High Divide - Seven Lakes Basin Loop, High Divide — Monday, Jul. 20, 2009

Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast

Hiking up to the Seven Lakes Basin and the High Divide requires a bit of preparation. First, you must make a make a reservation up to 30 days in advance with the Olympic National Parks department. A helpful link on how to do this is: http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/high-divide-loop.htm After you make your reservation, they will send a confirmation email. Be sure to read this email carefully to make sure there are no mistakes, especially on the dates of your hike. Second, when you pick up your permits in Port Angeles, they will give you a bear container which is now required for camping in the basin. It's helpful to have a large pack to hold it. Finally, bring a lot of bug repellant because this is one buggy spot. After car-camping at Sol Duc, we started our three-day two-night backpack mid-morning on July 20th. Our route took us past the gorgeous Sol Duc Falls and up to Deer Lake, 3.7 miles from the trailhead, a lovely, marshy lake with campsights. Note that the three miles before this lake and the first mile after it are quite rocky and occasionally steep. At about five miles in, the scenery becomes gorgeous, with lush meadows, endless wildflowers, ponds, and even a few ripe blueberries. Early, but true. There are a few campsites between Deer Lake and the High Divide, as well as a couple around two or three miles in. The trail meanders up to the divide with ever-increasing views, including tantalizing peeks at Mt. Olympus. At one point, while traversing the ridge, the crickets (cicadas?) were so loud that we dubbed that section "electric alley." We finally reached the crossroads at which you turn left and head down into Seven Lakes Basin--whew! The struggle continued as we staggered down the steep, but well-designed .6 mile trail to Lunch Lake and our well-earned campsite. Total stats for the day were eight miles, 3000 gain, six-and-a-half hours. The basin is stunning. Much of it is a barren, lunar landscape, dotted with teal blue lakes and tarns of all shapes. The Lunch Lake area, where many people camp, is unusually green and lush for the basin. There is plenty of water here. Of course, where there is water there are bugs, so get out the bug death first thing. Late in the afternoon, we encountered a crowd of goats, perhaps up to 20, who seemed to have no fear of people. We kept shooing them away, so they wouldn't slime our backpacks. The helpful rangers, who have a shelter in the basin, told us to keep the backs of our backpacks down so the creatures wouldn't decimate them. This area has been loved to death in the past, so the park is trying to restore some of the meadows. The idea is to keep people on the main paths instead of tromping through every inch of green. The rangers will also advise you on bathroom issues. On our second day we did a grand day-hike through the basin and up to the High Divide. We ended up scrambling up (and down) some rocky areas, though there are regular paths one could take. At any rate, the views of Mt. Olympus and the surrounding peaks are superb and not to be missed. We did the short side trail up Bogachiel Peak, where you can see both the Pacific Ocean and Canada. We saw several bear scat piles, but no bears. We probably hiked about six miles with 1000 gain. We packed up and hiked out on our third day, making it back to the car in five hours. We stopped in Port Angeles to return our bear container and chow down on scrumptious ice cream. Of note is that there will be tons of berries in this area in the fall, but you might have to fight every bear in town to get at them.