Has anyone climbed Mt. Olympus in Washington state?
If you have, how technical is the climb? What kind of equipment would I need?

Thanks

I've been up parts of it, never the summit. Depending on your approach (the worst is from the souteast), you could expect a lot of loose rock, steep grade, and some hellish heave. You can also expect inlcement weather most of the time. When I got to the snow line in July, it was nasty slushy for a long ways, and I was soaked up to my armpits from all the sloshing and splashing.

Your best bet is to come in from the north. The transition is closer to road access thata ways, so you don't have to pack in a week just to get to the base. If you come in from the Hoh side, expect to wear rain gear most of the time.

When are you planning an ascent? I wouldn't bother going up until mid July at the soonest if I were headed that way again.

We are thinking of going for 4th of July somewhere. I have no problem with long hard backpacking trips, but I have never used mountaineering gear. Would I need to use on Mt. Olympus? If yes, we will probably go elsewhere.

Any of the big mountains in washington (Olympus, Baker, Ranier) have glaciers that provide conditions ripe for mountaineering gear. That said, I don't know as there is a more beautiful spot on earth than overlooking the glaciers on Olympus (might be a little biased. I've hiked several times up the Hoh river valley to Glacier meadows and camped and spent several days scrambling around Mt Olympus. Played on the glaciers some, brought an ice axe and rope, but missed ascending it when I was in boy scouts years ago by 2 years (needed to be 14 to make the trip to the top and i was 12, so I hiked in and wandered around the snow fields and surrounding peaks.)

I've always had good luck in the Hoh river valley, it's always rained on me at least once, but in july/august it's always been warm enough that I hike in shorts and a t-shirt and then change to dry clothes when I get to camp.

If you are looking to summit something that doesn't require gear, there are several peaks that don't have glaciers on them around mt olympus. Without my maps I couldn't name any other than goat peak. I remember that one because the ranger last time I was up there told us a story about it. It's a nice area, I don't think you'd be dissapointed hiking up that way and seeing the mountain up close. Unless you are in stellar shape it's 2 days to Glacier meadows, 17 miles but 2 days. Last time I went we hiked 5 miles the first evening (left from Seattle late morning) and camped at 5 mile island then took the next 12 miles the following day. I thought we were going to have to make camp for the night, my hiking buddy was having a rough time by the time we got it. It's fairly steep for the last 8 miles in.

Let me know if you want more info.

Contact "The Mountaineers" in Seattle for the best info on the subject. I'm sure that you can even get a guided trip up there.

I hiked the Hoh river trail last year with my backpacking group. We walked all of the way up to Blue Glacier. Met some climbers coming down from the peak on the way up to the glacier. It is without a question a technical climb. I would suggest getting some mountaineering experience under your belt before attempting Olympus.

Pictures of the trip below. Pictures of Mt. Olympus look like an easy climb. But really when you are close and in person it is without a question technical.



Olympic Guard Station camp first night 9.5 miles in


Hi Ho Bridge from 2nd day of hike in


Goat at Blue Glacier overlook


Mt. Olympus closeup


Mt Olympus


Mt Olympus and Blue Glacier and summit approach from via blue glacier on the left


Approach to sumit close up to put it in perspective


My group is doing hoh river trail again this year on Labor Day Weekend. If you are interested we would love to have you along.

Link to info from last years hike up Hoh River to Mt. Olympus

Cameron

Hoh river is a really nice hike. If it ain't raining, then the skeeters can git you some, but that's never been much of a problem for me.

I prefer coming in on the Hood canal side, up the Dosewallips or the Duckabush or the Quilcene. It is a bit drier, being more in the shadow of the Olympics away from the prevailing, although by the time you get to Enchanted Valley the weather is starting to catch up.

It used to be a whole lot more pristine out there even when I was a young adult. It has since gotten a overrun up to the Park borders too much. Trail traffic can be a real bummer.