Climbing Olympic National Park: Return to Avalanche Canyon and Inner Constance Peak
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- This was a weekend climbing trip to Avalanche Canyon and Inner Constance Peak (7,670 ft). The Constance Massif towers over the Dosewallips River drainage and Hood Canal region of the Olympic Mountains. Situated on the eastern margins of the range, the Constance Massif is a collection of spires and peaks that holds some of the highest points in the range (3rd and 5th highest). Mt. Constance is one of the iconic ridge lines when viewed from the Puget Sound lowlands. It is unmistakable on the skyline to the west from Seattle. It is a climb that makes you pay in fatigue and exertion. The approach hike alone requires one to scramble up the steepest trail in the Olympics. It is a terror of an approach because after 4 miles of road walking the adventurer must ascend 3,000 ft in about two miles of "trail" with heavy packs.
Last year Sarah and I tried to climb both Inner and Outer Constance peaks in one outing. Choosing to climb the harder and highest of the two, we fell short of our big goal of both peaks in one weekend. We vowed to return the next year and give Inner Constance another go. The taste of both success and failure was the motivation to embark on this return expedition. Enjoy.
Great day when you upload brother, hell yeah! Can’t wait to watch this on my day off!
Always my pleasure. The full circle of video production is pretty cool and it makes me happy to share with you. Take care.
That was sick! That footage looked incredible! What a beautiful mountain range. Take care!
The Olympics have everything that other great ranges have but just scaled way down to the miniature level. Sometimes it is hard to choose between the Cascades and the Olympics.
Great job!! Thanks for sharing and providing me an opportunity to remember some of my Olympic climbing experiences. Keep up the good work!
The wonders of TH-cam. I love that past generations of climbers can now look back and get a memory jolt. Reminders of the best times of our lives.
We used to camp at lake constance when you parked where the trail starts up.
Access to some parts of the Olympics is getting more and more remote. When I was in scouts, we drove to the Dosewallips Ranger Station to start a backpacking trip. Today, it is around seven miles of road walking just to get to trail. I guess it is a good warm up for the rigors of the Lake Constance Trail. Take care and thanks for watching.
Awesome!
Thank You.
The hike looked epic!
Thank You. I got to get into those southwestern olympics. It is a blank spot on my map of experiences. Have you ever been to Avalanche Canyon?
Man, that looks like some sweet scrambling! Also looks like someone left a sling at the bottom of that first rock section.
It definitely was a sweet outing. The sling was around a rock that was wedged as a cockscomb. It is near the top of the 2nd snow chute. It could be used but it was really tight standing in that narrow snow finger in the rock. It could be a place to clip the rope in as a point of protection before ascending further rather than a belay stance. (This just dawned on me while responding to you.). Thank You for watching and take care.
awesome, this is on my list to do. Great vid. man would have been epic for that camp spot on friday for the Auroras
Worth the efforts. We wished for a second chance at the Auroras and woke up for a bit around midnight but nothing. The outlines of the peaks against a clear out space with billions of stars and the Milky Way was pretty awesome. A great trade off. Thank You for watching and take care.
Well done y'all!!
Thank You. Getting excited for your trip?
@@aaronfulwider779 You bet! Although I was in the Arctic last summer for a pack rafting trip, I haven't been to the PNW for probably 20 years. Mostly looking forward to learning. I've done a pile of solo back packing and ice climb a few times a year but I don't have near the alpine skills or reps that you and Sarah have. I'm going with North Cascade Mountain Guides. Thanks for asking Aaron!
What date is this???? Amazing!
May 11th and 12th.