| Day Hikes Day hikes are a safe, easy way to gain the skills you will need to stay safe in the wild--all while learning about the natural and social history of the area. You will learn about the 10 Essentials, map and compass, trip planning, risk management, and staying found. Your Guide will lend you a kit with some of the Ten Essentials, and you will hike +/- 7 miles while learning about Olympic National Park. Trips do not leave every day, so Reserve Your Spot Today! |
Backpacking Backpacking sweeps the backpacker into the wild world of wilderness with all its grandeur and intensity. Backpackers can hike for almost as many days and almost as far as they want: for example, from Staircase in the southeast corner of the park to the Grand Valley in the northeast, from the Dosewallips in the east to Quinault in the west, or from Elwah in the north to Sol Duc in the west. Consider these routes for your ultimate wildnerness experience. Then Reserve Your Spot! |
| Leave No Trace (LNT) Trainings Leave No Trace is the national standard for outdoor recreation ethics from a conservation perspective. The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has established two main basic trainings in LNT: Awareness Workshops and Trainer Courses. Awareness Workshops last only a couple hours and offer little or no outdoor training. Trainer Courses are an intensive overnight experience with some backpacking. Reserve Your Spot for the course that's right for you. |
Scouting Guide and owner Jason Bausher is an Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor recipient, and is Wood Badge-trained. He can advise your troop about 50-miler hikes, the Leave No Trace Awareness Award, and merit badges such as Hiking, Backpacking, Camping, and Climbing. Jason can also serve as a liaison with the National Park Service to organize work parties or service projects in Olympic National Park. PLUS: Grays Harbor Boy Scouts receive FREE TRAININGS! Reserve Time for Your Program. |
| Service Tourism on the Olympic Peninsula will only last if we work to conserve the resource by doing trailwork, raising money for political action, and by teaching wildness to the generation to whom we hand over the earth. Sign Up Today to do or give what you can for the preservation of our children's earth. Where are your talents? Clearing trails? Educating National Park visitors about Leave No Trace ethics and practices? Raising money from friends, family, and business associates? Leading Boy or Girl Scouts? YOU CAN HELP!!! |
Mountain Seminars Do the mountains, rivers, and glaciers of Olympic National Park merely form one big playground, or is wilderness essential to our Being as embodied Beings in the world? Jason Bausher works on questions such as this in his environmental philosophy, and he shares his research in mountain seminars. He received his master's degree in theology from Yale University and is finishing an M.A. while in a doctoral program in philosophy. Check out a few of the seminars. Don't see your burning "big questions" being asked on this list? Email Olympic Mountain School for a custom program. |
Porter Support
Sometimes your backpacking or climbing load is a little too much to bear and you could use some help: longer trips, technical climbing expeditions, or a temporary or permanent disability. With hundreds of miles of trails and thousands of feet of elevation change, an extra set of lungs with a backpack can separate the well-fed and successful trip from hunger or failure. The National Park Service prohibits caching goods (storing loads in the park unattended), and this requires hauling all loads in at the same time. Llamas hired through local Kit's Llamas are also an option in many places, but pack animals are not allowed on all trails--thus leaving a human porter as the only option for hauling in gear. A porter can improve the probability of success of your trip by hauling some or all of your loads into the backcountry for you. Call for a quote: price is determined by (1) weight, (2) length of trip, and (3) elevation change.
Rough Estimate for Porter Pricing:
- Up to 65 pounds up to 15 miles: $200 per day
- Up to 20 pounds up to 15 miles: $75 per day
- Surcharge for high degrees of elevation change (e.g., Skyline, Baileys, Grand-Cameron-Lost Passes)
Llamas and a Porter
Olympic Mountain School can set up your scheduled trip with combination guide-llama or porter-llama support. Olympic Mountain School recommends Kit's Llamas on the Olympic Peninsula: (253) 857-5274; kits @kits.seanet.com; PO Box 116 Olalla, Washington, 98359. Kit has much experience in the Olympics and works well with the National Park Service.
