[Fletcher]

Eric, Dave, Reed, Jake and I completed an Olympus car to car trip yesterday. It was the longest day that any of us had ever done and we were all stoked at how well it went.

We all met up at the Hoh River TH on Friday night. After a few beers and maybe a tiny bit of sleep for a few, we were hiking at exactly 12:07 am. 4 hours later, right around 4, we were breaking at High Bridge just as it was beginning to get light. My first of two major bonks of the day happened between High Bridge and Marten Creek. I was endlessly yawning and so exhausted from sleep deprivation, I couldnt imagine competing the task at hand, but knew that if I kept pushing, it would pass.

first good views of the day: Mount Tom

Olympus car to car 6-16-18

the ladder

Patchy snow began at Glacier Meadows. Soon after that we were at the moraine. The weather looked decent but the summit of Olympus was socked in.

nearing Glacier Meadows

dudes on the Moraine

We dropped the ~250 ft or so down onto the Blue Glacier and slogged across to where you climb up to Snow Dome. There was running water on numerous slabs on the way up.

Olympus

ice fall

ice fall

We were pretty quick getting up onto Snow Dome. There were a bunch of tents over by the weather station, but no one else was going toward the summit except for one other guy that had come up from Glacier Meadows.

Reed on Snow Dome

Jake showing Reed some nudes on Snow Dome

the summit briefly not socked in, the 4th of July Route was in!

While we trudged up Snow Dome, we could tell that it was probably going to be pretty windy up toward the summit. We were getting close and everyone was stoked.

Dave slogging

Eric and Jake

Olympus car to car 6-16-18

nearing the summit block

All of our snow bridges were easily passable and we soon found ourselves at the base of the rock climb on the north side of the summit. It looked really easy, 4th class, so we all soloed it. I think the tougher 5.4 rock lower down was still covered in snow.

Eric and Jake still leading

Olympus summit

register

It was super windy up there. Windy enough to make you lose your balance. We all got really cold and did not linger on the summit long. We rappelled back down to the snow and walked back to Snow Dome.

Dave on rappel

looking back

looking back

After dropping back down to the Blue and enduring the exhausting climb back up the moraine, we only had 19 more miles to go back to the car. We took a few breaks and made good time. Ice cold beers at the car polished off what ended up being a great trip. ~43.25 miles ~9,870 ft of gain ~20:14 car to car

[ONELUV1]

dood

[RichP]

Damn!

[moonspots]

[neek]

You guys are nuts.

[ozzy]

holy shitballs! I bet beer never tasted so good! Righteous indeed dudes!

[raising3hikers]

It was great to meet up and challenge ourselves on this trip! There wasn't a combined half hour of sleep from the 5 of us before the midnight start time. The summit was extremely windy and cold. Clouds were there, then not, then back again in seconds. Those ice cold parking lot beers were a motivation to keep up the pace on the way back Definitely one i'll remember for a very long time.

Olympus

Reed(midnightslogger), Jake and the ice fall

water break

probably our first clear view of the summit

Jake heading for the 4th of July route

view to the South

the cold and windy summit

Mt Tom

Dave(Mangymarmot) heading down

last look at Olympus and the Blue glacier

avalanche lilies

white glacier and Mt Tom

the nice old growth forest

Thanks for the trip guys.

[Bernardo]

Congratulations! You guys really rock. The July 4th route would be scary to me because you must be crossing some massive crevases on snow bridges. Overall, more evidence that hikers in their physical prime are different than oldtimers. How heavy was your pack? Thanks for reporting.

[b00]

and this years olympics gold medal winner... :>)

[Get Out and Go]

I would be dead! A contrast in style to enjoyment on the Olympic Peninsula. My beach trip had me moving at a turtle's pace. Not too many around who could accomplish your adventure.

[moonspots]

[bobbi]

OMG ... animals what an epic climb! thanks for sharing your adventure!

[Redwic]

Whoa! Congratulations to your team! An awesome achievement!

[Nancyann]

Pretty amazing! My dad would have loved to hear of this. Back in the ‘40’s he climbed Olympus with a couple of his buddies, after spending the night on the Blue Glacier wrapped up in an old army blanket. It seems that he forgot to bring his sleeping bag, so just grabbed the blanket instead, no pad either...

[silence]

Way to go guys!! Your photos are stunning ... love that climb!!!