ONP - Mt Olympus - Blue Glacier 7/4/2008
Trip: ONP - Mt Olympus - Blue Glacier
Date: 7/4/2008
Trip Report:2 climbers. 4 days.
Our original plan was to camp on the Five Fingers, then do the 3 summit traverse and out via glacier pass.
We left the Hoh Visitor Center on Thursday afternoon for Elk Lake. We broke camp at 3am Friday for the summit. Elk Lake to Glacier meadows was marred with windfall and one tenuous, though passable avy chute. Trailess sections were well flagged by the seasonal ranger. We took about 2 hours with large packs.
Glacier Meadows to Moraine - stay in the center of the valley until you hit the well marked trail up past the blue-bag tank. If you climb too early, you'll likely turn this into the most dangerous part of your climb.
From the moraine, visibility was good. Several crevasses on the blue were visible but very small. We roped up for the ascent. Snow was soft. At about 6:30am, a lenticular cap started to form above Olympus. By the time we reached the base of snow dome winds had picked up significantly and the peaks were completely shrouded by a thick cap.
2 parties ahead of us turned around at the crest of the snow dome. At about 6,300', we dug out and set up camp. Plenty of water on the rocks at the base of the snow dome. We tried to wait it out, but the weather got worse. Saturday AM we waited until 7am for an opening, but the rain and wind continued. We roped up and headed out.
There were at least 2 more parties attempting to summit on Saturday. Not sure if they made it.
Approach Notes:Rangers indeed give you the worst-case scenario. This is for the lowest common denominator. They don't know you any better than the other fine folk hiking around the visitors center and most of them are clueless. I once met a couple up there with tennis shoes that said they were going to climb Oly. Despite the moaning of the tougher-than-nails crew, there have been several deaths in the area. Nothing beats experience and I think you will find that when you hear "definitive" beta, it is more often than not wrong, or simply outdated. Experience will tell you, be gregarious, ask as many people as you can and take everything with at least a grain or two of salt.
