This hike was incredible and we were so happy to hike it! But let me start from the beginning.
First of all, if you plan to complete this loop in more than 1 day, plan ahead and don’t forget to buy camping permits. We bought our permits 6 months ago.
We arrived at the parking lot at 11 AM on Saturday, and it was completely full! Many cars were parked along the road, but we got lucky to see a car leaving and took that spot.
We were hiking the loop counter clockwise. First section of the trail was going uphill, pretty boring, with no views. You will get incredible views about one or two miles before the Lunch lake. Even though by the time you get there, you might start debating if it is worth going down to the Lunch Lake or not, I recommend to do it! My husband swam in the lake, and I was sitting by the water having a rest and admiring its beauty.
Then we went towards our campsite.
Our first campsite was at Hoh Lake - very quite, beautiful place close to the lake that requires a walk down :(
Just before the hike downhill we saw lots of huckleberries along the trail. We tried a couple of berries, but since we started hiking pretty late, we had to hurry up to seta tent and make dinner, so we rushed down.
This campground has a few campsites that are pretty challenging to find. They are located across the river from the trail. two sites by the lake are day use only.
Sunday morning (around 8:30 - 9:00AM) while we were having breakfast at one of the day use areas we saw a black bear swimming in the lake towards us, then he passed us very close (we could literally hear him breathing) and walked up the trail. When we started hiking, we saw 2 more bears in that area, but not that close to us as the first one. They aren’t aggressive to humans, but keep in mind there are bears in the area. Don’t leave food next to your camp (there is bear wire at this campground), don’t run and provoke the bears. If you never encountered black bears before, I highly recommend to read carefully how to act when you see a bear.
Then we hiked to the Heart Lake. That section of the trail is so beautiful! It’s open, and you can see a spectacular snowy mountain and many lakes! We had lunch and tea at the Heart Lake. Even though the water was cold, my husband found it pleasantly refreshing and swam there :)
There are so many ripe delicious huckleberries along the trail from the Heart Lake towards Sol Duc Park. These berries slowed us down a little bit. The bushes are high up to waist line that makes it so easy to pick berries without bending with a heavy backpack. I found this very refreshing, tasty, and fun experience :)
That section of the trail has wooden steps and some rocks. They are not difficult to walk on, but with 18lb backpack every step feels more challenging to the knees, and I recommend to use hiking poles to make it slightly easier for the knees.
We had a campsite booked at Appleton Pass Junction. It was great, with a nice cute stump table and stump chairs, but we decided to hike for 2 more hours and visit Hot Springs Resort. This last section was flat and easy, and we were so happy about this decision! Nothing can feel better and more relaxing to the tired muscles than warm water :)
Long story short, buy a permit (if going overnight), take sunscreen, read about black bears, take a swimsuit, prepare to try some huckleberries, and enjoy spectacular views of multiple lakes and mountains! :)
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