High Divide, Crossover & High Divide - Seven Lakes Basin Loop — Monday, Aug. 21, 2000

Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast

Took an old friend of mine from Jersey on a 2-night trip to show him a sample of the wild Olympics. We hiked the Sol Duc trail five miles to the junction with the Appleton Pass trail. As expected, the Sol Duc trail is in top-notch shape and very busy with folks doing the Seven Lakes Basin loop. The Appleton Pass trail begins in O.K. condition as it climbs above the Sol Duc's valley bottom, though it deteriorates dramatically upon reaching the subalpine zone due to numerous blow-downs. Although most of the downed trees are not large, it seems that many of them are lying at the most inconvenient angles possible. Some have also splintered, creating tiny little crawl spaces that one must try to slip through. In a couple of places, it was easier to remove our packs, drop them over the downed trees, then hop over ourselves. I'm not usually the most vociferous critic of hiking fees, yet it seems as if Olympic Park's custodians are taking more of my money while the trails increasingly fall into various states of disrepair. As carefully illustrated by author Carsten Lien, the management history of Olympic is a shady one, so we'd do well to scrutinize their budget priorities. We camped the first night at Appleton Pass, near Oyster Lake (pond), in a cold, misty rain that finally broke near sunset. The rest of our trip was blessed with lovely weather. From Oyster Lake, we made our way to the Catwalk. Leaving the hordes of people behind at the pass, we climbed a bit through open meadows and snow patches. The way trail was fairly visible until where it begins to descend, probably a little less than one-half mile beyond Oyster Lake. It then pretty much vanishes in a large meadow, but can be easily picked up by going straight across the open area to where the tread begins again in the woods. The descent from there to a pretty brook is a steep one, and is followed by a subsequent ascent to Spread Eagle Pass (a nearby snowfield does indeed assume the appearance of an eagle). The almost gothic view at Spread Eagle was the best of the trip. On one side, we could see down the Sol Duc Valley for miles, while the other side offered a great look at the Bailey Range and the deep gash of Cat Creek. The Catwalk path stays high for a while from here as it heads south, mostly on the Cat Creek side of the divide. Views of Mount Olympus were full and frontal as we scooted along on the rough and narrow route. Rock slides are occasionally crossed. Poles or an ice axe are handy for balance. After traversing three consecutive cirques, we chose to stay high in order to reach Cat Lake, instead of descending to the lower portions of Cat Basin. Be warned that the final drop on the higher-up option after crossing the third cirque is extremely steep and rocky. It might be a better idea to go all the way down to the basin floor and then climb back up to the lake, but I couldn't say for sure. We camped the second night in the vicinity of the lake. An attempt was made to swim in it, but its ultra-chilly waters spat us back out in mere seconds. Marmots were everywhere here, and their whistling was almost nonstop due to the high density of bears. We saw probably four bears total in this area, though it was difficult to count accurately as they kept popping up again and again. They were far more interested in munching on their alpine salad than paying us any heed. Finally, on Day 3, we briefly followed a game/way trail from the lake to pick up the High Divide trail, which smoothly delivered us west to Sol Duc Park. A long descent from there, down the valley, and back to the trailhead concluded a swell venture.