| Steve Dougherty ~ Aug 29, 2006 |
| Seven climbers journeyed north to Washington State's Olympic National Park on an expedition to climb the remote Mt. Olympus (7,965 feet). We stopped for snacks at a convenience store at the Kalaloch Lodge before heading into the park on the Hoh River Road. We arrived at the Hoh River Wilderness Information Center at 2 p.m. While completing the paperwork and plunking down our $50 for the backcountry permit we learned from the ranger that the insects were "bad", the trail near Glacier Meadows was washed-out but passable and that the ranger at Glacier Meadows, Remington Jones, could give us the best information on the condition of the climbing route. Our 8.3-mile approach hike to Olympus Guard Station began at 3:20 p.m. It was a comfortable hike over mostly level terrain through some massive old growth forest. The warmth of the afternoon sun was mitigated by the shade of the towering forest. Hearing branches break in the forest we looked up to see a heard of elk cross the trail in front of us, headed for the Hoh River. We had one interesting water crossing where half our group waded a one-foot deep stream and the other half crossed on a nearby log. The mosquitoes were tolerable with a liberal application of bug repellent and the biting flies were absent ... one could hardly call the bugs "bad". We arrived at Olympus Guard Station at 7:40 p.m. and were greeted by Shawn Reed, a young park ranger, who oriented us to our group campsite on the bank of the Hoh River. We were allowed to build a fire and were asked to store our food on a "bear wire" near our camp. We had a late dinner of steak stir-fry and rice topped off with chocolate pudding, chopped walnuts, Oreo cookies and hot cider. We retired at 10:30 p.m. The temperature was warm. We were up at 6 a.m. boiling water for our oatmeal breakfast and left camp at 8 a.m. We peered through the windows of the Olympus Guard Station as we passed by. It was surprisingly well kept ... very neat and tidy. We hung our last night's meal on the bear wire so that we did not have to carry it to Glacier Meadows and back. During the day's hike we became acquainted with a Mazama climb team of 12 (led by Jim Hashimoto) with which we exchanged leads on every rest break. The high bridge was a breath taking 200 feet above the torrential Hoh. The vertical walls of the picturesque gorge were adorned with ferns and small trees. One wonders how such a bridge was built in such a remote location. After crossing the bridge we began to gain elevation. We found Martin Creek to be an excellent spot for an extended rest break. Here, two giant logs serve as a bridge; one serves as a footpath and the other to balance against. The Mazamas were just getting into the cool refreshing water of Elk Lake as we passed by. Their youthful fun loving exuberance was in noticeable contrast to our dogged determination to press higher towards Glacier Meadows. We had been in the habit of stopping at streams for our rest breaks and these seemed more scarce as we marched on. The stretch of trail between Elk Lake and Glacier Meadows was the most demanding of the trip as we toiled higher with our full packs. Our talkative group was now noticeably quiet. We took our final break at 3800 feet. Just a half-mile short of Glacier Meadows we came upon Ranger Remington Jones who was having difficulty making a passable path through the slide area. He suggested that we go up and over the most precarious point, which we did, using our short rope for a belay. This added 30 minutes to our trip and we arrived at Glacier Meadows at 2:30 p.m. We rinsed out our clothes, pitched our tents and napped until our 6 p.m. dinner. The bugs were still managed easily with an application of bug repellent. Robyn Smith made a dinner of Bear Creek cheesy potato soup with beer sausage. Over dinner we discussed our concerns about how the Mazama team of 12 could tie up the route on the summit pinnacle for two hours or more. It was decided that we should endeavor to stay ahead of the Mazama team and do our best to be on and off before they arrived. We decided to leave at 2 a.m. and informed the Mazama team of our intentions before bedding down for the night. We were up and moving out of camp promptly at 2 a.m. It was a dark moonless night with a sky full of stars. The temperature was mild and the wind was calm. We crested the lateral moraine of the Blue Glacier at 3 a.m. The fact that our headlamp beams could not pierce the dark abyss meant that the Blue Glacier was far below. Still following the climber's path, we moved along the top of the moraine and then down to the edge of the Blue Glacier where we donned our crampons. As we were finishing up, an army of headlamps topped the moraine and began their descent. We counted nearly 20 lights. We figured we had a 30-minute head start on the Mazamas at that point. The heavily crevassed center of the Blue Glacier was not visible on this very dark night. We followed the remnants of a boot track on the very low angle eastern margin of the glacier, which led us through unbroken ice. The sky began to lighten as we neared the base of the Snow Dome. We found running water here and took a rest break. At a level bench at 6400 feet we watched the sun peak over the eastern horizon. Our next break was taken on some rocks atop the Snow Dome with the summit pinnacle in view. Just after leaving our resting spot we observed a building purported to have some scientific purpose to the right of us. It was not a stone hut, as one might assume, but rather looked more like a manufactured home that had been placed there by some high lift helicopter. The slope