Hoh Rainforest to Blue Glacier | AMAZING Hike in Olympic National Park

Welcome back to the Pacific Northwest. Today we are in Washington State starting our four-night, five-day backpacking trip along the Ho River Trail up to Blue Glacier here in Olympic National Park. When we get to Blue Glacier we'll be pretty close to the heart of Olympic National Park here on the Olympic Peninsula. It's going to be an epic few days filled with this temperate rainforest, relatively flat for the first day, and then eventually after about 14 miles or so start getting some elevation gain up to that Blue Glacier on Mount So because it's backcountry camping you do need a permit here and we were warned by the campground host at the trailhead, because there's a campground at the trailhead with a bunch of day hike trails and stuff like that, the Hall of Mosses I believe, and he warned us there is recently bear activity and cougar activity up this way. So could be in for a little treat. See some beautiful wildlife and the elk are in rut right now so we were warned that they, the males, could be pretty aggressive. So to beware of that. But off to a beautiful start here. I learned a new edible berry. These are bunch berries. So I don't, they have a seed. I guess you're not supposed to eat the seed. That one's actually better than the ones we've been eating. Well good morning from Lewis Meadows right along the whole river here. Took us about six hours yesterday and what a beautiful hike through tremendous old growth trees, beautiful temperate rainforest. So today I think is going to be the hardest day. It's seven miles to our next campsite, which is Glacier Meadows, and it's a little over 3,000 foot elevation gain, which I believe most of that is in the last two or three miles. So probably going to be an intense day. Definitely harder than yesterday. Every time we had a little bit of uphill yesterday, I kept saying to myself, you had to say it was relatively flat, didn't you? Relatively flat 10 miles. We did gain about 400 foot elevation yesterday, but it was pretty cruisy. You know you're in the Pacific Northwest when Sam is stopping to fuel up on the berries. And what do we have here madam? Red huckleberries? Yep. A little sour though, right? Yeah. Bunch berry breakfast. So the bunch berries, if you're eating them thinking they're going to taste like berries, that's not the move. Sam suggested I envision wheatgrass or something, which if you think you're eating something other than a berry, they're not too bad. But I wonder if they get any sweeter, like if they get riper or something, but there's a lot of bunch berries on this trail. Food, not, I would not say it tastes like a berry though, but if you mix them with the huckleberries, not bad actually. Quite a berry feast here on this trail. Even got some blueberries. I'm going to combine them with the bunch berries and see how that goes. When you frequent environments like this, it comes easy to take it for granted, which is something I am trying not to do. Even though I've spent a good amount of time in the Pacific Northwest, it's been a while. Just trying to enjoy every leaf and fern and moss, mushroom and berry. Tranquility at least so far, is despite the elevation gain, it's been pretty much in the shade the entire way. A few spots like this where the sun pokes through, but a lot of tree coverage and I don't think we get above the tree line until tomorrow when we go up to the glacier. So I think the rest of the day still pretty shady, which is nice. Every once in a while a nice forest breeze comes through and it The bad news is, first, we have to tackle this crazy ladder down a slip. Does the rope go the whole way? Might be easier to body belay on the rope. Finally made it to Glacier Meadows, our final destination for today, and we'll be spending the night here tomorrow as well. So lots of nice campsites and I don't think there's anyone else here, so that's nice. There is running water. I hear a trickle. I am ready for dinner. That last thousand foot of elevation gain today was really, really a struggle for me, but yeah, tomorrow I think it's... I have to double check, but I think it's two thousand foot elevation gain tomorrow, but I won't be carrying the big bag, so it should go a bit smoother. Good morning from Glacier Meadows campground. Today is the day we're going up to see the Blue Glacier, the Lateral Moraine Trail it's called, and it's only a thousand foot elevation gain over a mile, so compared to yesterday it should be pretty easy, I guess. And then we'll see if we can get a closer look at the glacier. Beautiful campsite here at Glacier Meadows. There's only one other group here. Not a ton of water, so we weren't able to, like, get a nice refreshing dip yesterday when we got here. Just a small trickle, enough to eat and drink and rinse our face off and wash our hands, but totally peaceful out here. I think a lot of people camp lower at some of the lower campgrounds and then just hike up to the glacier little bit less than an hour to get up here. Absolutely beautiful. We caught it just in time as the sun was coming up over the ridge. You can hear the melt running below, hear the ice cracking. today. Nobody else is up here, and apparently 10,000 people a year hike in to the whole river valley, and not sure if they all visit the glacier, but even if a fraction of them do, you can imagine this place gets relatively crowded, probably during summer, peak summer season. We're lucky enough to have it on this bluebird day all to ourselves. What a, what an awesome journey it has been. Totally worth it, and we were lucky enough to have time to space it out over five days. A lot of people, I think, do it in three days, two nights, but taking our time, hit the glacier, camping again tonight at Glacier Meadows, and then two days back, Lewis Meadows after that. But this is just the start of plenty more adventures coming from Washington state and the Pacific Northwest. Get out there, find your adventure, and be infamous. Infamous.