This is the premier hike of the Olympics! We hiked up past Sol Duc Falls and via Appleton Pass Junction to Sol Duc Park. Our first destination was Heart Lake, which is shaped like a heart and is a high altitude lake in a basin just below the High Divide. We slept with a family of mountain goats breathing and stomping next to our tent! We saw a double rainbow and red-orange skies that night as well! I will mention that the bugs accelerated with the altitude….Heart Lake is at 5,000 ft. (Now we know the real meaning behind “Don’t BUG me!”)
Next day, we hiked the High Divide with sterling views of Mount Olympus and the Bailey Range on our left and the Seven Lakes Basin on our right. The lakes were deep, clear blue to a milky green. Still a few patches of snow. We climbed Bogechiel Peak and had a view of it all- the Seven Lakes Basin, the Mountains and the Hoh River Valley. Coming down from the peak and rounding the corner, there were fields of wildflowers that would go on as far as the eye could see! It was like Heaven! There was a herd of Bogechiel Elk in the valley below, sunning themselves! We then went down trail to Deer Lake (where the bugs did not have us on the menu) and camped there for the night amongst the deer. (Hence why they call it Deer Lake, I believe!)
Next morning found us headed out towards the Sol Duc Falls following Cabin Creek. Cabin Creek had some impressive waterfalls, too! This was about 24 miles with side trips and a 5,510 ft. elevation gain/loss. Whew! Worth every bug bite and aching muscle! If Smitty’s would have been open……….Hikers who scale this airy, 5,000-foot ridgeline will trek above lake-filled basins and score unrivaled views of 7,965-foot Mt. Olympus—the tallest peak in the Olympics. Get there about midway through a 17.5-mile lasso loop starting on the Sol Duc River Trail. Hike southeast .8 mile to Sol Duc Falls, where the river splits into three parallel channels and plummets into a pinched, moss-dusted gorge.
From here, the route climbs up the valley another 4.6 miles, then bends south, gaining nearly 1,400 feet in 2.1 miles to a meadowy campsite near Heart Lake. The next day, ascend the grassy basin for less than half a mile, past thinning patches of subalpine firs and avalanche lilies, to the crest of the ridge.
Now comes the big show: Trace the spine west for aerial views of teal-colored Sol Duc, Long, and Lunch Lakes to the north and Mt. Olympus towering above the Hoh River valley to the south. At mile 9.7, take a quarter-mile (round-trip, nontechnical) detour to 5,474-foot Bogachiel Peak for final views of Olympus. Drop 1,900 feet to Deer Lake, then finish off the loop with a 3.3-mile descent along Canyon Creek.