is quite flat once on the Snow Dome. The route follows the contour of the slope to a notch in the ridge at 7200 feet known as "Crystal Pass". A short but very steep twenty foot snow slope just on the other side of Crystal Pass was easily negotiated by kicking steps and using a low dagger hand position on the ice ax. The climb angle remained modest and required little effort. Near the top of the Blue Glacier, one must cross back over the ridge and move down a steep loose rock trail to get to the summit base. Here we unroped. I tailed our climbing rope up the steep 60 degree 100 foot snow slope placing two pickets at the top to give some protection from a slide into the rock and moat of the summit block. Climb team members used their long prussic to ascend the steep snow slope to the summit block where they rested at the start of the ledge system. Jess Palacios and I set out on the ledge system to locate the east side rock route. The route's location was not obvious to me. The first possible route looked like it had an obstruction blocking the route. As it turned out, this was the route I was looking for. A little ways further I was attracted to what appeared to be a lower angle climb with no obstructions. Over half way up the route I used a large two-foot rock as a handhold. This rock came loose with no warning and fell past me and bounced and shattered as it fell past Jess. I had placed a tricam in the crack behind that rock and this piece of protection had now fallen down the rope ten feet, to my first piece of protection. I could also see that the rock had cut through the sheath of the climbing rope. I built an anchor in the rock, which I now considered suspect, and drew the rope up and tied it to the anchor, eliminating the cut from the system. Jess joined me at my position and was then belayed on the shorter 50-foot rope to the summit, being careful to avoid knocking additional rock down on me. After building his anchor, he belayed me the short distance to the summit. During this time a group of three (two women and a man) later to be named the "Chatty Cathies" for their talkativeness, had gained the summit ridge by following the ledge system all the way to the south and climbing a short 15-foot pitch. It was decided that due to the potential for rock fall on the route that Jess and I had just ascended, that our team should utilize the south route. The Mazamas were now on the ledge system and coordinating with us. They extended our fixed line and would eventually push a fixed line across the entire ledge system, up the short pitch and along the summit ridgeline to the summit. Our climb team assembled on the summit, took some quick photos about noon and returned to the "Eagle's Nest" just above the 15 foot step, to allow the Mazama climbers to pass. From here we did a short rappel to the ledge system and retraced the fixed line back to the start. The snow was softening and our climbers glissaded (mostly under control) the very steep snow slope to the safe run out below. We were all off the summit block by 1:30 p.m. We descended without crampons in excellent weather and visibility and arrived back at Glacier Meadows Camp at 5:45 p.m., nearly 16 hours after departing. Robyn Smith cooked up two pots of Thai Noodles with her spicy peanut sauce for dinner. No bug repellent was necessary this evening nor for the remainder of the trip ... great weather and no bugs ... a hard combination to beat in Olympic National Park, which is notorious for bugs and bad weather. We were on the trail at 8 a.m. for a return hike to Olympus Guard Station. The weather was cloudy and a 40 percent chance of showers threatened our last evening and day on the trail. In the vicinity of the rock slide area we observed a mountain goat that posed majestically for us on rocks just 15 feet above our path while we took pictures. We learned as we passed the Mazama team at Elk Lake that one of their team had sprained an ankle and was having difficulty weighting it. We offered our assistance and were declined. They had divvied her gear among their 12 climbers and were going to try to make it to Olympus Guard Station where they were hoping they could get a horse to give the injured girl a ride to the trailhead. We arrived at Olympus Guard Station camp at around noon and enjoyed large helpings of the tuna and noodles meal we had cached there. During the afternoon we fashioned a crutch from available materials, hoping to make travel easier for the injured Mazama who probably arrived in camp around 4 p.m. We experienced rain showers in camp that afternoon and enjoyed each other's company around our campfire. The night was mostly dry, but we experienced some pretty heavy rain at our scheduled wakeup of 5 a.m., which delayed our start. We began the final segment of our five-day trip at 7:20 a.m. and walked much of the final nine miles in a warm steady rain. While wandering in the vicinity of Happy Four Shelter Brad Tedrow spotted a herd of about twenty elk moving from the trees to the scrubby brush of the Hoh River flood plain. We arrived at the trailhead before noon and were surprised to see the injured Mazama in the parking lot. She had gotten an early 5 a.m. start and showed some true grit getting herself to the trailhead under her own power. A member of the Mazama team produced the crutch that we had fashioned and said it would be going into the Mazama Museum to commemorate the adversity. After cleaning ourselves up, we headed for the Kalaloch Lodge back on Hwy 101 for our post climb meal and celebration. Following that well deserved meal we began the long five-hour drive back to Salem where we arrived at 7:30 p.m. |