High Divide - Seven Lakes Basin Loop — Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023

Distance: 18.65 miles
Elevation gain: 4,436 ft
Moving time: 7:30
Elapsed time: 10:08

Pre-hike

Friday night we had a PCT thru hiker stay with us who we had to drop back off at Snoqualmie Pass on Saturday morning, so we got a very late start on our drive to the Olympic Peninsula. Tack on traffic (Hood Canal Bridge *shakes fist*), and we didn't get to the ONP Port Angeles visitor center until late in the afternoon. We went over permit and route options with the ranger for walk-up options, but none of them suited our fancy. We wanted a conditioner hike around 20 miles, so we decided we'd just find a place to sleep and day hike the High Divide/Seven Lakes Loop on Sunday instead.

Now that Fairholme Campground requires reservations for the busy season, we dispersed camped along FS-2918, which runs parallel to Sol Duc-Hot Springs road but outside of the NP boundary, in USFS land. We woke up at 4:30, drove to the TH and began hiking around 5:45.

Day of

It's nice to hike in a national park. The trails are well signed, graded and textured. Sol Duc Falls was raging and there was hardly anybody awake so early in the morning.

We hiked counter-clockwise, so we climbed to Deer Lake first thing. Berries were plentiful in this area (I maintain WA has the best huckleberries in the contiguous US) and we saw a few ducks. The bathroom at Deer Lake was quite crowded with hikers just waking up.

The climb to the divide proper isn't too steep, but is enough to elevate your heart rate. We saw a hen grouse and her chickens, as well as a few Olympic marmots as we made our way to the junction to Lunch Lake. Wildflowers were in bloom along the way, and despite the marine layer + wildfire haze, views were still great.

Walking along the rim of the divide was fantastic. We did not see any hikers from the Lunch Lake junction until we made it to Heart Lake. Once again, bugs were a non-issue and the trail was in fantastic condition. We saw no bears :(

The walk down from Heart Lake and Sol Duc Park was fantastic. We were enveloped by the old growth forest as we came across more and more hikers with each step closer to the trailhead. Mushrooms were fruiting (including some real choice edibles) and fresh, clean water was bountiful.

We made it back to the car in the afternoon. The parking lot was packed, and the bathrooms were rancid (but well-stocked). Overall, a fantastic trip!