NotAllAreLost
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Backpacking Olympic National Park. August 2022. Day 1 of 5. Day 1 will have us leaving from Sol Duc Lodge and traveling about 12 miles to Hoh Lake where we will camp for the night. We will ascend from an elevation of 1650 ft to 5300 ft before descending to 4500 ft at Hoh Lake. The weather was great and it was the start of a great journey!
Start of trail at Sol Duc Springs Lodge. Hiking through rainforest and large trees.
on the trail to Deer Lake
Crossing a creek across a large tree.
One of the fallen trees along the trail. Gives a perspective of how big and tall the trees are.
Deer Lake
Leaving Deer Lake area and start our climb to High Divide and ultimately Hoh Lake.
Perspective of the views as we continue to climb up higher.
view of the trail as we move higher
a look down in to the valley that we came from on the way up
A look down into the Seven Lakes Basin.
View of the mountains in the distance.
Trail to Bogachiel Peak. I will go up there from Hoh Lake campsite the next morning before we leave to go down into the Hoh River Valley.
As we come around the ridge, we are greeted with a beautiful view of the mountains and Mt Olympus. In the next few days, we will travel to near the top of Mt Olympus and Blue Glacier.
A view down to Hoh Lake, our final destination for today.
View of the mountains from Hoh Lake and our destination in a two days.
Day 2 of our five day backpacking trip. We would travel about 7 miles today descending about 3,500 ft from our campsite at Hoh Lake to Lewis Meadows along the Hoh River. It was a very warm day, but the views were spectacular and enjoying every step of this journey!
We would travel from Hoh Lake to Lewis Meadows today. We would travel down many switchbacks and a challenging trail going from an elevation of 4,500 ft to 1,000 ft along the Hoh River
Morning at the Hoh Lake camp
In the morning on my way to Bogachiel Peak traveling along the High Divide Trail
View from Bogachiel Peak at an elevation of 5,400 ft. A look into Seven Lakes Basin.
View from Bogachiel Peak
Morning view of Hoh Lake. We would see four bears on the other side of the lake.
Trail and trees as be descend to the Hoh River
Another view of the meadow as we descended along the trail.
A walk in the woods
Then, we come out of the woods to these views. In the distance below, we see the Hoh River and a view of the mountains.
We have a few more hours to traverse down to the river below. Enjoying the views on the way down.
One of many large trees we encountered.
We traveled today from Hoh Lake to near Olympus Guard Station
Day 3 of our five day backpacking trip. We would travel about 7 miles today ascending about 3,300 ft from our campsite at Lewis Meadows along the Hoh River to Glacier Meadows. It was a beautiful day with a lot of up especially toward the end! We ended up with a great campsite near a little stream on the back side of the camp. We spent the evening exploring the area and tomorrow, we would work our way up to Blue Glacier.
Campsite at Lewis Meadows
A view of the Hoh River
Today, we would travel from Lewis Meadows to Glacier Meadows
The water was very cold coming down from the glaciers up on the mountain. The water was also very silty.
Beautiful stream crossing
a view of the forest and trees we were walking through.
Then, we come to a point we can see back down into the valley and a view of the Hoh River below that we came from earlier in the day.
Crossing this deep crevasse area was definitely challenging with a pack on. We would have to go back up the next day.
More of a perspective of the cable ladder that we needed to climb down.
We are now much closer to the mountain top compared to a few days earlier.
A picture of the trail up to the glacier. Would make our way there tomorrow.
Our campsite tonight in Glacier Meadow. We went from an elevation of 4,500 ft at Hoh Lake down to 1,000 ft at Lewis Meadow and back up to 4,300 ft at Glacier Meadow.
Day 4 of our five day backpacking trip. The focus of this post is our time up at Glacier Meadows and spending the morning going up to Blue Glacier. This morning, we had the glacier to ourselves. It is at least a two to three day trip up to Blue Glacier from the Hoh River Visitors Center. After lunch, we would pack up and head back down to Lewis Meadows. Hope you enjoy the views!
Arrow shows our location in relation to the Blue Glacier and Mount Olympus
In the morning we head to the terminus of Blue Glacier.
View prior to finishing our climb to Blue Glacier.
As we come into view of Blue Glacier.
Closer view of the terminus of the glacier.
We climbed up higher and provided another view of Blue Glacier.
Panoramic view looking back into the valley.
A few more views of the glacier.
The trail was really rocky and sometime there were strategic cairns placed at turns in the trail.
Day 5 and final day of this backpacking trip. The focus of this day was a little more than 10 miles to the Hoh Visitor Center from Lewis Meadows. As we walked on this Friday, we started to see more people headed up for the weekend and some day hikers as we got closer to the trail head. Mostly flat and down hill as we made good time this day. The end of this challenging and awesome trip!
Our route today would take us from Lewis Meadows to the Hoh River Visitors Center
A view of the Hoh River from a nearby camp site along the river near Lewis Meadows.
This a view of the Hoh River and would be really interesting to see in the spring when flows are greater.
As we walked along, one of us noticed the herd of about 30 elk on the other side of the river.
A view of the trail through the rain forest area. My understanding is this is very lush and green in the spring. Much different than in August. I am glad though for not as much rain during this trip.
Olympus Ranger Station which has been around a while. Nobody here today.
More view of the trail through the rain forest.
This sign encapsulates a lot of the areas we were including the starting point of Sol Duc TH. We finished at an elevation of around 600 ft and at times we were at an elevation o 5,500 ft up in the mountains. The end of a great trip!
