Mt Olympus. That hidden treasure. The namesake of the entire peninsula. Who hasn't dreamt of climbing it? Well, four BCC members did just that. From September 19 to September 24, 1998, climb leader Doxey Kemp along with David May, Kevin Hines and myself, Doug Hagen, spent 6 glorious days playing on her shoulders.

After cramming all of us into David's truck and eating delicious fried egg sandwiches in Forks, Wa. (ignore Doxeys contradictions) we finally got to the Hoh trail head. While registering a very worried looking ranger, upon hearing of our intentions to summit, asked us if we had notified our next of kin. "Impassable!" said she. "We'll just have ourselves a little look-see." said we.

So off we went with our 50 lb. packs and high spirits bounding down the nearly flat trail. It's always a beautiful hike along the Hoh River Trail and we had a wonderful, sunshiny day. Along the way we heard some Elk and stopping for a bit we soon saw them hanging out in the brush. Such beautiful animals.

After 9 miles we soon reached Olympus Ranger Station camp. A good meal and relaxing by the river capped our first day.

After a good sleep we awoke to wonderful weather, the first of many bowls of oatmeal and we hit the trail by, umm, well, maybe 10 AM. No one complained. After a few miles we finally started getting some elevation gain. We hit the High Bridge and stopped to enjoy the view. Soon we got to Elk Lake and enjoyed another rest and a well deserved lunch. Kevin even took a little dip.

Upward and onward. We eventually got to Glacier Meadows camp (4200 ft.) and found a nice spot to spend the next 3 nights. We went to talk to the climbing ranger, Nick, and found that he had summitted just the previous day. Another lesson on not listening to the chubby, pasty rangers that tend to inhabit the tourist ranger stations. Nick gave us some tips to help us on our climb and off we trod for dinner and a host of rousing camp songs. Who can resist such timeless classics such as "Only The Lonely", "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" or "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"??? Last minute gear pack/check and off to an early bed. We got this big climb in a few hours!

Day #3, summit day, opened clear and brisk. We donned our summit packs, turned on our headlamps, headed up the rocky path and out onto the moraine of the lower Blue Glacier. We carefully picked our way down this pile of scree as David and Doxey, who had both been there before, swore there was a path to descend on while Kevin and I hissed something about their poor memory and general insanity. Of course the fact that it was pitch black out there didn't help. We finally got down the 200 ft. moraine unscathed and stepped out onto the debris covered lower glacier.

Being so late in the season this part of the glacier was quite rippled making it pretty slow going. As dawn broke we had made our way to the far side of the glacier and could actually start some real climbing. With 2 rope teams of 2 and Doxey leading we started up a 30 degree slope and climbed up to a patch of rock where we did my favorite thing; rock climbing in crampons.

Getting back on ice we made our way up on top of the "Snow Dome". This is a huge mound on the glacier and it marks the spot where the Blue does a full U-turn. Quite a sight. From there it's a fairly gentle but crevassed climb up to a saddle called Crystal Pass where the glacier is only about 200 ft. wide. The ice in the pass had melted out a bit causing a crevasse of sorts. As we're deciding how to protect the crossing we suddenly hear a loud boom and feel the glacier shake beneath us. Kevin and I look at each other, then look at Doxey. "Was that an avalanche?" "I think a big piece of the glacier just broke free in the moat behind us." Doxey says. It couldn't have been more than 100 feet away. Just a little reminder of where we are. So we put in an ice screw and Doxey sets up a boot-axe belay as David lead the way. Down a steep wall, a little hop over the crevasse onto a tiny ledge and a traverse to the rock wall where we climbed up with one foot on the rock and one on the ice. A picket on the far side and we all get over safely.

From there it's a short climb to the stack. But we had a hard time figuring out the correct way. One way looked like a scree slide to hell so we doubled back to the far side. Nope, no way to get up from there. Back to the rocks & after some scouting and much discussion we found a rock traverse that took us right to the base of the summit stack. Unfortunately it was getting late. With a 300 ft. rock climb ahead of us it was decided that David would go first followed by Dox. Well, it took both ropes so Kevin and I elected to not climb the stack. A little disappointing but we couldn't complain about where we were already.

Views! Soon David and Dox were out of sight. About an hour later they show up coming around from the North side. They had rappelled down the far West side and were having quite an adventure. Let's just say that they were glad they didn't choose to climb that side. Loose rock and wide moats. They also said that there was a haze over the horizon so they didn't get a view of the ocean but they got to the very top of Mt. Olympus! Note: Kevin and I claim that we did summit. What do you think?

So we quickly started down as it was getting late. The climb down was absolutely beautiful and I got some great photos. We got to the base of the moraine just as the sun was going down behind the mountain. But just as we thought the climb was about over we found we had one more challenge: getting back up that moraine! Kevin chose the direct approach which quickly changed his mood. Words unprintable were muttered. Seeing Dox and David doing a long traverse I started to follow but finding myself on a 45 degree slope of crumbling dirt and no holds I went back towards Kevin climbed up a rock fall and soon found myself on "the path". It DOES exist! Soon I stood on the top. Doxey and David were still doing that traverse thing and not gaining much altitude. Again, I can't repeat what I heard from below me but eventually we were all on top and it was completely dark out. We had spent about 45 minutes just climbing 200 ft.! We carefully picked our way down the rocky trail and finally got to Ranger Nick's shelter. He said "I'm sure glad to see you. I was gonna give you 30 more minutes and then I was gonna have to come look for you." I think I can speak for all of us when I say we slept like logs that night. Day #4 was "rest" day. After a leisure breakfast we hiked up the "Terminus Trail" to an overlook at the nose of the Blue Glacier. What a sight! Cloudless day, beautiful blue skies, no sound save the wind or a critter smelling our food. We got the rest we asked for. Plus a chance to scout routes for a loop that includes Mt. Tom. (Ask Doxey) Wonderful day. Day #5 we hiked back down to Olympus Ranger Camp with stops at Elk Lake and High Bridge again. Another day of warm temperatures and blue skies. At camp we got into a rock throwing contest at the river and upset a few neighbors with our laughter. Some people just have no sense of humor. A beautiful sunset and a chance to eat as much food as we wanted capped off another fine day in the Hoh. Day #6 started with a touch of dew. The first moisture we'd seen. Of course no one had put up tents and Kevin was out on a sand spit by the river but we were all still toasty warm. We did get an early start as crazy David was due back in town for a climb of Mt. Stuart that night! About half way down the trail we heard Elks snorting all about us. At a rest stop I took off running through the brush and got some great photos of a bull crossing the river. Of course we started seeing more people as we got closer but it was nice to see folks out for a stroll. Finally reaching the trailhead we went right to the chips and popcorn that was stashed in the truck. After a short rest we headed out with that crazy feeling of being in a vehicle after 6 days of traveling by foot. But the funniest thing was that as soon as we started driving...... it started raining. The first rain we had seen in 6 days. In the Hoh! Milkshakes in Port Angeles, food in Sequim and tunes on the radio and we were back in our city skin. This was a very memorable trip for so many reasons. Wonderful company, incredible mountain and climb, beautiful approach, fantastic weather, great laughs, hard work,...... but most of all we were out in the mountains feeling alive. Mt. Olympus. Thank you.