We were looking for a convenient day hike out of the Port Angeles area and settled on a 13.8 mile in and back from the Sol Duc trailhead up to the ridge above Lunch Lake ~ a segment of the 7 Lakes Basin loop we had done about 30 years ago from the other direction. On that hike, we saw 11 bears and were hoping we could do the same this time.
We got a late start, not leaving the trailhead until 11:00am. We expected the sun to set at 7pm (for Sept 27th); it was a beautiful day and we carried our head lamps thinking we might end up needing them, which we did for the last hour out.
The trail is a gentle but consistent up - it has a vertical gain of about 500 ft per mile over 6 miles, then it levels out and follows the ridge up to the High Divide. We were hoping for views of Olympus; and while you can see its peaks, it's mostly hidden by the range just north of the Ho River - we could see just the tops in a peek-a-boo view from the ridge.
The hike itself is very nice, punctuated by waterfalls, bridges, a narrow gorge, Deer Lake, numerous tarns above the lake in brilliant fall colors (and perfect bear habitat), followed by a beautiful ridge, off-the-chart blueberries and huckleberries, a cool geological feature neither of us remembered seeing 30 years ago (as in, what the hell happened here?? see photo and link to the NW Hikers net forum), and a view of Lunch Lake, Round Lake and Clear Lake from the saddle (and if anyone knows more detail on what happened here, please fill us in!) We knew we'd be hiking in the dark on the return, but the trail is in very good shape, and is well maintained, so it was fine.
It takes about an hour to drive to the Sol Duc trailhead from Port Angeles - about the same to get to the Obstruction Point trailhead. While the parking lot at Sol Duc is packed, it tends to turn over quickly as so many people just head to the falls, 0.8 miles in. A lot of people come here. If it is packed and you wait 15 minutes, you'll likely find a spot. We didn't find solitude here (and alas, no bears this time); but, the hike is well worth the effort.
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