Olympic NP - Mt. Elinor summit

I got up early and packed up my campsite from Staircase.  The weather is unusually hot here for this time of year, so I wanted to get started early knowing there would be a large section of the hike that was alpine and there would be no trees for shade.  It took about 6.5 miles of twisty, turny gravel and pot hole filled roads to get to the trail head, and only six cars had gotten there before me, so I was very happy to have a good parking place.

People were very friendly that early.  I guess we all knew we had a tough hike and a snowfield to cross, so we all spent a little more time getting to know the people who we may need help from, or give help to, later in the day.

The hike up was brutal, but beautiful.  A 3,445 foot elevation gain over 5.5 miles.  Started out in the forest, and followed a ridge up for the first third.  Lots of switchbacks, and some nice flowers along the way.  Once we started breaking out of the tree line, there were some really outstanding views towards Seattle and to the east and south.  I quickly learned from those hiking around me to be able to point out Rainer, Adams, and Mt. St. Helens.

The snowfield.   The sun had warmed the surface enough that things were pretty slushy and slippery by the time I got there.  Some parts were steeper, but I knew if I was patient and careful, I could kick step my way up slowly.  I had two other people close to me, so I let them lead and tried to use their steps as much as I could.  Was actually easier than expected,  and you could see the "sledding" path the spring hikers had used to glissade down earlier in the spring.  But, as with most elevation hikes, going up tends to be a lot easier than going down!

Past the snow field we had some beautiful alpine flowers and several unnerving close calls with mountains goats.  The trail itself is very steep, with sharp upgrades and down grades on both sides,  and lots of loose material to slip out from under your feet.  I had let two young guys in front of me for one of the big pushes up to the pass, put my head down and started trudging up.  Suddenly from behind a man called out "Get off the trail! Mountain goat coming down!"  Sure enough,  there was a goat on the trail heading straight for us.  Frustrated,  we had no where to go, we were surrounded by loose skree.  We tried our best to get off the trail, but every step seemed to melt under our feet.  The guys got to semi solid ground before me, and helped as much as they could. I still only managed to get about 15-20 feet off the trail.  Ugh.  Nerve wracking! 

After that, the hike got REALLY tough.  But as my brother likes to say, the harder the hike the prettiee the view. Hit the summit and kicked back and grabbed a snack.  Nice 360 degree view, and with the clear day we could see all the way to the interior of the park and Mt. Olympus.  We could also see the top of Mt. Baker, so that was a nice treat.  Took lots of pictures and handed my camera off to some fellow hikers to take a picture of me on my "summit recliner".  Sadly, I didn't put it back in my pocket, forgot about it, and ended up dropping it about 6 inches onto some rocks.  You guessed it.  BROKEN!  So, on my way down, I had lots of time to rearrange the mental schedule I had planned, so I could return to the nearest Best Buy and purchase a replacement.   A very expensive setback for the day.

Oh! On my way back down, I just couldn't resist.  I walked out into the snow pack and slid down as far as I could on my butt.  My pants were soaked, but it felt good on the hot day.  What fun, my first glissade!  No pictures, but good memories!