We spent three days in the High Divide area and had a wonderful time. There is still a lot of snow, particularlly on the Divide itself, but we didn't need an ice axe and found our way around very easily. The trails are all in good shape. Most of the tent sites at Lunch lake have melted out. The lake has melted. There was a little snow on the staircase but we didn't need an ice axe to get down into the basin. I suspect that the rest of the snow will be gone in a week. There was only one other group of 4 persons camping at the lake Friday night - in July!! The next day we hiked up to Silver Snag and over to Heart Lake via the Y route. Mt. Olympus was out in all her glory. The basin is still covered with lots of snow but the rangers have flagged the route. Silver Snag has melted out. Again, travel is no problem. All camping sites at Heart Lake have melted out. We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at the lake. All sites at the lake were occupied except one. That evening we saw three bears looking for dinner on different parts of the mountain and ridge to the east and south of the lake. The hike down through Sol Duck Park was nice also. There is snow as low as Lower Bridge Creek and several parts of the trail have become temporary streams for snow-melt. The creek crossing at Sol Duck Park was slippery. (You would think they would put in a more permanent bridge there.) The bridge at Lower Bridge Creek is broken, but crossable. The trail is clear of trees and in good shape all the way to the parking lot. Bugs weren't too bad either, probably too cold at night still. The heather was blooming in many places. There were lots of flowers along the entire route from Deer Lake to below Sol Duck Park. The ranger expects lots of pressure once the offical trail report is changed sometime this week. Always a great trip!

With summer disappearing, world events plastered on the TV and three days between commitments, I headed for the mountains on my first ever solo backpack trip. Good weather was still holding so I thought to try the High Divide Trail. I'd never been to the Sol Duc and was pleased to find such a beautiful valley. Starting out on the Sol Duc River Trail, I followed the very wide, heavily used portion to the falls and the old cabin, then diverted to the way less traveled up the river. The trail wandered up and down through elegant old growth forest for 4 miles until the junction with the Appleton Pass Trail. This section had about 5 - 6 marked campsites. Beyond the junction, the trail crossed Rocky Creek, arriving at one of the larger camps, Seven Mile Camp. The route was climbing gradually in this section and began to break out of the deep forest cover into more open forest. It crossed the river on a high log bridge and got down to climbing. By another log crossing of Bridge Creek, the trail had come out to park, broken strips of forest and meadows of huckleberries and heather. Need I say that the berry fest was going strong. It took a lot of berry breaks to get me up the last section to Soleduck Park. Soleduck Park had a nice camp, with 6 sites, one a group site. A summer ranger station is located there, which was due to close this week. I choose a nice site by the creek and set up camp, visiting with my neighbors while getting some water. I later joined them for a evening chat session. I must say that hiking solo did not mean I was hiking alone; I met lots of nice people on the way. Next day, I started up to the High Divide, climbing up through Soleduck Park, which kept opening up into wide meadows until reaching Heart Lake. There was another nice camp at the small lake. A doe and two fawns wandered by while watched by curious hikers. The views kept improving. At this time, I joined up with a young couple, Jonathan, who works for WTA and his wife. We hiked together on and off throughout the day. As we reached the summit, the massiff of Mt. Olympus came into view. Wow! I know it was rare to see the mountain at all and felt fortunate to be so close. We could see Cat Peak, the Bailey Range and what I thought was Mt. Fromm (Hayden Pass) and Anderson in the distance. The Hoh River was down, down, down in a hole. Interesting to be able to have a sort of bird's view of a climbing route. The hike along the High Divide was a delightful ramble. The Seven Lakes Basin was soon in view, with more and more lakes becoming visible. It is quite a beautiful place. I can see why the area is so popular. From the scarity of plants in some areas, it was clear that snow can hang in late on the northern slopes of the basin. We reached the knife-edge ridge junction with the Hoh Lake Trail. From the reports of a few hikers, I had heard that at least 7 bears, including a sow and two youngsters, had been sighted at the Lake. Fortunately I was headed in the opposite direction. As we dropped down into the Basin, Jonathan and his wife headed off to Lunch Lake and myself to a solitary campsite at little Round Lake. I had the place to myself, a great way to ground and gain some balance after the recent week's events. Nothing like huckleberry picking and listening to marmots and waterfalls to soothe the spirit. Next day, it was out via the remainder of the High Divide Trail to Deer Lake and then back to the Sol Duc Trailhead. The Divide Trail traversed for close to two miles and then dropped through open country past some tarns. This section of trail was in the process of receiving some major construction work. I might add that the trails in the entire area were meticulously well kept. By the time I approached Deer Lake the weather was closing in with a heavy on and off drizzle. I took some time at the lake, but did not linger and dropped down the rocky grade to the Sol Duc by mid-afternoon. The wet weather was not at all depressing; the forest was glowing with a soft light and life. My feet and I were glad, however, to reach the river crossing and zoom up the final stretch to the trailhead and my waiting car. Then it was to Port Angeles for some dinner and home. It was a great trip to a beautiful place. Also, by starting on a Sunday, I was able to miss the crowds of dayhikers who love the area on the weekends. Happy hiking!

