[letsgobobby]

I got online this am and secured the following for my son and I. I am not familiar with this part of the park and didn't have all the elevations and camp descriptions available and sites were disappearing so I took what I could get. Please let me know if this is a feasible, pleasant trip? It is a night longer than we typically do. I'm hoping all the camp descriptions of bear wires are accurate so we can take just 1 rather than 2 or even 3 bear cans. Entry/Exit: Hoh Camp 1 - Olympus Guard Station (bear wire available) (9.7 mi) Camp 2 - Glacier Meadow (wire) (7.7 mi) Camp 3 - Hoh Lake (wire) (12.7 mi) Camp 4 - Lower Bridge (5 mi) Camp 5 - Olympus GS (10 mi) Out - 9.7 mi I figure we'll explore the 7 Lakes Basin on our short day Is the elevation doable here? Any really hard days I'm not seeing? Thank you

[vibramhead]

Seems doable, but I don't know why you'd want to drop all the way down to Lower Bridge. All the best scenery is between Hoh Lake and Heart Lake. Lower Bridge Ck is down in the trees, 1600 feet below the crest of the High Divide. You'd be better off spending 2 nights at Hoh Lake and hiking High Divide with light packs.

[letsgobobby]

thank you - short answer is heart lake disappeared mid reservation I didn't want to have nothing 1600 feet isn't too bad. we have to climb out the next day to head back to Olympus but we can spend the day before going out to Cat or exploring the basin? alternatively i'll see if we can change Hoh to two nights

[letsgobobby]

looks like everything is filled at Hoh and the entire basin all week. glad i grabbed what i could. we already got rejected for enchantments, Rainier, and North Cascades lotteries. i'm happy to have something. especially with Enchanted Valley going quota this year it's sad how hard it has become to do the classic west side and crest trips.

[letsgobobby]

well this will be a challenge for us. do these look correct? I didn't know the climb up to Hoh lake was so big. Day 1 Hoh to Olympus CG - 9.7 mi +687 ft -275 ft Day 2 Olympus CG to Glacier Meadow - 7.7 mi +3590 ft -364 ft Day 3 Glacier Meadow to Hoh Lake - 11.7 mi +4030 ft -3672 ft Day 4 Hoh Lake to Lower Bridge - 5 mi +1260 ft -1965 ft Day 5 Lower Bridge to Olympus CG - 11.2 mi +2360 ft -5318 ft Day 6 Olympus CG to Hoh - 9.7 mi, +275 ft -687 ft plus side trips on Day 4

[vibramhead]

Yep, that sounds about right. Day 3 will be a grunt. And be aware that you don't get a view of the Blue Glacier at Glacier Meadows camp. It's in the trees. You'll need to climb another 1000 feet to the top of the moraine for a view of the glacier and Mt Olympus.

[letsgobobby]

oh! that's good to know. we'll try to get to camp early enough to hike up before dinner. thanks!

[vibramhead]

One more thing: Are you aware of the cable ladder you have to negotiate on the way up to Glacier Meadows? It crosses a big slide, and there's no way around it. It's very solid, but some people find it unnerving. You might want to pack a pair of work gloves to hold onto the cable with.

[RichP]

It's perfectly fine as long as you don't fall. Personally, I found this the scariest part of climbing Mt Olympus.

[letsgobobby]

thanks we'll bring gloves does anyone harness up like for via ferrata? we do have harnesses but wouldn't want to lug around for a week.

[vibramhead]

I haven't heard of anyone harnessing up. Not sure what you'd clip into, really. There's the cable ladder with wooden rungs, and then there's a separate cable to hold on to. You can grip that, lean back, and descend backwards. The only sketchy part for me was where you start right at the top, because you have to reach out across the scree slope to grab the cable.

[hbb]

As far as I know all the camps that claim to have bear wires actually have bear wires. ONP is pretty rigid on food storage requirements, so if a wire came down in the winter, they will absolutely let you know and require a can. I'd either call the WIC in advance or bring along your extra cans when you pick up your permit.

[letsgobobby]

they have them at the hoh wic right?

[vibramhead]

There's no WIC at the Hoh entrance. There's one in Port Angeles, one at Lake Quinault, and one in Hoodsport.

[Malachai Constant]

The bear wires work for bears so long as they are in good repair (often they are not). They do not work for raccoons who climb the trees and do a taunt line traverse on the cable and go down the line to the bags, clever little buggers. I have seen them do this. I never had a problems with the coast ladders after many years of rock.