[Redwic]

Several months ago, our team of Gimpilator Adam, me, our rock climbing friend Dave, and his friend Greg was formed for a potential summit attempt of Mount Olympus during the first week of July. Then, just a few days prior to the trip, Greg had to back-out. Originally, Dave and Greg were going to traverse the Bailey Range and then meet Adam and I along the Hoh River Trail, but after Greg could not join the trip it was decided that the remaining three people would only attempt Mount Olympus and be a three-man team throughout the trip. We were told by multiple people that the lingering deep near-record snowpack would only help our summit attempt. However, several problems also resulted from that, drawing some concern prior to the trip. First, the snow was covering much fo the Hoh River Trail above 3000' elevation, including several sketchy slopes. Second, a "snow mushroom" was seen completely surrounding the top of the summit tower. Third, the standard scramble route for the summit tower was covered as a loose, snowy ramp. Fourth, several other parties had attempted the peak during the week prior to our proposed trip and all had failed. Despite all of these things, we remained hopeful that the weather and conditions would improve prior to our trip. I contacted wilderness rangers regularly, and they even contacted me with updates as they received them. Finally, a fantastic weather window of 3-4 days was forecasted to open-up just after a wilderness ranger contacted me to say he heard the "snow mushroom" was no longer on the summit. Although no parties had yet summited Mount Olympus this year, this was good news for us and the trip proceeded. We met Dave in Sequim on Sunday, July 3. From there, we drove to the Hoh River Trailhead to pickup our backcountry permits. We were told that although there had been no successful summit teams yet this year, there were three teams ahead of us on the mountain. This gave us some hope for good news. We began hiking at 1:00 PM. I love this trail. I hiked to Glacier Meadows almost exactly ten years ago, and although much was familiar I would progressively learn that much was also changed on the upper landscape of the trail. We hiked to Lewis Meadows the first night. The ranger at the Olympus Ranger Station said the mosquitoes would be less annoying near the cooler-aired campsites next to the river there than in the meadows. He was right; there were not many bugs out there. We found a great campsite, and our tent was actually quite warm.

Good-Spirited Start To Trip

A Mossy Break

Our First Campsite

The Bailey Range As Seen From Camp

Bear Wire Fun

The next morning, Independence Day, we hiked up to Glacier Meadows. We noticed a common theme when we discovered that *everyone* who had tried camping at Elk Lake had retreated to Martins Creek, due to the massive swarms of mosquitoes at the lake. We passed several hiking groups along the trail, including one group of two guys who were hoping to summit Mount Olympus but for whatever reasons (which they did not specify) decided to turn around. Later, as we approached bug-infested Elk Lake, we encountered a group of three people from Seattle who were officially the first successful summit team of Mount Olympus this year, the previous day. They were able to quickly provide us with some very helpful and encouraging information... before the swarms of mosquitoes forced our teams to continue on their respective paths.

High Hoh Bridge

This Is Our Bridge???

Above Elk Lake

Between Elk Lake and Glacier Meadows are at least three notable slide areas. The first notable slide area was a creek crossing with a short, nearly vertical dirt slope on the other side. The second notable slide area was a snow slope/ seasonal stream crossing that had a very sketchy snow bridge across it. The final notable slide area, a short distance prior to Glacier Meadows, had a single rope available for climbing. Ten years ago, this gully was also sketchy and the trail seemed like a mule track at best, but now remnants of that old trail were long gone. This section required extra caution, which was followed by a short trek through snow, downed trees, and slide alder, but we were soon at Glacier Meadows. We met the final group that was ahead of us, a group of four men from out of the state, who claimed to have summited Mount Tom that day. That was amazing to us, especially when they claimed to have done so in only 11 hours. After a brief conversation, we continued to our own campsite of choice. It was early afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to setup camp, eat, gather water, and practice z-pulley for our glacier travel the following day. We each slept very well that night.

We Have To Go Down This Way???

Is This The Trail???