Trail conditions from Sol Duc TH to Hoh Lake via Deer Lake are excellent. Berries are abundant and sweet. Still a few wild flowers in the high country. Lots of bears at Hoh Lake. Saw 5 bears eating berries high above lake in the late morning. Saw a mother and two cubs sliding down the snow on south side of Bogachiel Basin opposite trail. Colors are beginning to show. Still lots of bugs, quite warm at night. Crystal clear days and nights. Water temperature at Lunch lake is still quite nice for an afternoon swim. Fishing is excellent. Anyone who spent the last week in Seven Lakes area had a real treat. Lots of hikers and backpackers taking advantage of great weather. Views from High Divide were spectacular. This won't last!

The High Divide loop turned out to be an ideal trip for our family. With side trips I estimate the length at 20 miles, but we took 6 days (5 nights) since our 3 1/2 year old has a hiking range of 3 1/2 miles, our 7 year old likes to have lots of time to play at the campsites, and we were also bringing our 12 year old nephew who is new to backpacking. We spent the first 2 days going up the Soleduck river valley, which was mushroom hunting territory as well as lovely old growth. Lots of chanterelles, hedgehog mushrooms, and boletes. The hike up to the subalpine scenery of Heart Lake was tough for the kids, but they absolutely loved it up there. The lowbush blueberries were fantastic, Little Heart pond was so full of tadpoles and frogs all you had to do was approach the bank and the water would erupt with splashing, the meadow was full of marmots, we watched two bears from a safe (') distance and saw a stilt catching tadpoles three at a time. The next day was spent along the High Divide--the adults enjoying the flowers and the spectacular views of Olympus and the Seven Lakes Basin and all enjoying playing on snowbanks and eating blueberries. We were surprised to find a fresh clump of King Boletes, never before having seen them in subalpine territory in the Cascades. The kids begged to camp up there but we dropped down to a lovely private campsite at Round Lake, where we had a delicious swim, and were visited by deer. The continual shrill whistling of marmots got rather annoying. That night was quite stormy and we were thankful not to be up on the Divide. Fortunately it stopped raining by morning but was very windy and 40 degrees and it was hard to keep the kids warm and happy until they started hiking. Saw another bear in the meadows above Deer Lake. We were the only campers at Deer Lake, although there are many campsites. After the spectacular scenery of the previous three days, wooded Deer Lake seemed nice but sort of boring. It absolutely poured buckets during the night and the next morning and we were content to be hiking out the next day. Deer Lake had risen several inches by morning and parts of the trail out had turned into a river. A visit to Soleduck Hot Springs was a great way to end the trip! As for bugs--well, liberal applications of deet seemed to keep the mosquito bites down to a countable number but had little effect on deer flies. My 7 year old asked the Lunch Lake Ranger if the bugs were usually so bad and he laughed and said ""Bad' This is GOOD! It doesn't get any better than this!"" By the way, now that your IPO has collapsed, are you interested in a job with greater spiritual than material satisfaction' We discovered on our trip that novice back country rangers in the Olympic Nat'l Park receive a total compensation of $50/month (for food...lodging is free).

Be forewarned, this is the driest year the rangers have seen in recent memory. In hindsight, I wish the park personnel manning the RS at Soleduck had been a little more forthcoming with information regarding this trip as the rangers in the backcountry were surprised I was not aware. The fault falls on me for not asking questions I guess. First of all, there is no water beyond Heart Lake until three streams are reached in the vicinty of 11 Bull Basin. Carry lots of water. High divide is dry, Cat Basin is dry, and the meadows beyond Boston Charlie's are dry. Snow patches people are accustomed to using simply are not there this year. Also, the approach to Cream Lake has been made rather challenging thanks to an avalanche/windfall just before the lake. Travel is very difficult through all the downed trees. The logical choice is to go high! The flowers are varied throughout the Bailey Range. In some places the lupine is fading out, while in other places it is still in its prime, being accompanied by Tiger Lillies, Columbine, Paintbrush, Aster, etc. I even found a couple of places where Glacier Lillies were in full bloom! A large bear resides in the vicinity of 11 Bull Basin, and is very skittish of people (let's keep it that way!). He barrelled uphill over 1,000' vertical to get away from me and was still going at last sight, periodically looking back at me over his shoulder. The goats are not so skittish! I have posted many pics on my web site - www.mountainscenes.com. What a beautiful place to witness sunrise and sunset on Mt. Olympus! Don