The plan was to spend a couple nights up at the Snowdome research station aka hut, at about 6,500 feet and a mere two miles from the West summit of Olympus. We got what looked to be a 6 day weather window starting last Tuesday (11th May), but had to delay because we couldn't locate the hut key from the National Park service till Thursday. Key in hand, we loaded up packs Thursday afternoon and headed up the Hoh. Leaving the visitor center at 500 feet above sea level, it looked like this:
Aaron not looking too excited about carrying these babies...Our heavy packs with skis, glacier gear, etc. got some funny looks. Quite a few punters about wondering where the hell we where going. There's a few short loop trails (like a mile max) where most of the tourists mill around, and beyond these the Hoh valley trail runs along the north banks of the Hoh, pretty damn flat for the first 12 miles.
In the rainforest... a long way away from snow
The first afternoon we walked this flat section and camped at a beautiful spot by the river, just before the trail starts to climb up.
Our camp spot on the first night
The next day was on the tough side. About 12 miles, lots of vertical straight from the word go, and no chairlifts in sight...
We finally made it to snow probably around mile 16 (after 25km...), and reached the bottom of the Blue glacier at mile 18.
About to reach Blue glacier, Panic peak and the Snowdome in the background
Skinning up the lower glacier was amazing. The solitude was incredible, and coupled with the sights around us it gave us the feeling of being more in a place like Alaska. Mount Mathias and the ridge that runs west first appeared, with beautiful steep snow covered faces that dropped onto the Blue glacier. TJ unpacked his nerd stick, turned on the GPS unit, and proclaimed himself hard at work.
We quickly rounded the lower portion, the icefall and summits of Olympus now in sight, and came off the glacier to start the moderately steep climb up to the Snowdome.
Mount Mathias on the left, the Blue glacier ice fall on the right
The Blue glacier ice fall and the various Mt Olympus summits
Our guessing game of where we were turned to relief when we saw the hut, or a small piece of the hut. Only the roof was poking through the snow, which at this time of the season was probably close to its seasonal maximum, leading to questions of 'which side is the door on???'
Had there been another couple feet of snow, we would have been wandering in the white desert... an unwelcome prospect after a 11 hour day under full packs. As it was, we had to locate the door (3rd try) and spent a good two hours digging and unjamming the door.
Luckily trusty DHo is a sneaky little bugger and he managed to slip in the door (which was jammed from snow and ice that had blown in) and after some tugging and forcing we were through and surveying our lair for the following nights.
We spent the rest of the evening sitting on the roof which had warmed nicely under the suns rays looking in awe at the incredible scenery around us, probably 20 miles and a days travel from the nearest human...
Unfortunately on the way up my left knee had become quite sore, so the next day I stayed at the hut reading and chillaxing (i found some goodies in Gui's backpack hehe) and icing the knee while Aaron and TJ went out on the glacier taking GPS surveys. I gave Aaron my camera and he did good!
TJ on the Cirque portion of Blue glacier
The boys got back in the late afternoon, and we spent the rest of the day lounging on the hut's roof and enjoying another of TJ's wonderful dinners. After dinner, we climbed up to Panic peak, which is a 5 minute walk out of the hut, with some amazing views in all directions. Unlike the previous day, there were some high clouds rolling in, harbingers of nastier weather to come, but for now just providing one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen in the mountains. The alpenglow was spectacular at one point.
Looking west
Cool Alpenglow...
The following morning we packed up and skied down the Blue glacier en route back to civilization. The snow was super firm and smooth, really fun to ski, even with our heavy packs. The lower glacier was a fast straightline down to the morraine, and the surface was covered by millions of ice worms- I've never seen anything like it!
And after the fun ski, came mile after mile of trail walking, aided by painkillers and gravity and thwarted by, well, just a shit ton of miles of trail.
We were pretty happy to make it back to the parking lot, but even happier with the whole experience. I would love to return to that area with a more ski-minded agenda... Lots of cool lines... and probably lots of first descents lurking...
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