In Bogachiel River Trailhead, out Sol Duc by the resort via Mink Lake
Day one- We hiked from the Bogachiel Trailhead to Flapjack Shelter, 10-11 miles in. The first mile and some is in the national forest, then you cross into the national park. The trail was in decent condition most of this part. There are two places along the way where there are washouts. The first has a couple ropes that can help you navigate it. The second is a short patch where you traipse through some brush and downed trees, follow the river and you'll easily pick the trail back up after a couple minutes. Getting nearer to Flapjack, the trail starts to be a little overgrown but not hard to navigate, a few down trees. Flapjack campground itself was nice. Beautiful forest and good river access with lots of swimming spots the whole way.
Day two- We hiked from Flapjack to Twenty One Mile camp, about 11 miles. Parts of this trail were very overgrown, sometimes with brush in our faces and over our heads. We did not find it too difficult to navigate though we did have to pay attention. It rained on us the whole day and the overgrown vegetation dumped water on us the whole time so we were completely soaked. Also some downed trees. The forest is beautiful the whole way. Blueberries, salmon berries, some thimble berries. Before Fifteen Mile Shelter, the river forks and the trail carries on along the north fork. Fifteen Mile shelter is nice but we did not look at the campsites. Shortly after, you cross the river for the first time, lovely views, then 3 miles later arrive at Hyak shelter. Hyak camp site is nice but the trail coming up to it is very overgrown. We had lunch here. We carried on another 3 miles to Twenty One Mile camp which no longer has a shelter, only a pile of old wood with a campsite nearby and easy access to the river. We'd heard it was not as nice as Fifteen or Hyak which is true, but the forest is beautiful and we were happy with the spot.
Day three - We hiked from Twenty One Mile to Mink Lake and the parking lot at Sol Duc, about 8.5 miles. This is when the climb starts. Twenty One Mile camp is at 2214 and the trail.climbs up to 4130 over 4 miles. The switch backs are fairly gentle, beautiful forest with blueberries and salmon berries. There are some downed trees to get over. At the top, everything was in bloom, loads of colorful wildflowers, heather, bear grass, enchanting! A little over 4 miles and the trail forks with one side going towards the High Divide and the other going into the Sol Duc. The moment you cross into the Sol Duc, the forest changes. The descent all the way down is rockier and steeper, big steps. Mink Lake is beautiful, well worth the visit, lots of fish. The last miles from the lake to the parking lot have nice views of the river.
Note: there are several unmarked side trails throughout the Bogachiel section of the trail. Most of them lead off to campsites but a few lead to lesser used trails to the Hoh and Indian Pass. We did not find it difficult to navigate since the main trail always follows the river so it's not a big deal, but I do recommend having a good map and paying attention- especially given the overgrown state of parts of the trail. It felt really wild out there. After the first mile from the parking lot, we did not see another person until we got to Mink Lake.
Also... I left my Katadyn Hiker Pro filter at Twenty One mile, and Im really bummed about it. I won't have time to go back for it for a while. So if you want to play scavenger hunt and do a stranger a big favor, you could pick it up and drop it off at the visitor's center in Port Angeles.
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