Olympic Peninsula Traverse - again

Tressa and I repeated the Olympics Traverse that Chris and I did last year, but with an alternate finish, and we tagged the Olympus summit. 

Walking and climbing in red. Packrafting in blue.

I was looking for something to do in the ten days before I went back to AK. I wanted a trip to help prepare me for slogging up the West Buttress, and I wanted to eat well and sleep a fair amount, in addition to spending time with Tressa. 

The trip came together at the last minute. I got back from a two-day, one-night rock climb with Chris in the Enchantments (four pitches of climbing and 20 miles of hiking) around 10 pm. The next morning I looked at topos for about an hour and called Tressa to propose we enter the Olympics from the east, exit via the Queets river, and go up Olympus if the weather was good. She was psyched so we packed up, met up, and left that evening.

Day 1

We went up the Doosewalips quickly and over snow Hayden Pass with less effort than the year before (because we could see where we were going). 26 miles.

Heading up the Doosewallips.

Following bear tracks over Hayden Pass (upper right). 

Day 2

The upper Elwah trails were much easier than last year because there weren't any downed trees across the trail. Zero. The bushwacking to the base of the Elwah snow finger was also slightly easier because it wasn’t raining. 14 miles.

Tressa climbing up the Upper Elwah.

Looking over to the Humes glacier and Mt. Olympus.

Day 3

We left our overnight and rafting gear at our campsite at the headwaters of the Queets and walked over the Humes, Hoh, and Blue glaciers, and up Olympus. Then back down. 20,000 ft. of elevation gain and loss. Trail runners worked fine for the easy fifth class summit block. For me, the highlight of this day was a magnificent ~750' glissade down part of Olympus. The slope and the snow created perfect conditions for a smooth, uninterrupted slide down--fast, but not too fast, such that I didn't need to steer or control my speed at all. 

Heading up toward the summit of Olympus from Snow Dome.

Looking back up at the magnificent glissade.

Day 4

We labored through some very slow off trail travel. Only 6 miles in 11 hours. We crossed about a mile of unavoidable slide alder that made Tressa furious. "Fuck, fuck, fucking shit, fuck, fuck!!!!" I heard her scream from behind.

I distanced myself from her cursing and enjoyed being in the dense vegetation. The challenge of finding the path of least resistance was highly engaging. I attempted to be a snake that slithered through the brush.

Tressa emerged about half way through the slide with torn pants, torn shirt, myriad green marks, and vegetation all throughout her hair and in every possible nook in the pack and paddle complex. This is the type of hiking in which NOLS pants excel. That night we emptied plant parts from our ears and underwear. 

Looking down into the headwaters of the Queets.

Tressa emerges from the first half of the slide alder. 

Day 5

We followed elk and deer paths along steep hillsides and had to go up quite high, 1,000 ft. in one case, to get around tributaries that were protected by cliffs. I was scared by some of the slopes we had to climb up, stunned that deer could get up them, and impressed by Tressa because she was unafraid of the loose vegetated cliffs. 

As we dropped lower into the valley we entered my favorite part of the Olympics: the old growth forests with colossal trees, carpets of moss, delicate ferns, and countless streams that tickle your ears and keep your feet cold. We balanced from one 200 ft. downed tree to another, to another and another.

We crossed more tributaries, which were easier than those above, and began waking closer to the river. Through small meadows, amongst the giants, seeing elk here and there, following their paths.

In the afternoon we dumped out our backpacks on a gravel bar and inflated the boat. The upper part of the river was slow going due to the rapids that flooded the open boat and the logjams that blocked our way. We went down about 15 miles before camping.

Day 6

We floated out the remaining 25 miles.The river was easy: one person laid back against the pack and relaxed while the other sat on the stern and guided us through the occasional whitewater. 

We exited at the highway 101 bridge, just a few hundred feet before the ocean, around 4pm and hitched all the way back (160 road miles) to our car that night. Five different cars picked us up and the last one, around 10:00PM (it was mostly dark) drove us an hour two hours out of his way, all the way back to the trailhead!

I was surprised that we didn't see anyone else for six days and ~110 miles. The diversity of terrain (rainforests, glaciers, ridges), and modes of travel on this trip are fantastic. I want to do it every year.