Day 4

We awoke to a beautiful blue bird day in the Olympics.  After breakfast Prof. Billo decided that Anren’s knee was unfit for travel and that he should be allowed to rest.  Instead of continuing on our planned route we would instead spend another night at this alpine campsite. Instead of pressing on we would go on a day hike to the top of Grey Wolf Pass.

We packed some day supplies, grabbed our ice axes, and left camp.  On the snowfield Prof. Billo demonstrated proper snow climbing technique, as well as, self arrest techniques.  While climbing you always want to traverse diagonally with your steps climbing upwards.  A proper track forms an almost straight line of footprints.  Your ice axe should be in the hand that is closest to the incline of the mountain.  A proper ice axe grip involves hanging your thumb around the top of the axe head with your fingers holding the “pick” looking side of the axe.  When you want to switch traverse directions you first kick out adequate foot holds, place the axe in front of your, and switch hands while minimizing the time the axe is out of hand contact, and then finally switch directions.  Carry on as before.  Self arrest is a method of stopping yourself if you fall and start sliding.  To accomplish a successful self arrest you want to hold the axe firmly but slightly away from your body with the pick side facing outward.  If the axe head is in your right hand your will turn over to your right. Vice-versa for the left side.  You want to allow the pick to dig into the frozen surface on its own accord; the tool is designed to do this efficiently and effectively.  Digging the axe in is asking for trouble and could result in injury or loss of the ice axe.  You also do not want to kick you feet in because depending on your footwear equipment this could also result in serious injury.  Just firmly hold the axe, turn over, and let the tool do what it is designed to do.  Being as relaxed as possible during all this will help significantly.

On the snowfield to Grey Wolf Pass

Prof. Billo demonstrated proper technique  and then each of use practiced and demonstrated successful self-arrest attempts. 

After this crash course in snowfield safety, the pack began our actual ascent.  The climb was very entertaining and was over too quickly.  We reached the ridge and were greeted with breathtaking panoramic views of the Olympic ranges including Mt. Olympus to the northwest.  I can understand why this mountain was named after the mythological home of the Greek gods because it is certainly fit for deities. 

Mt. Olympus.  Wonder if Dionysus is home?

You better believe it

We saw a large white mountain goat off in the distance on top of a northern ridge.  This species is not native to the Olympics and were introduced as aesthetic additions in the mid-20^th century (aw the dark days of environmentalism!)  I think that they could be considered invasive species now because they devour endemic alpine plants and stake out large territories.  The goats are very defensive and will kick rocks down on approaching climbers.  The goats have recently been a news subject due to a buck killing a hiker.  There is discussion on whether it is a good idea to hunt these species in the Olympics.  I think that this is not unreasonable but would have to be done carefully. 

The goat seemed to be staring us down so I climbed a small nearby ridge and challenged it to mortal combat.  The goat did not entertain my challenge. 

Test your might! The goat is that tiny little speck of white on the ridge in the foreground

From Grey Wolf Pass, there were excellent views of the surrounding river valleys and some glacier formed features.  Bowl shaped formations usually between mountains are called cirques.  We also saw typical “U” shaped features.  It was great to be able to compare river and snowfield made formations with numerous examples of each. 

View from ridge 

A Golden Eagle sighting was a huge highlight of this day for me.  These large predator birds are differentiate themselves in both size and flight style from their Bald Eagle peers.  They fly with the wings tilted upwards in a light bend.  Bald eagles fly with their wings horizontal to the ground.

The Olympic Violet

Piles and piles of slate.  Check out the Olympic Violet growing in the middle

We climbed up a to a higher point on the ridge and had lunch.  The rock on Grey Wolf Pass is slate and makes very jagged formations.  It is very loose and can be sharp.  To the east we saw a famous mountain, Mt. Deception.  The mountain and the nearby ridge are made up of sea floor basalt that is very old.  Convergent tectonics pushes this rock upwards.  Basalt is very different in texture and appearance to slate and it was interesting to see the two different rock types so close.  On this ridge we were lucky enough to see a rare species of alpine flower called the Olympic Violet which is endemic to this range.  It grew in very surprising places among the slate sometimes completely isolated.  The leaves are dark green and Prof. Billo theorized that this may be to melt snow away quicker by storing heat.  Later on during the trip I saw other dark leaved species melting away small holes out of covering snow so there may be something to this theory.  For some reason the leaves made me wonder if photosynthesis inspired solar panels.

The descent

After the ridge climb the group got to have some serious fun sledding or glissading down the mountain.  This is a fun and very efficient technique for getting down snowfields.  It basically involves a very controlled sitting slide.  You sit down on the snow and dig the hilt of the axe in to control speed.  Then you just go for it!  The sledding was a big hit with the entire team—big smiles galore. 

We got back to camp and everyone decided to jump into the lake.  It was as cold as a witch’s tit (there’s some Texan slang for all of y’all.) 

Anren felt that his knee would be ready to go but Prof. Billo felt that he should not push it too hard and that was a wise decision. 

After dinner Mary lead a nice discussion about the importance of being in nature and how we each have our own unique ways of finding connections with nature.  She mentioned her mothers backyard filled with plants from her home country of Mexico.  This was a really genuine and beautiful discussion that touched on a lot of good points.  Basically we all agreed that in one way or another we all desire some sort of connection with nature.  I think this is definitely true.  Humans desire to be connected with natural things and are thrilled when we do make connections.  Household pets are great examples of this.  We keep these animals as companions to satisfy our need for connection and from the happiness these animals bring us.  We plant gardens and seek out parks for relaxation and beauty.  I think these are all positive ways of connecting.  But there are also negative attempts at connections.  This comes primarily in the form of zoos and with keeping exotic pets or even too many pets.  These connections do really more harm than good.

I helped Prof. Billo hoist the bear bag for that night.  In addition to bear canisters we hoist any excess food smelling objects above the ground.  The idea is to have the bag accessible to us but not to a bear.  We secured the bag in midair with a line of rope thrown over a tree branch.  

I read two chapter of Call of the Wild and decided that I would lead a discussion combining this literature with Thoreau’s “Walking.”  This was not what I had planned (originally I was going to discuss gadgetry in the outdoors) but I really enjoyed Call of the Wild and felt that there were lots of relevant passages.