High Divide day hike August 8, 2016

Since I didn't have a day off the previous week, I decided to take Monday off and hike the High Divide loop. It's 18 miles and 3800 feet elevation gain, so it's a pretty ambitious hike. But I figured I was up for it, and if I got an early start I could make the loop in one day.

It probably makes more sense to do the loop in two or three days, but it's very difficult to get a camping permit due to the popularity of the Seven Lakes Basin. So that's another reason to make it a day hike.

I left home at 4:30 Sunday afternoon. In Port Angeles I stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. His name was Roland, from Germany, and he was exploring the Pacific Northwest by hiking and hitchhiking. Nice young guy. I offered to share my campsite at Sol Duc with him, and he took me up on it. By 7:30 we were at the campsite, set up camp and walked around the campground a bit.

On Monday morning, I woke up at 5:20 am, had a breakfast of GrapeNuts and cereal, threw the tent and sleeping bag into the car unfolded, and drove to the trailhead. I was hiking by 6:10 am and passed Sol Duc Falls by 6:30.

The trail up to Deer Lake is steep but I was fresh and I arrived at Deer Lake by 8:20.

Deer Lake

I took a break and continued up into the higher country. The scenery gets a lot better as you wind through alpine meadows and contour up the side of steep slopes. Unfortunately the clouds were low and I couldn't really see any of the spectacular views that the guidebook promises.

 Looking down at Deer Lake

 Switchbacks on the way to Bogachiel Peak.

By 11:00 I was on top of Bogachiel Peak. Through breaks in the clouds I could see down into Seven Lakes Basin.

Looking down at Lunch Lake.

After a break I continued along the High Divide, an up-and-down trail that winds along the ridge between the Hoh River valley and the Sol Duc drainage. It's some lovely alpine hiking, although I was beginning to feel fatigued.

The High Divide

I arrived at Heart Lake at 12:20 and took a forty minute lunch break and a short nap.

Heart Lake

At 1:00 I started down the trail, winding through Sol Duc Park and down along the easy trail that parallels the river. At that point it was just a matter of slogging back to the car. I was tired, but the trail was gentle and the skies cleared off for a lovely afternoon. I arrived at the trailhead at 4:20 pm. Got home by 7:00 to a dinner Katy had waiting for me, with apple torte for dessert. A good day!

Hike to Deer Lake in the clouds, July 24, 2015

Guy and I hiked 4 miles through the clouds to Deer Lake in Sol Duc Valley. Eight miles total and about 2,500 feet of elevation gain.

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.