Lines on the Road: Backpacking in the Olympics

The whole crew, packed and ready to go.

As I mentioned Wednesday, Mark and I went on a backpacking trip last week in the Olympic Mountains with some friends. I was nervous about the physical aspect since I hadn’t been backpacking since early high school, but I discovered I shouldn’t have worried. Granted, I did have the lightest pack. But still! These quads held up just fine.

Click “Read More” below for more pictures and stories!

We camped for two nights next to Gladys Lake, a serene little lake nestled in a valley. There were three lakes on our route from the trailhead and since Gladys was the furthest in, we were by ourselves for the most part. Two of our friends packed in inflatable tubes, making the cold mountain lake a little more palatable since you could float on top of it! The sun really baked us the first two days, so camping next to the lake was a treat. If you’ve known me for a while, you’ll know I’m really not an adventurous person. You’ll never catch me jumping off any cliffs into water, or probably even water skiing. Even sledding down a snowy hill requires some prodding. But I jumped into Gladys because it was so dang hot! True to form I didn’t fully immerse (why do it if you don’t have to) but I definitely didn’t regret the jump. Though I do have to say that of the two mountain lakes I’ve jumped into, this was the warmer of the two. Eagle Lake in the Rocky Mountains took my breath away and felt like needles! Gladys wasn’t so bad but I was grateful for the tube. Though it was sure weird to be sitting in the middle of the lake in a swimsuit and seeing snow on the banks of the lake!

Gladys Lake

Greg and Tiffany floating in the tubes out on the lake.

We did a day hike up to Grand Pass on the middle day of the trip; the hike itself wasn’t too long but it was rather steep. The views were unbeatable though – we could see Mount Olympus, glaciers and all! The locale made for some epic photos.