Glacier Meadows Break

Resting At Glacier Meadows

The next day, July 5, we began the snowy traverse through evergreen forests to the lateral moraine of the Blue Glacier. Reaching the moraine was not the problem; descended it was. In fact, some people consider this section as the real "crux" of the approach, as the rocky moraine is gradually becoming steeper and looser. We roped-up at the bottom of the moraine, and remained roped-up until nearthe summit block. Crossing the Blue Glacier was non-trivial. The crevasses, where noticeable, were just tiny frozen cracks. The steep snowy ascent to Snow Dome was time-consuming but easy. There were several tracks at Snow Dome. Some went to Panic Peak, some went to a rocky outcrop (where an unsuccessful summit team camped the previous week), and one set went to Mount Olympus via the "Fourth of July" route. That track was from the first and only successful summit team of the year, and combining what we could see with what they had briefly described, we also chose the same summit approach. SIDE-NOTE: There were no tracks going towards, or on, Mount Tom. More on that, later...

Ascending To The Lateral Moraine

Atop The Lateral Moraine

Ready For Some Glacier Travel

Glacial Break

Ascending Steep Slopes To Snow Dome

Ascending from Snow Dome to the "Fourth of July" route was non-trivial until the upper slopes. Then we encountered a couple of crevasses (or possibly one crevasse with a large serac) that branched downslope from the large bergschrund looming above. We carefully and cautiously crossed this section, continued ascending the steep snow slope, and reached the large bergschrund near the saddle between the false summit and true summit. The successful summit party from two days earlier had used this route, and their paths were still obvious. There was no true "snow bridge" to use, but we were each able to use a nice ramp on the other side, carefully one by one, as safely as we could cross at that location.

The Goal Is Near...

Upper Slopes...

Once at the saddle, we unroped and prepared for the final summit ascent. The loose, standard summit approach had snow on its ramp, so I tried convincing Dave and Adam that the north ridge rock face would be best. I had some documentation for that section, and it was supposed to have much more solid rock for which to climb, although considered more technically difficult. We ascended a final steep snow slope to the crest of the north ridge and looked up the north face. A large moat had formed around the rock face, except for one small, unreliable snow bridge. We basically had to each step across the moat, and then did the final Class 5.2-5.4 climb to the narrow summit ridge above. Dave led the rock climb and setup the rope, followed by Adam, and then me. When I went, the snow bridge collapsed but it did not matter because of me being roped-up and basically already across the moat. I made short work of this section, and Adam did as well. Dave, always the avid rock climber, obviously did.

Moat-Dodging Before Rock Climb

Ready For Dave's Rock Climb

We all had such a thrill reaching the summit of Mount Olympus. The views were spectacular. The skies were sunny with no wind. The summit register was a little moist, but we were still able to each sign it. This was my 36th Washington County Highpoint. Only three remaining!

Friends On The Summit, Too

Friends On The Summit

Benchmark Shot!

Summit Shot!

Ready To Rappel!

The rappel was a lot of fun, and the moat posed no problems... except when we realized that Dave left his ice axe on the other side and it had to be retrieved. Oops! We roped-up again at the saddle and began our descent. The crevasses and bergschrund had really begun to open-up under the hot sunshine. We had to implement a variation of the Redwic bergschrund crossing technique that was used on Gannett Peak a couple of years ago, but that was non-eventful. We also had to re-route downslope from the opening crevasses on the upper slopes near the bergschrund. We were certainly the second and last summiters via the "Fourth of July" route this year, at least without taking extraordinary risks.

The Final Ascent...

Atop Snow Dome...

