Olallie is so nice we did it twice! Olallie Creek is one of the most beautiful canyons in Mt. Rainier National Park and is one of the classic creeks in Washington. This summer we had the pleasure of running Olallie with two groups of out-of-town friends, and it was also my first time in this amazing place. The only drawback to this route is that you need a timed permit during the summer months to enter the park and set a short shuttle from the Grove of the Patriarchs to the Cowlitz Divide Trail. This permit is fairly simple to get the evening before if you have a solid internet connection. You can also enter the park early (before 7am) or use a small pullout right outside the gate and walk to the trail, which adds an additional few minutes. Beta for Olallie Creek is located here: Olallie Creek – ropewiki.

The first time we ran Olallie this summer was with my nephew Aron along with Wayne Meyers and friends visiting from Utah and Arizona. This was the culmination of a week’s worth of training for Aron and definitely the most difficult creek he had done. To our great surprise, we ran into another group of canyoneers, led by our friends who are instructors for the Mazamas at the trailhead! It’s very rare to meet fellow canyoneers in-canyon in Washington state, although it’s happened a couple of times this summer. Maybe things are changing for the better. The second time we ran Olallie with Kevin Clark and a diverse crew from several states but heavily representing Montana😊.

The walk up to Olallie is a lovely hike up a well-maintained National Park trail, filled with wild huckleberries. After gaining about 1500 feet elevation we branched off into the forest, bushwhacking along lots of downed logs, blueberry bushes and huge trees until we found the drop-in where we changed into our wetsuits and gear. The creek starts off with a bang! The first rappel is 155 feet down several stages of flowing water, consisting of several pools that need to be traversed on rope and ending on a large ledge overlooking a vertical cliff, dropping to the creek bottom. This rappel is well known for sticking ropes, so we were very careful here and had good communication with the group below.

At the ledge below, we found a cairn anchor and descended the cliff on the side away from the main waterfall. From this vantage point, the scenery can be described as Rivendell meets Jurassic Park. Steep canyon walls covered with Devil’s club, ferns and other riparian plants plunge down one side of the creek, while a multi-tiered waterfall thunders down the opposite side. The nature here is pristine and on a grand scale. The next rappel winds its way next to a huge boulder that narrows into a very narrow crack and requires some stemming along the creek bed, then widens out into a pretty waterfall. At the bottom is a fascinating cave with a beautiful example of flowstone in a small alcove above the floor.

Here, the character of the stream changes considerably, becoming a slot-like corridor for a short distance. At the end of the corridor lies the crux of the canyon. A scenic 100-foot rappel down a waterfall takes you into a large bowl filled with giant logs. This is a great place to have lunch and bolster your strength before attempting Apparition Falls.

Apparition Falls is quite the experience. A narrow chute plunges 85 feet straight down, channeling all the water in the canyon into a small space. The velocity of the water is quite intense, and the chute so narrow that it is possible to stem above the water flow almost all the way down. At the bottom, the walls open up and you get pounded as you descend into a rain room below a wedged log. This is a very tricky spot as the rope can get caught in the log and might need to be released while you are inside the waterfall and can’t see anything. It is then necessary to continue the rappel in a very awkward slide down the side of the log to the bottom. The sequence continues with a short rappel or tricky downclimb down to a log jam and an additional 60-foot rappel down a waterfall ending in a deep pool. At the bottom, the entire three-stage waterfall sequence is visible and is simply breathtaking. It is possible to see people rappelling down each of the stages at the same time, making for some great action shots.

Three short but awkward rappels off logs follow in short order and then one final rappel off a tree marks the end of the technical section. However, the canyon isn’t over yet! The creek walk back starts with an enormous logjam and a huge old-growth log to walk down. The rest of the creek features beautiful bedrock and charming small waterfalls, especially the last waterfall cascading down multiple levels right near the trail. The creek exit is a bridge on the East Side Trail. There is a 1 ½ mile walk back to the car. The trail runs next to the Grove of the Patriarchs, which is currently closed due to a washed-out bridge. However, the giant trees that the Grove is known for line the trail on the way back, making this an exceptional hike.

Truly an amazing creek in an amazing place and I am so glad that we got to share it with so many friends.