Three day / two night ~24 mile trip from Sol Duc trailhead to Appleton Pass, Spread Eagle Pass, Swimming Bear Lake, High Divide, Seven Lakes Basin, and out via Deer Lake and Sol Duc Falls (clockwise loop).
Very late summer conditions; no snow encountered, wild flowers mostly gone or dried up. Heather was all brown. Very few paintbrush or lupine or arnica. Almost no running water to be found. Blueberries and huckleberries were ripe, however, making for slow progress.
Met a party of PNWT hikers at Appleton Pass who seemed stunned at the elevation gained and didn't seem to know they would need to drop 2,000 feet only to climb 3,000 more feet to Heart Lake. Also didn't know that Oyster Lake would be their drinking water.
The 'stream' just before Spread Eagle is about dried up. I managed to squeeze my filter bag into the defile where a trickle was still dripping but I'd guess by this date it's probably gone. There was no running water to retrieve after leaving the Sol Duc River trail ~mile 4 or so until descending from Deer Lake two days later. Prepare to drink from lakes and ponds.
Hammocked along the route the first night. There were thousands of grasshoppers jumping along the Cat Primitive Trail starting at Spread Eagle. Some bears foraging the slopes about 1,000 feet below the trail. Not a single goat in sight. No issues following this route; it's in better condition than some official trails in Olympic.
Camped at Clear Lake the second night, which was not very nice; set in a deep forested hole. The flies and mosquitoes were terrible. But it was a good swim. A deer kept me company near dusk so I guarded my sweaty clothes and gear.
Exit from Lunch Lake is steep and once at the notch I made the mistake of following the lower trail into the boulder field and had some class 2 "fun". Stay far left and head up hill (even though in your mind you need to head right and downhill). The trail is easily found on the south end of the boulder bowl.
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