Practice Hike to Blue Glacier
Emily and I planned for a few practice hikes before the big trip. The point is to test all of our new gear as well as to get a feel for how we’ll work together in doing things like taking down and setting up camp. We’ve been on a lot of adventures and camped all over the place, but not really after hiking tough miles for several days in a row.
However! The Blue Glacier hike is an awesome hike, no matter what your reason. You start in the Hoh Rain Forest, hiking up the Hoh river for ~12 miles before kicking it up a gear for the last ~9 miles to the glacier. We chose to hike 10 miles the first day to Lewis Meadows. We got a late start on account of it raining through the morning and, because I had flown in the day before, there was still some gear sorting to do in the back of her car. Hiking this section during the Fall season was pretty spectacular, though, with colors, bugling Elk, and a nice mist.
Day two took us to the Glacier Meadows campsite. Along the way you cross a bridge. We had heard of it, but were surprised by how far above the confluence of the two rivers it spans.
You also climb down a ladder to get to the avalanche chute that you then walk up. Emily is the little person in the bottom left!
The next day we made it to the glacier and spent an hour watching the mist slowly lift higher and higher. Glaciers are tremendously interesting to me and this one did not disappoint! Here’s a shot of Emily surveying her kingdom:
The scale of the glacier isn’t really captured, but I think the vibe is there. Misty, icy, above the trees. Spectacular!
After the glacier we walked back down the mountain, camping at the ranger station one night before hiking back to the car on day 4. Overall, we walked about 38 miles and climbed roughly 4,000 feet. These aren’t numbers that are going to impress long distance hikers. On the hand, we had a lot of fun and we learned a lot about our new gear.
For instance, Emily brought along one of those Z-seats. She loved it. I loved it when she let me use it. It’s a rain forest so… everything is wet. And that little bit of cushion makes a big difference when sitting on logs or stumps. I’m convinced my life will be more comfortable with one.
I also brought along my rain/sun chrome umbrella. Sometimes it was awesome. Much better than a jacket and handy when trying to keep more than myself dry. Other times it was dead weight as there was plenty of trees to block the sun and light rain. I’m undecided on my final position.
I also tried a “rain kilt” instead of pants. Basically, I bought one of those large black trash bags with rip stop material and cut the bottom out. I was super impressed. It was very lightweight, packed tiny when not needed, was as economical as imaginable, didn’t overheat me, and (this is so important) my legs didn’t swish around like they do with pants. Emily wore pants and it was so distracting that I had to walk behind her a way to minimize the noise. Sold!
Food-wise we tried a number of things. Couscous, egg noodles, dehydrated meals. The meals were “good”, but expensive. The couscous was flavored with miso soup and that wasn’t bad. Not filling, though. Seems like after a long day we’d have to eat a lot of it. The egg noodles were flavored with a pesto packet and it was similar. We’re probably going to have boil two pots of noodles to get enough food. Otherwise we snacked on the regular stuff.
Special mention of HalfPops! It’s popcorn that’s half popped. Crunchy, tasty, dense, rugged. I tried it on a whim and I am completely sold. I’ll be bringing plenty of it along on just about all my adventures I think.
On our way out of Washington we stopped at Mt. Ranier. We hiked four miles or so, but more just to see the sights than to trek. Here are a couple of pictures showing how spectacular the views can be when you go at the right time of the year (and get lucky with the weather!)
