A repetition. 5 days ago I had done this same excursion. Rainforest. Ice. Rock. Repeat. I hadn’t really told anyone about it. Keeping it secret like some nefarious affair. What was it that brought me back? The competition? Running the fastest time on the route is enticing for one with a competitive spirit. But something else gripped me. There is no awards for running the fastest time. Extrinsic motivation played little of the role. For what do bragging rights bring you at the end of the day? Some numbers on paper. The land will fall away. The ice will melt. The forest will burn and rot. Your physical being will do the same. And there will be renewal. Obsession? Addiction? That feeling of flow? Where every foot step you take feels like the most important step you’ve ever taken. As close as one can get to flying without metallic wings. A little closer to the point.
The truth is I had fallen in love with the land and moving through it. The resilient animals and plants. The gritty dirt and mud. The barren rock and ice. Extremities experiencing it all. Hands and feet propelling me through space. Senses fully attuned. The breath expanding the lungs til nearly bursting. I had come back because I wanted more of it. And probably even needed it. I would probably crawl down that trailhead 100 feet in my elderly years just to bring back that feeling. And cast off the weariness of old age for just a moment. Just to bring it back. And that’s why I was here now. The Love. That all encompassing feeling. That has the potential to bring one to doom or enlightenment.
The forest wizzed by. An early morning blur. Waking at 5AM I was barely awake to perceive the passage of time. Through the temperate rainforest. In all its glory of greenery. A short section of rocky alp land and on top of the lateral moraine. There the titan standing tall in its glory. Across the plains of ice and snow of blue glacier. Crampons and axe ready. My eyes were transfixed. A line up the ice falls. I was called in. The siren song drowning out the fear. I will never be able to describe why my body was magnetized in that direction. There was danger. I had inadequate gear. Only the cheapest my measly income could bring me. My experience was lacking. But still I went. My instincts taking control.
I climbed up. On less than vertical snow and then ice and snow and ice. A few steps of ice. The line up the wall led to an area of less slope between the two tiers of ice falls. I was in a land of incomprehension. The seracs and ice features stunned me. My jaw down to the ground. My eye sockets wide enough to let the balls roll out. I kept moving. I stepped on ice boulders the size of cars. One moved slightly under my feet. And as if out of a trance I was reminded of my own mortality. Why am I here? Why am I here? Why am I here? Panic seized me. Spiraled me down, down, down. Into a pile of blubbery mush. Love bringing one to their doom?
The breath brought me back. Big diaphragmatic ones. I am here. I am alive. Now what the hell are you going to do about it? Determination propelled me out. I aimed for the upper wall. A giant wall of ice on one side that planned on calving off in a distant future and the main upper block of ice. I spidered my way through. The walls close enough together that I could split my legs across. One crampon planted on one wall the other the opposite. My axe prying for holds. My friend would have sarcastically said I think I read about that move in the freedom of the hills. I moved slow. My mind was over taken with the task. Slowly I moved up. I came to an opening that peered out over the undulations of ice. The most beautiful river of ice. A sight I had only seen on video when planes fly over seracs and ice falls. I moved right into a crevasse becoming a spider again. The opening in the ice tapering down into a tightening hole. I would not be swallowed during a fall but the scrapes from the ice would tatter my cloths and my skin. Up and up I inched out. I made it to a gentler incline of a mix of snow and ice. The last of it a small step. I planted the handle of my axe all the way in and heaved myself out. On top of the upper blue glacier. I was elated. I had maneuvered myself through a maze. Climbing in an unorthodox fashion. A rope and some ice tools would have been nice. Both my grandma and I would agree on the stupidity of my actions. And the threat I had posed to my self preservation.
After that everything felt like a walk in the park. I looked at the way to the summit. A team of 3 that were roped up moved across the expanse. Probably wondering who this damn ice mole was that popped out of his subterranean layer. I took the 4th of July route. A steep snow slope and some rock traversing to avoid the bergschrunds and I was at the summit block. I reached the summit in just over 6 hours. Still pretty good even though I had spent all that time in the ice labyrinth contemplating my life decisions. I moved down efficiently and fast. Rock. Ice. Rainforest.
I pushed harder and harder. The less technical the faster I could move. The desire to run faster than I had before. Getting closer to 10 hours. The rainforest again a blur in my periphery. So thirsty that I didn’t even care how many elk shit in the streams I was drinking out of. My eyes darting back and fourth reading the trail. Mapping out the dance floor for my feet. I pressed the intensity. A 7 minute mile. A sub 7 minute mile. 3 miles. 2 miles. I made it back to the car. Gassed. Fried. Toasted. My body quivered. Gasping for breath. I felt on the verge of a panic attack. It took some time to calm down. The celebratory beer as always. Nice to be tipsy during the ritualistic icing of the legs in the river you just ran up. What was it again? Love bringing one to enlightenment? Hell, just call it a near life experience and be satisfied for once. Indeed I was in a state of bliss and I will always desire that feeling again.
Mount Olympus
West peak elevation: 7979’
Mileage: 45 miles
Elevation gain: 10000’
I had 4 successful summits on Mount Olympus. 2 occurred in the summit of 2018 and 2 in 2017. I had one failed attempt on the summit in 2018. I spent approximately 57 hours on this route over 5 attempts. The mileage spent over 5 attempts is approximately 225 miles and the elevation gain 50000 feet.
July 19, 2018. 4th of July Route. Summit achieved. Start and finish at the Hoh Visitor Center. Total time: 10 hours 33 minutes 19 seconds.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1714272359
July 14, 2018. Crystal Pass Route. Summit achieved. Start and finish at the Hoh Visitor Center. Total time: 11 hours 37 minutes 44 seconds.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1703059173
June 16, 2018. 4th of July Route. Failed summit attempt. Start and finish at the Hoh Visitor Center. Total time: 12 hours 52 minutes 50 seconds
https://www.strava.com/activities/1643067929
July 17th, 2017. Crystal Pass Route. Summit achieved. Start and finish at the Hoh Visitor Center. Total time: 10 hours 23 minutes 21 seconds
https://www.strava.com/activities/1088702213
June 17th, 2017. Crystal Pass Route. Summit achieved. Start and finish at the Hoh Vistor Center. Total time: 13 hours 30 minutes
https://www.strava.com/activities/1041831565
https://www.strava.com/activities/1041633577
