Spent labor day weekend on a leisurely tour of seven lakes basin.

First, a note about the picking up permits: seeing as we weren't in any rush the first day, we arrived at the Port Angeles WIC around 11: big mistake. It took over an hour to pick up our permit (despite the fact that we've had this reservation for months). I'll chalk it up to fact it was labor day weekend but the fact that non-reservation people were in the same line as those with reservations meant that many people in line were going through the entire process of making a recreagion.gov account, seeing what was available, and then making a decision with a ranger holding their hand through the process. It wasn't particularly efficient.

On to the actual trail report. Here are the important features:
- So many bears. We counted at least a dozen individual bears across our 3 day trip. The closest encounters involved one bear that was being urged down the high divide trail by hikers coming from the opposite direction. We tried to stay nice and far back so the bear never felt cornered: after if caught sight of us, it turned off the trail and headed down into the seven lakes basin. The second encounter was a bit more nervy: early morning on the trail up from hoh lake we encountered a mother and its cub just uphill from the trail. The pair seemed more reluctant to leave the area and so we had to pass with more caution. We were probably only about 40-50 feet away.
- Blueberries everywhere! You could easily spend hours just grazing along the trail. This also likely explains the bears.
- Each day seemed to get cloudier in the afternoon so arriving early might be key, especially if you want to catch views from the high divide south across the hoh valley and towards Mt Olympus.
- The trail is wet and muddy in some places at lower elevations. Also the high divide trail just west of the turnoff towards lunch lake has some fissures tearing up the area including the trail: It's best to take a bit extra time to avoid injury.
- When we were hiking out Monday, we saw a parade of emergency services running/walking quickly towards sol duc falls. They must have done a fantastic job because when looking at an article (pretty sure the article was about the same incident) it was mentioned nobody was seriously injured. Big thanks to them for continuing to save our stupid butts.

Stopped at Port Angeles WIC to pick up permit. Saw a couple deer at WIC. Must pay or show pass to get in National Park. Arrived at trailhead Saturday ~11 am. Surprisingly I was able to snag one of the parking spots. The parking lot was primarily full and cars were parked along the road before the parking lot. The hike to Soleduck Falls was busy. At the falls, I stayed to right as I was hiking counterclockwise (toward Deer Lake). Saw mama deer and 2 babies at Deer Lake. Berries to be picked and eaten the along the trail. Overall trail condition was okay; some large steps up/rocky, except ~4,801’ (10T 441035 5306592) there was rock slide and trail split in spots. Not sure what happened (mini earthquake?!), but the trail was rough for this stretch and will likely continue to get worse unless some major trail maintenance is done or trail is rerouted. Shortly after, arrive at junction with Lunch Lake, which is to left. Continue straight/right to stay on loop. In ~1 mile, reach junction with Hoh Lake Trail (right) and High Divide Trail (to left). Great views on clear days from here. Begin seeing views of Mt. Olympus.  Wrapped around then begin switchbacks down toward Hoh Lake. I arrived at Hoh Lake after ~5.5 hours (~10.3 miles). I got excited thinking I would have lake to myself. At least another 4 groups showed up. ~5 Campsites are up amongst the trees. That night, I saw deer with baby and next morning, I saw a bear in on hillside above far side of lake. Headed out Sunday morning to get some peace and quiet. Beautiful views along High Divide Trail and views of 7 lakes basin and Olympus. Saw multiple marmots. Recommend short jaunt to top of Bogachiel Peak. I loved the views throughout this this stretch of trail. ~3.5 miles to Heart Lake. I was first one to arrive at small Heart Lake. Then backtracked to junction just before Heart Lake to trail that heads toward Cat Peak. I saw 2 other people at start of this trail. After cut-off to stock camp off to left there is a sign that says end of maintained trail. Passed multiple trees that were recently scratched by bear(s). Even past the “not maintained” sign, the trail was in acceptable condition (few small trees down). I turned around before I arrived at end of this trail and headed back toward Heart Lake. On way back, I passed a HUGE pile of scat (bear?), close to the size of my size 8 boot. As I approached Heart Lake, I saw goats run toward lake. The family of 5 goats including 3 babies (mama had what appeared to be tracking device around her neck) were grazing near the lake and trail, close to a camp where 3 people were setting up. The goat family hung around the Heart Lake area for a couple hours and didn’t seem to be phased by all the people. Saw couple more deer including baby. Heard there are bears on hillside on other side of creek, but never saw more bear. There are at least 6 camps by Heart Lake. All the campsites appeared to be full. Headed out Monday morning. From Heart Lake, it’s primarily downhill. Didn’t see any more wildlife L Passed multiple campsites, including one at junction with trail up to Appleton Pass.

Our party arrived around 1pm in the afternoon. The parking lot was busy, but there were a few open spots. The bathrooms were in good condition and had been serviced recently. 

The trail is in good shape and is pretty easy to the falls and back. It's a great hike for beginners. And for more advanced hikers, you can continue along the Sol Duc river for longer overnight hikes. 

There were warnings about bears and cougars frequenting the area at the trailhead, but the trail to the falls was very busy and full of people. The viewing area at the falls was crowded, but not overly so.   

The trails leading to Sol Duc falls were lush with wildlife and tall trees, as always. Midsummer is usually drier, but there were some overcast and light rain that cooled off the heat of the midday. The falls were occasionally crowded and there were people perching or standing dangerously close to sudden drops and edges, but the air is crisp and the roar of the falls drowns out much of the human activity. It's a beautiful place to be. 

A lot of up and downs for this very out of shape lady but the falls were beautiful. Trail very popular, definitely not quiet, a lot of other hikers.