Hey all,
My wife and I did the 20 or so mile High Divide/Seven Lakes Basin loop in Olympic National Park over three nights. It was our first backpacking experience in Washington and it did not disappoint.
We hiked out of the Sol Duc Valley and hit the loop counter-clockwise. With each Park having it's own guidelines for backcountry camping, we were locked into our itinerary of Deer Lake, Heart Lake, and one of the Sol Duc River sites. Each site had one to eight established sites, some of which were right up to the water's edge which felt a little off, but it's how they do it I suppose.
Being used to the Sierra, it was quite a neat experience. Below the tree line, it was like walking through tunnels of green and above the treeline, the wildflowers and vistas were breathtaking.
We also encountered quite a bit of wildlife: a black bear, three mountain goats, a heard of 30-40 Roosevelt elk, deer, and of course, fish.
- Sol Duc Valley
- Towards Bogachiel Peak and the High Divide with Mt. Olympus in the background.
- Fishing at Lunch Lake.
- Mt. Olympus from the High Divide.
- Wildflowers on the way back down to the Sol Duc Valley.
- One of the many feeder creeks, streams, and falls along the Upper Sol Duc.
There's a lot of great write ups about this loop and planning for it that I found helpful. Faxing the wilderness application was a bit of a stressor as their line was jammed the day that permitting began in March. If I were to submit the application today, I would recommend Potholes campsite past Deer Lake as a better night 1 option. Deer Lake was crowded and were had the (mis)fortune of being camped near two louder groups. Some of the established sites also don't seem to be listed on many of the maps online. Watching the sun set from Deer Lake Junction site would have been spectacular but we didn't know it was an option.
All in all, a great trip!
