Deep within Olympic National Park, surrounded by the verdant Hoh Rainforest and a winding network of rivers, lies the park’s crown jewel: Mount Olympus. At 7,980’, this peak is the tallest on the Olympic Peninsula and offers a birdseye view of the park. However, getting to the summit is no walk in the park, the trek requires 19 miles of hiking before visitors even glance a view of their lofty objective.
Read MoreIt feels like spring ski season in the PNW! After a winter that required me to postpone or cancel ski trip after ski trip due to storms or dangerous avalanche conditions, winter has finally seemed to have relinquished its hold to spring.
A few months ago, our friend Nate invited Alex and me to go on a spring trip with him into the Olympics for a snowy ascent of Mount Deception or a circumnavigation of Mount Deception, whichever seemed like the better option when we got there. We both eagerly agreed to the trip and looked forward to for the remainder of the season.
Read MoreOn January 17, Alex and I headed to Olympic National Forest to venture out on our first backpacking trip of 2021. We hadn’t been backpacking since early September and were eager to spend a night under the stars again. We didn’t plan on going so long between trips, in fact, this 4.5 month stretch might be the longest we’ve gone without backpacking since we started backpacking in 2015! However, poor weather conditions, moving to a new home, and other personal obligations piled up and our trips kept getting postponed and cancelled.
Read MoreOn May 22, after nearly two months of being closed, Olympic National Forest officially opened their trailheads back up to visitors. Alex and I hadn’t left the few mile radius outside our apartment since early March and were looking forward to finally heading to the mountains again.
Read MoreLast weekend Alex and I headed out on a quick overnight backpacking trip that we’ve had permits for since March. I’ve been wanting to spend a night in Royal Basin for a couple of years now but had never reserved permits ahead of time, and the walk-up permits proved tough to come by. This year I was able to snag a permit for the Royal Lake backcountry site the day they released, and Alex and I had been looking forward to it ever since.
Read MoreOver Memorial Day weekend Alex and I headed to the Olympic Coast to embark upon our first Washington backpacking trip of the season. We had our sights set on Olympic National Park’s North Coast. The campsites along most of the coastline does not have a permit quota, but campers still have to show up at the ranger station and pick up a permit.
Read MoreOn Friday, February 1 my friend Nate texted me and asked if Alex and I would like to join him for a sunrise mission up Mt. Ellinor in Olympic National Forest the very next day. It would mean we would have to wake up at 1am two Saturdays in a row (the weekend prior we climbed Mt. St. Helens), but we immediately said “yes!”
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