This summer's adventure on Mount Olympus actually had its start during last year's summer Alumni Trek in Washington's Olympic Mountains. That trek's route took us from the Sol Duc Hot Springs over High Divide and past the Seven Lakes Basin. On our travels, we were treated to spectacular views of the mountains, with Mount Olympus dominating the skyline. Over lunch one sunny afternoon, Gray Wolf counselor Kris Kampf wondered out loud what it would be like to climb that mountain. Who would have thought that a year later we would be doing just that?

August 2001: A year later! Our Gray Wolf team included Peter Boeschenstein, Anthony Prud'homme, David Lewis, Kris Kampf, Doug Mason, John Spitler, and myself. And, adding another dimension to the trip, was a group of llamas that would be carrying our gear and Kit, their "driver."

At the Hoh Rainforest trailhead, we loaded our climbing gear onto the llamas and began our journey. n addition to six days worth of food and fuel, we also had many pounds of climbing gear since we would be dealing with some demanding terrain. We were very grateful to have the llamas along to help out. These friendly creatures did us a great service and we definitely enjoyed their company. Their driver, Kit, is a delightful mountain woman who knows the Olympic trails like the back of her hand.

Besides being a great guide, she had tons of stories to share.Back to our climb. The approach to our high camp covered 18 miles of trail and about 3,000 feet of elevation gain. On the day when we would actually be hitting the summit, we were looking at a five- or six-mile roundtrip, with an additional 3,000 feet going up. Much of that day we would be traveling on glaciers, and we would be roped together to facilitate the escape of anyone who fell into a hidden crevasse.The first two-and-a-half days were relatively uneventful.

We hiked long miles in the rain and ate good food with good company.
On the third day, we reached GlacierMeadows by noon, and, after lunch, hiked the very steep mile to the Blue Glacier. From there we could see our route stretching out before us for the first time. The moraine leading to the glacier was a steep conglomeration of mud and rock. Once on the glacier, we strapped on our crampons and explored the frozen world.

On summit day, we were up at 4 a.m., and ate a hearty breakfast of potato pancakes. It was still dark when we left camp. Many of us were still experiencing the chili dinner from the night before in various ways! When we got to the top of the moraine, we could see that the whole summit block was surrounded in clouds, and the weather threatened to deteriorate further. We sadly but wisely made the decision to abandon the summit and instead spent several hours exploring the mountain. Some snow and rain fell. This was a barren, beautiful world of crumpled ice, snow, and rock.

We were back at camp by afternoon. Although we considered making another summit attempt the next day, the forecast promised similar weather. So, instead, we packed up and moved camp down valley to set ourselves up for the 15-mile retreat the following day. Yes, we were disappointed to have missed the summit, but all agreed that we'd had a fun and successful expedition together.

The journey is, after all, more profound than the destination.