Day Hiking the High Divide Lope (Seven Lakes Basin) - Olympic National Park --- (18.8 mile with 3500 ft elevation gain)(9-11- 2010)
Another excellent day hiking for exercise and
fantastic views. This hiking was in the interior of the Northwest side of the
Olympic National Park. If I compare day hiking that I have done so far, the Royal Basin
had the most amazing and rewarding views of the Alpine Lake and the Alpine
Basin. However, the unique part of this long hiking was that the High Divide
Loop offered about 10 miles of non-stop views. Its expensive views were the
sub-alpine and alpine meadows, open ridge views, bears (one at a time, we saw 4
bears), elks herd (about 40 of them), eagles (6 of them at the Bogachiel Peak),
sub-alpine and alpine lakes (Deer Lake, Seven Lakes, Heart Lake, etc.), and the
surrounding mountain views including the northern views of the Mt Olympus (the
submit of the Olympics National Park) at a reasonable distance. Also, lots of
ripen huckleberries and blackberries.
Hiking summary:
18.8 mile loop with 3500 ft elevation gain. Low
40s and very chilly with wind chill factor: definitely needs an extra shirt or
jacket. At the trailhead, hands were freezing. A backpacker said that it
drizzled over night. So, the greens along the trail were wet. The trail
condition was probably the best I have ever seen: well-maintained with 5 STAR
qualities. Gentle grade without much of the steep switchbacks made this trail
quite easy for day hiking but strenuous due to its whopping 18.8 miles
distance. Luckily, it did not rain until we were done. No bugs at all. Started
hiking at 0820 and arrived back at the trailhead 1800. Also the good part was
that no dirt road to drive to the trailhead !!!
Aaron Silverman and I wanted to do a long day
hike. One of his hiking check-off lists was the High Divide Lope. I also wanted
to do this hiking after reading Jay Thomson’s trip report. Jay is a hiking
leader and coordinator for both the Peninsula Wilderness Club (PWC) and the
Kitsap Outdoors. My day hiking with Jay to Tuck and Robin
Lakes (Alpine Lake Wilderness in
Wenachee and Snoqualmie
National Forest) a week
earlier was the best day hiking for exercise and the sceneries. As the “Olympic
Peninsula Day Hike” book author, Seabury Blair Jr. recommended, we decided to
do the High Divide Loop in counter clockwise. The primary reason was to see the
alpine splendor in fewer miles and the weather was getting better for us (for
the Mt. Olympus view). We expected to reach the
highest point (8.4 miles) around 1230 for the Mt Olympus view and for the
lunch. We left the Sol Duc trailhead at 0820 and hiked quickly to the Deer Lake.
Then, we slowed down next mile or so to munch on the blackberries !!! A lot of
them ! It was delight to hike the open ridge (my favorite route) going around
the Bogachiel Peak. Also, we had a glimpse look of the
Mt Olympus just before the open ridge. We just missed the splendid views of the
Mt Olympus but satisfied with little bit of it. Clouds were moving in fast
covering up the Mt Olympus. We arrived at the top of the Seven Lakes
Basin pass the junction
to the Hoh Lake/Valley at 1220. We had lunch there. It offered the views of the
clouds covered Mt Olympus and the Seven
Lakes. Then, headed to
the Heart Lake where we encountered the 4th Bear
in the distance. Going down toward the Heart Lake
provided the gorgeous meadow views and Mt Appleton surrounding. I really liked
those scenes (that’s why I have been hiking). We were so glad that we did the
loop counter clockwise. At the Heart
Lake, clouds were moving
in quickly covering the bear on the hill and the wind chill factor was really
cold. Quickly pumped the water at the Heart Lake,
and descended about 500 ft or so for the 2nd lunch break. And start munching on
the huckleberries and blackberries again. I also picked the berries about 16 oz
to bring them home !!! After that, it was straight forward hiking down along
the wooded trail. Since we have seen everything we wanted, we moved down fast
close to 3 miles/hr pace. It was excellent day hiking and I would do it again
if somebody wants to do the hike in 10 hours.
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