Location
Olympic National Park is located in Washington State, just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island. The main bulk of the park is in the center of its peninsula, but the park extends a number of odd little fingers out from its central mass, one extremely long and discontinuous one snaking along the length of the west coast.

To get there from Seattle, take a ferry to Route 101. Take 101 all the way west past the park to the north until it curves south on the other side, and pick your road in.

Olympic contains not only the mountain and glacier that lend the park its name, but also rain forest and beach ecosystems.

Route Information
Day One we hiked the Hoh River Valley from the trailhead at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center about 20 km to Elk Lake.

Day Two we split into two groups, one leaving early to continue along the trail the final few km to Glacier Meadows and from there up onto the Blue Glacier below the peaks of Mount Olympus, the other leaving later in the day to follow along only part of that route before turning back to basecamp.

Day Three we retraced our steps as far back toward the trailhead as 5 Mile Island.

Day Four we walked the rest of the way out.

Trip Information
Dramatis Personæ: Matthew and Derrick from Seattle; Citizen Jackson from San Diego; Wily Bill Racicot from Pittsburgh; Michael from Denver; and me.

At the time of this trip I was recovering from a badly broken leg, which had taken nearly a year to heal, and was still somewhat shaky on my pins -- although my crutch-strengthened upper-body burl was at a complementary peak. So it was that I got through the first day's hiking without a problem, but thenceforth limped more noticeably each day, until by the end of the trip I was openly wailing for helicopter rescue. Indeed, I was a mess: the day after our return I was scheduled for surgery to remove a tumor from my nose. In any case, I was the reason why half of us didn't make it up to the glacier on the second day; the first 16 or so km of the trail are almost completely flat, but after that the valley becomes foothill, and the climb was too much for me after the previous day's exertions.

A rare example of North American rain forest, the Hoh River Valley is marked by huge moss-covered trees, lush greenery, and many, many rivers and tributary streams. It is astounding how abruptly that primordial forest transitions into the glaciers surrounding the peaks of Mount Olympus.

We stayed two nights at Elk Lake, just below the mountain. Each morning we cooked up huge masses of bacon, which we felt sure would attract the attentions of any black bear within smelling distance, but we failed to attract any ursine visitor. Not even Michael's coffee cake worked the trick.

Coffee cake, you ask? Yes, Michael, a freak's freak and proud of it, brought the wherewithal to convert his stove into a fairly workable oven, and baked happily every night of the trip: coffee cake, muffins, and a rather remarkable pan of highly-spiced brownies on the last night of the trip.

That last night was spent at 5 Mile Island (I will note for future reference: Mosquito Coast would be more accurate). What happened that night -- well, if you weren't there, you wouldn't believe me, and if you were, you already know. Suffice it to say: I do believe in ghosts, I do I do I do...

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