The High Divide And Seven Lakes Basin Redux: Day 1

Last August I wrote about visiting Olympic National Park and the Seven Lakes Basin in 2023 after years of having it on my bucket list. I shared about how the weather was less than ideal and so I had minimal views for the three days I hiked the loop.

In my 2024 outdoor year recap, I shared just a few pictures from my revisit and so it is about time to write up my backpacking trip completing the circuit and this time with VIEWS! I am not going to repeat some of the details I shared from the first time, you can click on the above link if you are new to this classic hike.

I was lucky enough (I thought) to score a night up on the High Divide at popular Lunch Lake and added a night on either side to make a four day adventure. Yes, the loop is only 19 miles so it was going to be a leisure trip for sure. It turned out just right for being able to enjoy each site without feeling rushed.

Although my first night was along Canyon Creek which only meant a few miles to hike in, I took the first Edmonds-Kingston Ferry at 5:30am and made my way over to the Olympic Peninsula. Remembering from last year that the parking at the Sol Duc trailhead fills up quick in the morning, I felt like I needed to arrive by 9am to ensure I was not parking down along the road.

As you can see, Belle Barbie was ready to go!

I did arrive at the trailhead as planned and then promptly hung out for a few hours people watching as folks arrived and left from their own adventures. I reassessed my gear, had an early lunch and changed into my hiking clothes.

Around noon, I started on my way on the Sol Duc Falls Nature Trail. The trailhead signage posted 2 days before was not encouraging:

There weren’t a multitude of day hikers as I made my way to the first junction with Sol Duc Falls and unlike last year, I took a few minutes to check out the Civilian Conservation Corps Canyon Creek shelter that was built here in 1933. That’s a lot of “C”s!

However, there were quite a few people at the Sol Duc waterfalls themselves so I didn’t linger too long.

From the waterfalls, the trail headed up and along Canyon Creek on the Deer Lake Trail, crossing over in about .6 miles.

Up and up!

I passed the first Canyon Creek campsite around 1 pm but I was headed for #2. I did take a look, though, for future reference.

The trail was verdant and mossy, true to the Olympic Rainforest environment.

At 1:30pm I arrived at campsite #2 and set about finding home for the night. I know, so early!

There was a flat spot in a close group of large trees near the junction but I was looking for something more secluded and with the possibility of hanging my hammock. After walking a short distance further back into the site, I found just was I was looking for.

There was a shallow water source back behind the campsite.

I was obviously not the first person to stay at this site, it took a little while to find a location further away where I would be able to dig a cathole and not be like these folks.

I also discovered a fun little find. Was it left on accident? Or did someone decide it was too heavy to carry? Either way, it let me know that there probably were not bears hanging out in the area.

The trees turned out to be perfect for my hammock and I was soon settled in, hanging my permit on the guy line in a baggie. As you can see from the picture, bear canisters are required for this and most of the popular trails in the Olympic National Park.

I pre-dig a cat hole away from camp, it took a while due to all the wonderful roots in the rainforest. Now that I have read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I can’t help but think about the interconnectivity of all these beautiful roots even as they challenge my ability to carve out a decent depth of 6-8 inches.

I set up my tarp and promptly relaxed for some time, enjoying the quiet lullaby of the forest and knitting a charity hat. I love these projects because it is just round and round.

Around dinner time, I got up to start cooking. There was a nice log for sitting and resting my stove on.

I heated up water to add to a dinner that included dehydrated barbeque sauce, chicken and sweet potato. What kind of barbeque sauce you ask? Well, it turned out I thought it was a rhubarb barbeque sauce I had made but it turned out to be rhubarb chutney I had also dehydrated. Pays to label the jars a little better. How did I know it wasn’t barbeque sauce? The chutney has cranberries, ginger and cinnamon so after a few bites I realized what I had done.

Soaking in the boiled water inside my cozy.

It still turned out delicious and I would definitely combine those ingredients again. I have plans to share my rhubarb chutney (and barbeque sauce) but until then, here are a few examples:

Rhubarb Chutney

Rhubarb Barbeque Sauce

After eating, I used some more warm water and salt to rinse out my reusable container (the broth it makes is tasty to drink and leaves no grey water in the forest). Then, the container and cozy go back in the bear canister.

Later in the evening I took the poles out from my tarp for some privacy and got ready to nestle in. This included wedging my bear canister tight into some logs so it was less likely to wander off while I am sleeping.

It wasn’t supposed to rain overnight but the clouds did sink lower into the trees, obscuring the view of the ridge across Canyon Creek. I fell asleep wondering what tomorrow would hold in the way of views and mentally let any cougars in the area know that I did not taste good. My plan was to get up a 5am and out on the trail so I could arrive at Lunch Lake around 10am in hopes of having first dips at the campsites there. Unlike Canyon Creek, they are not numbered.