself out after reading your TR! I hope your knee is better. It sounds like quite the trip! Congrats on your accomplishments. I hope you are proud of yourself. You are a trooper, like already mentioned above. ps: You forgot to post pictures of the hos!

[GeoTom]

raz- You're such a Hoh. Nice looking trip though.