[veronika]

Well, headed up Mt. Townsend Saturday to retrieve “Oly”. I decided to do something different for my birthday hiking weekend and go some place I have never been (Olympics) and do something I have never done (sign a summit register). Nothing to really report except my journey as the trail is in excellent shape. Just a little snow off trail when you get close to the lake up there. Other than mass crowds. I started way later than I should have at 2:30 pm. Of course lolly-gagged all the way up knowing I needed to get a move on but it was all new to me. Not sure what time I reached the summit exactly but I lolly-gagged up there to. What amazing views! “Oly” was placed on the North Summit so I wasted no time hurrying over the grab him. It was a bit of a challenge I must say. I had to literally climb on the face of the summit to reach my short arms in to get him. It took about 30 minutes to find. Nice job on the hiding Olympic Hiker. I met a couple of nice guys while up there. They were camping out between the summits and very helpful in letting me know which was the South summit and which was the north. It helped tremendously being in unfamiliar territory. Of course I told them about NWHikers and the concept of the traveling register. They got a real kick out of it. One of them, James (I think) is a member on WTA and said he would come check us out. So, if you read this WTA member… It was nice chatting and thanks for the direction! After chatting it up a bit, I decided to head back to the South summit and claim my stakes and of course check out the views. I had my lunch for dinner and listened to my ipod for a bit and took some photos. When I finally decided to head down it was 7:54! Oh my where has the time gone! Needless to say I am thinking I will never make it down before dark. So I decided to give it a try. I damn near sprinted and jogged the entire way down! I made it back to the car in 58 minutes exactly! I was amazed at what determination and fear of bears in the dark can do. All said and done, it was a great hike and I made it back before dark. I am amazed at how beautiful the Olympic Mountains really are from way up high. Just fabulous. The only thing bad about the hike was pushing myself to get down as I planned on getting Edd from Granite the next day. I succeeded and now have all three traveling registers in hand! Muahahaha. Unfortunately I have found that there are no secret powers when they are all placed together. Kinda screwed up my plans of becoming the ruler of the mountains! Oh well, it was fun. I will place them all next weekend. Enjoy the pics but please excuse the panos if they are not 100% correct. They are my first attempt at panos also with a digital. You get the picture though. I only shared a few but I took 128!!!

View on the drive there.JPG

Another unknown mountain on the way.JPG

Unknown again!.JPG

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Lots of butterflies!.JPG

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Unknown waterfall.JPG

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Cool looking dead log?..JPG

more purdy flowers.JPG

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new found friend took a pic with register.JPG

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summit shot.JPG

made it down just in time!.JPG

pano west of summit.jpg

pano east of summit.jpg

The three registers!

Olympic Mountains Traveling Summit Register "OLY"

[Bryan K]

What a beautiful area! I don't get across the Sound much, but your photos make me want to do just that.

[Slugman]

I've been up Mt Townsend once, last year, and halfway up this year, and both times I got totally ripped off. I was supposed to have good weather both times, and last year I had pea-soup fog, and this year persistent rain. The rain trip was just a couple of weeks ago or so. It was too depressing to write a TR about, but I did get some nice rhododendron pictures. The worst part was that as soon as I got down to sea level over towards the Hood Canal bridge, the weather was very nice. The rain was just over that one area. I watch the darn forecasts for a week, and no rain in them at all for that day, then the morning of the hike suddenly it's "chance of showers before 11 am". Then it rains steadily from 10 am to 3 pm. If I ever go back there again it will have to be a complete bluebird day, yes sir. But I'm glad you had a nice trip. Getting down in 58 minutes is awesome. PS: Thanks for friending me on Facebook.

[Dane]

Nice. Townsend is a classic, though I've been skunked before on the views. Was it clear enough to see St. Helens?

[Criminal]

[Hikingqueen]

Right on! You go girl! I didn't make it up there last year due to 95 degree day and got heat stroke, I must attempt again.

[Criminal]

26 July I last did this hike six years ago in August 2004; man does the time fly! I did it again in July of 2007 with the kid and we took the trail down to Silver Lakes instead of the summit. I went solo this weekend to recover the Traveling Summit Registry that was way over on the north summit. I looked over my notes from last time; yup, the FS roads getting to the trailhead were just as confusing, but I made it without having to turn around this time. I arrived at the parking lot just behind another group of hikers; they stopped in the middle of the lot and I backed out because there was nowhere to park. I ended up a hundred yards back up the road at a turn-out. I left the Jeep at 1040 and headed up the trail; it looking pretty much exactly as I remembered. I met some fishermen coming up from the lake and they reported fair fishing. As you climb out of the treeline the hillside is awash with wildflowers of every color. I really need to read up on methods for capturing that with the camera; the pictures just don’t come close to doing it justice. The only negative thing I can say is that there is a lot of sun on this trail. Still sunburned from Aix last weekend, this wasn’t a welcome thing. I made the top of the ridge at 1340 for a three hour up time. The last time I came I stopped at the south summit and this time I went over to the north summit as well. There’s not much left from the lookout that used to be there except for a few cables sticking up out of the ground. I spent a couple hours on top in the hot sun and made some contacts on the ham radio. The reliable old ICOM IC-W32A dual band is getting replaced with the newer, lighter and best of all, waterproof Yaesu VX-8DR quad band. This is likely the last run for the Icom and I was able to make a couple contacts and hitting repeaters all over the Seattle area. In fact, the Northbend repeater was coming in like I was standing right under the tower. I was also able to hit Capitol Peak in Olympia from the summit, but the high ridge to the south prevented any contacts in that direction from anywhere else. It took me about two hours to get down and there’s not much to report other than an odd man who was hiking in near the end of the day, carrying only a large bottle of water and some gear rolled up in a sleep pad (no pack). Something about him set my warning buzzer off, but I can’t put my finger on anything specific. All in all it was another incredible hike in the Olympics.

[veronika]

[lou4gehrig]

[Redwic]

WHOA! A Register Unification! I actually was going to do that last year, but somebody else had taken the Oly Summit Register... which I later found out was taken only one hour prior to my arrival... so I abandoned the idea. I'm glad to see someone do it. Great job! I wonder where those little buggers will end up? Will there be any more adventures with your new found friend?

[veronika]

[tigermn]

Just curious if most people start at the upper (zoo parking lot) or lower trailhead? If you hate the parking zoo consider starting from the lower trailhead. It only adds about a mile and 500 feet of climbing. Not many views but you pass a small pond/lake (Sink Lake) and get a nice warm up forest walk away from the crowds. The biggest thing though is the parking mess. Where I parked there was one other car. By the time I returned the upper (main) parking area was a zoo of cars double parked and all kinds of things and people circling the wagons looking for parking. I returned the mile down to my car there was still the one other car but it was pulling away as I opened the trunk to load up and leave.

[hikerjimbo]

Hi this is Jim, pleased to have met you at the summit and to have given you some directions to the North Summit. Glad I'd seen those steel cables left over from the old fire lookout! Big Congratulations on collecting all 3 registers! They should issue you a Gold Medal for it. Email me with your email address and I'll send you the picture I took with my camera of you holding Oly. Thanks for the tip on nwhikers.net...now I'm registered and you are correct, it is great!

[veronika]