In every walk with nature one receives more than he seeks.
-John Muir
In search for long hikes possibly overnights while Josh was in town with us, he found one I will never forget. The 7 Lakes Basin High Divide Loop. This is a hike most would do in 2 days. Almost 21 miles.. The trail head started at the end of the road from our campground at Sol Duc. We started at a decent time, not too early and not too late. We had a long day ahead of us. A day I will never forget.
Right off the bat the trail started with spectacular views of massive waterfalls. Then started uphill gradually with a few long switch backs. We eventually came to a junction with a small bridge and passed by our first lake. This was Deer Lake. On the next section of the trail we passed a few lakes but small ones that were not part of the 7 we were hiking too.
We eventually hit the Rangers Cabin and as we passed ran into him coming back down to it. The rangers live out there and do a daily walk around on the trails. In passing we stopped and chatted for a bit. When we asked if there anything in particular we should know he quickly said "Mamma bear and cubs up ahead be aware of them," (black bears) there are no grizzly's in Washington State anymore, and "Also, if you run into a mountain goat, make sure you throw lots of rocks at them." I started to chuckle and asked if he was being serious, he was.
There is a very bad mountain goat problem in the north west, so they advise you not to pee in certain places, and to throw rocks at them if they approach you. According to the ranger we ran into, it's worse than the black bears out there.
We continued our hike in anticipation of the mamma bear and her cubs. Passing a few hikers, they had warned us about the bears as well. We knew they were somewhere in our path at some point, we just didn't know where and when to expect them. We eventually came to a bend and started to hear some rattling in the woods beneath us, we made enough conversation to pass by, and Becca held a steady whistling. There it was. Just one bear though, no mama and her cubs. Took some photos quickly and kept on moving so that we didn't put ourselves in any danger.
This part of the trail was blazing hot, only because it was in direct sunlight. Too hot almost. Becca and I slowed down a bit for this part, but eventually got our shit together once back into the trees.
We finally came across the junction we had been looking for. However, we got a tad bit confused and headed down to the Basin, where all the back country camping spots were. It was only a short, but somewhat steep side track. However, the lakes down beneath were absolutely breath taking. So we said screw it, we are just about half way through our hike, lets enjoy our lunch here by the lake, use our sawyer water filter to replenish our bladders and then head back up to the junction.
We took lots of photos and headed back to the junction where we continued on the correct trail. The trail with trees on the left of us and gorgeous views of Mount Olympus to the right, opens up and walks through a valley of colorful flowers. Then before we knew it to our left just up over a hill it opened up completely with views all around. To our left was the 7 Lakes Basin, to our right was Mount Olympus and surrounding mountains. Stunning. I was in absolute awe. Oh, and not to mention a huge snow field. At this point, we were all hot and sweaty, so seeing the snow field was exciting, not to mention it was SNOW in AUGUST! Incredible. We took a quick photo shoot with the snow, and the 3 adult beverages we had carried with us in hopes of enjoying them while on trail. However, we stuck them in the snow to keep them cool for a moment or two, then put them back in our packs and kept on moving.
After this part of the trail, it starts to descend, and just as you start to descend we cam across yet another lake. This one was called Heart Lake. And let me tell you, it's name was SPOT on. It was the exact shape of the most perfect heart. Once down to the bottom and next to the lake, we stopped to enjoy it, knowing it would be the last thing before going into the woods again for our long trek out and back to the car. Becca and I took our boots off, the three of us cracked our beverages opened and cheers'd! What a perfect spot.
Becca and I enjoyed walking around in the Lake for a few minutes while drinking our drinks. Here we then also refilled our water bottles, put our socks and shoes back on and hit the trail, taking all of our trash with us! Leave No Trace applies EVERYWHERE. :]
We finally made it back to the car. It was an incredibly long walk out, and exhausting, but totally worth every step I took. At one point there was this crazy water crossing on the way out that was a falling tree cut in half on the top, which other trees screwed into it to make a bridge, but a railing only on one side!!! I was having a mild panic attack crossing it, but Josh caught it all on video with the GoPro. I could have killed him. But now I look back and laugh at how scared I was.
Olympic National Park was by far some of the most beautiful parts of the country that I had ever hiked in, next to the Tetons of course. I really hope to go back and have a chance to explore ONP again. Everything was gorgeous and so drastically different from one another. A rainforest, to the beach, to the woods, and hiking trails. Just absolutely breath-taking for sure!
On to Portland, Oregon.
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