Deer Lake
We drove to the Sol Duc Road on Thursday night, arriving about 8 pm to find a sign saying "Campground Full." We turned around and found the last campsite in the Fairholm campground. It was lovely hearing the voices of children and smelling the wood smoke of campfires as we set up camp and ate Dinty Moore beef stew.
In the morning we drove to the Sol Duc trailhead and started hiking at 8 am. Our original objective was Bogachiel Peak, but the mist and clouds would have obscured any views we would have had, so we opted to just go to Deer Lake.
Sol Duc Falls
The bridge below Sol Duc Falls
Despite the drought and low stream flows, Sol Duc Falls was truly lovely. We got some photos of the log bridge that spans the gorge below the falls. What a photogenic site.
On the trail up to Deer Lake
We pressed on up the trail to Deer Lake. It's a steep trail with lots of rocks, but we made good time and got there by 10:30. It was misty and drizzly, but we stayed warm by hiking steadily
Deer Lake
The lake itself was really charming. There are many campsites scattered around the lake, and we kept seeing people in their camps. We scouted out the area in case we might come back camping. There's a meadow in the upper end of the lake that is quite lovely. Half a dozen deer were grazing as hikers passed by.
After a good break and devouring some trail mix, we started down at 12:30, arriving at the trailhead at 2 pm. We passed lots and lots of backpackers huffing and puffing their way up to Deer Lake, and the trail below Sol Duc Falls was a highway of day hikers going to the falls. One family had two little boys, the youngest of whom insisted on carrying their day pack which hung almost to his knees.
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