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| Backpack | 18.72 Miles |
4,979 AEG |
| | Backpack | 18.72 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 4,979 ft AEG | | 17 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Overnight trip with Kaila on the Seven Lakes Basin Trail in Olympic National Park. Left Portland early Tuesday morning and made the long drive up to the trailhead- stopping along the way to pick up our permit at the ranger station in Port Angeles and taking a quick detour up to Hurricane Ridge to take in the views.
Started hiking a bit before 1800 and set off to make our way to Sol Duc Park. There was quite a bit of traffic between the trailhead and the Sol Duc Falls junction, but the trail immediately thins out as soon as one passes that first junction. We were not in a hurry to reach our camp, but were still aware that we were slowly running out of daylight and didn't want to stumble into camp by headlight, so we didn't dawdle. We managed to have just enough light to arrive at the marker for Sol Duc Park shortly after the sun set, then we donned our headlamps and went about choosing a camping spot and setting up for the evening. After a well deserved dinner we walked out to the meadow and watched the stars for a bit before retiring to bed for the evening.
The next morning we broke camp and were on trail right around 0730. The trail quickly exits the forest and climbs through the head of the valley before popping over a ridge and arriving at Heart Lake. Beyond Heart Lake, the trail climbs up to the High Divide and the views truly open up. The trail weaves its way along the ridgeline, providing alternate views of the Hoh River valley and Mount Olympus to the south and the Lakes Basin to the north. This section is spectacular and we took plenty of time soaking in the views.
As we approached Bogachiel Peak we started to hear word of Mountain Goats in the area and went into high alert- scouring the hillsides and cliffs in hope to spot the elusive animals. Then, quite suddenly, we encountered a group of them as we descended a set of switchbacks a little ways before the Lunch Lake Junction. It was 5 adults and 2 baby goats and they were slowly picking their way along the trail, grazing on grasses and really paying us no mind. The trail was too steep to provide us an opportunity to pass them, so we followed behind them at a respectable distance for the better part of an hour until they decided to step off trail by the Lunch Lake Junction and allowed us to pass.
We dropped down to Lunch Lake and had a quick break and refilled our water bottles. The day was starting to warm up and we were both getting pretty tired. I think being held up behind the goats for such a long time had thrown off our grove and frazzled our nerves a bit. As we climbed back up towards the main trail after our break I joked about how it would feel to get held up in traffic behind the goats again, but figured there was no way that could possibly happen, right? WRONG! Not more than 5 minutes after turning back onto the main trail we got caught up behind the same group of goats, yet again ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") . This time they decided to head our direction, so we had to slowly retreat back up trail for several minutes until we were able to find a safe location where we could divert around the group and pass safely.
Once we were past the goats the rest of the hike was uneventful. It really seems to take forever to drop down from the High Divide towards the trailhead once you are back in the forest and the views are gone. Overall though, this is a spectacular hike and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. If I had to do it over, it might be nice to add a 3rd day so that we could have spent more time enjoying the lakes basin, but 2 days is still thoroughly enjoyable and I don't feel that we really missed out on anything. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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