High Divide, Crossover, Bogachiel River, Deer Lake & High Divide - Seven Lakes Basin Loop — Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003

Olympic Peninsula > Northern Coast

Absolutely stupendous loop! On a car camping trip with our 2 kids (age 1 and 4) at the Sol Duc Hotsprings, I took half a day by myself to do this loop. I started at 6AM from the Sol Duc campground, heading up the Sol Duc River towards the High Divide. The trail was in very good shape as were all bridges over the river. 1.5 hours later, I broke into a beautiful subalpine meadow just below Sol Duc Park. Half an hour later, I was feasting my eyes on the fog filled Hoh River valley and Blue Glacier spilling off the flanks of Mt Olympus. High ciro-stratus clouds and a steady crisp breeze kept me moving though. I opted not to explore east toward Cat Peak and the Bailey range, but turned west to rim the south edge of the Seven Lakes Basin. Half an hour took me to Bogachiel Peak, and another 50 minutes down to Deer Lake. Across the Bogachiel River headwaters, I noticed a herd of ~50 elk bedded down about 1/2 mile below me. At Deer Lake, I opted to turn west and follow the Bogachiel River trail. This trail was noticeably less well maintained, but certainly passable. More mud holes, roots and rocks kept my pace down, but it was still about 90% runable. After about 50 minutes of jumping roots and dodging mud holes I grew tired of the ups and downs of the trail, and just wanted to see the junction of the Mink Lake trail. Besides, I had just run out of water, Cliff bars were like chalk, and Gu was coating my mouth like, well like goo. The junction came and I began the final quad busting, ankle twisting 4 miles back to the resort. Back by 11:30, thank god for the hot springs. A quart of water and some time in the pools revived me so I could play with my kids. All junctions were well signed, and the mileage on the Custom Correct Map I had was right on the money. Alas, no wild life besides the distant elk and a startled grouse, but the vistas from the High Divide ridge were absolutely spectacular. Beautiful weather and beautiful scenery made this a fantastic trail run.