We remained roped-up until across the Blue Glacier. The crevasses on the glacier had opened-up slightly, but were still minor cracks. Ascending the lateral moraine took extra cuation and time, as rockfall was a pressing danger. Several decent-sized rocks tumbled down the slopes from our movement. Once back at camp, we tore down the campsite and began hiking down the Hoh River Trail to save us distance the following day. We ended up at a fantastic campsite next to the High Hoh Bridge, just as dusk was setting in. We had enough natural lighting to setup camp and cook our meals. It was the end of a great day for each of us. The next morning, we set-out early. When we reached the Olympus Ranger Station, we told them that we were the second successful summit team and that both teams had used the "Fourth of July" route. One ranger seemed surprised that we were able to take that route so "late" in the season, while another ranger was not amused as he hoped everyone would use the more-standard Crystal Pass/Five Fingers route for safety reasons. We explained the situations and our experience, and I stressed to them to tell all soon-to-be ascending parties to *not* follow our tracks. I told them that I was planning to tell every summit party to *not* follow the "Fourth of July" route (i.e. our tracks) because of the dangerous crevasses and bergschrunds which had opened-up. We also told the rangers about the group of four men who had claimed to summit Mount Tom. All three rangers smirked and said that did not happen. One ranger called the group "map impaired" and said after the group described their summit trip it was easily determined that they had actually only summited Panic Peak. Oops! I am not certain if they told the group the bad news or not, but that certainly explained why no tracks led to Mount Tom but several led up Panic Peak. The last nine miles of trail were fairly uneventful. We returned back to the Hoh River Trailhead at 1:00 PM, exactly 72 hours after we first started hiking on our trip. We followed the successful adventure with a successful meal in Forks. From a local's recommendation, we went to "Taqueria Santa Ana" for authentic Mexican food... it was worth the visit! Overall, it was a great trip, a great experience, a great team, and a great time. Thanks again, Gimpilator and Dave!

[Gimpilator]

Here's my video account of the trip.

Blue Glacier Icefall

Mount Mercury

The Baileys

Craig crossing the bergschrund

Dave belaying Craig

Summit Action

The North Ridge

Lower Blue Glacier

Mount Tom and the White Glacier

Awesome write-up Craig! Thanks for putting this trip together. You are an expert planner.

[Don]

Excellent trip, Redwic! Olympus is one of my favorite climbs simply due to the variety it offers, most noticeable on the exit hike it seems. I last did it two years ago with Silence under much different conditions. Your account certainly brought back a lot of memories. How in the heck do you confuse Panic Peak with Mt. Tom??? Congratulations on an excellent adventure! Don

[Redwic]

[belowfellow]

Congrats, gentlemen! Great report and photos.

[RokIzGud]

Really awesome work, guys! Nice job!

[silence]

strong work! well done men! i thought there would still be tons of snow on those avy slopes just watched the video ... cool!

[half fast]

Nice TR and wonderful photos and video... Quite the adventure you all had, awesome views !! Thanks for sharing... ("...Taqueria Santa Ana..." is the best, we were there after our hike on the 4th... yummmm)

[DIYSteve]

Very nice Classic route. Cool that you got there early enough in the season to do the direct approach to the summit block

[Redwic]

[Paul M]

Congrats on the climb and in closing in on the Wash CoHPS! Oly is a great trip and great climb for sure. Glad you had such great 4th of July weather for this trip. Here are a few pics of it as I was flying over about 2:30pm on the 5th of July on my way to Korea for work. If I look close I think I can see you guys on the glacier

[Yet]

Nice work, Redwic, Gimpilator, and Dave! Brought back memories of Mark's trip from 2008. Did you see the TR? Hee! I wasn't even on that trip so how can I say it brought back memories? I'm his #1 fan. ps: You summited on my birthday. Sweet!

[Layback]

Nice work. Here's a couple images of your boot track taken from the cockpit of a single engine Beechcraft airplane on Wednesday evening. We were impressed with your effort.

Crystal Pass looked impassable to me from 500' up. There's a big windscoop/cornice blocking it's way as far as I could tell. Though I've never actually been through it so I'm not certain of it's location in the above photo.

[Gimpilator]

Wow!!! What, are people spying on us from the air? These birds eye views are blowing my mind. I dare you to try that again next weekend.

[smmslt]

Nice work guys - congrats! Great report Craig! Beautiful pix too!