Again, this trip was in 2022, but I am new to backcountry post and thought it would be good to share another of my epic trips.
Start of trail at Sol Duc Springs Lodge. Hiking through rainforest and large trees.
on the trail to Deer Lake
Crossing a creek across a large tree.
One of the fallen trees along the trail. Gives a perspective of how big and tall the trees are.
Deer Lake
Leaving Deer Lake area and start our climb to High Divide and ultimately Hoh Lake.
Perspective of the views as we continue to climb up higher.
view of the trail as we move higher
a look down in to the valley that we came from on the way up
A look down into the Seven Lakes Basin.
View of the mountains in the distance.
Trail to Bogachiel Peak. I will go up there from Hoh Lake campsite the next morning before we leave to go down into the Hoh River Valley.
As we come around the ridge, we are greeted with a beautiful view of the mountains and Mt Olympus. In the next few days, we will travel to near the top of Mt Olympus and Blue Glacier.
A view down to Hoh Lake, our final destination for today.
View of the mountains from Hoh Lake and our destination in a two days.
Day 2 of our five day backpacking trip. We would travel about 7 miles today descending about 3,500 ft from our campsite at Hoh Lake to Lewis Meadows along the Hoh River. It was a very warm day, but the views were spectacular and enjoying every step of this journey!
We would travel from Hoh Lake to Lewis Meadows today. We would travel down many switchbacks and a challenging trail going from an elevation of 4,500 ft to 1,000 ft along the Hoh River
Morning at the Hoh Lake camp
In the morning on my way to Bogachiel Peak traveling along the High Divide Trail
View from Bogachiel Peak at an elevation of 5,400 ft. A look into Seven Lakes Basin.
View from Bogachiel Peak
Morning view of Hoh Lake. We would see four bears on the other side of the lake.
Trail and trees as be descend to the Hoh River
Another view of the meadow as we descended along the trail.
A walk in the woods
Then, we come out of the woods to these views. In the distance below, we see the Hoh River and a view of the mountains.
We have a few more hours to traverse down to the river below. Enjoying the views on the way down.
One of many large trees we encountered.
We traveled today from Hoh Lake to near Olympus Guard Station
Day 3 of our five day backpacking trip. We would travel about 7 miles today ascending about 3,300 ft from our campsite at Lewis Meadows along the Hoh River to Glacier Meadows. It was a beautiful day with a lot of up especially toward the end! We ended up with a great campsite near a little stream on the back side of the camp. We spent the evening exploring the area and tomorrow, we would work our way up to Blue Glacier.
Campsite at Lewis Meadows
A view of the Hoh River
Today, we would travel from Lewis Meadows to Glacier Meadows
The water was very cold coming down from the glaciers up on the mountain. The water was also very silty.
Beautiful stream crossing
a view of the forest and trees we were walking through.
Then, we come to a point we can see back down into the valley and a view of the Hoh River below that we came from earlier in the day.
Crossing this deep crevasse area was definitely challenging with a pack on. We would have to go back up the next day.
More of a perspective of the cable ladder that we needed to climb down.
We are now much closer to the mountain top compared to a few days earlier.
A picture of the trail up to the glacier. Would make our way there tomorrow.
Our campsite tonight in Glacier Meadow. We went from an elevation of 4,500 ft at Hoh Lake down to 1,000 ft at Lewis Meadow and back up to 4,300 ft at Glacier Meadow.
Day 4 of our five day backpacking trip. The focus of this post is our time up at Glacier Meadows and spending the morning going up to Blue Glacier. This morning, we had the glacier to ourselves. It is at least a two to three day trip up to Blue Glacier from the Hoh River Visitors Center. After lunch, we would pack up and head back down to Lewis Meadows. Hope you enjoy the views!
Arrow shows our location in relation to the Blue Glacier and Mount Olympus
In the morning we head to the terminus of Blue Glacier.
View prior to finishing our climb to Blue Glacier.
As we come into view of Blue Glacier.
Closer view of the terminus of the glacier.
We climbed up higher and provided another view of Blue Glacier.
Panoramic view looking back into the valley.
A few more views of the glacier.
The trail was really rocky and sometime there were strategic cairns placed at turns in the trail.
Day 5 and final day of this backpacking trip. The focus of this day was a little more than 10 miles to the Hoh Visitor Center from Lewis Meadows. As we walked on this Friday, we started to see more people headed up for the weekend and some day hikers as we got closer to the trail head. Mostly flat and down hill as we made good time this day. The end of this challenging and awesome trip!
Our route today would take us from Lewis Meadows to the Hoh River Visitors Center
A view of the Hoh River from a nearby camp site along the river near Lewis Meadows.
This a view of the Hoh River and would be really interesting to see in the spring when flows are greater.
As we walked along, one of us noticed the herd of about 30 elk on the other side of the river.
A view of the trail through the rain forest area. My understanding is this is very lush and green in the spring. Much different than in August. I am glad though for not as much rain during this trip.
Olympus Ranger Station which has been around a while. Nobody here today.
More view of the trail through the rain forest.
This sign encapsulates a lot of the areas we were including the starting point of Sol Duc TH. We finished at an elevation of around 600 ft and at times we were at an elevation o 5,500 ft up in the mountains. The end of a great trip!
Again, this trip was in 2022, but I am new to backcountry post and thought it would be good to share another of my epic trips.
