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| Mt Tom |
Our son Brian, who is home for a summer job in Seattle, convinced his old man to join him on an ambitious (for Tom) overnight trip in the northern portion of Olympic National Park. It all started back in February with them trying to get permits to backpack around Mt Rainier on the Wonderland Trail. While we didn't get those permits, Brian also applied for a permit along the High Divide ... and got it. Since his summer job would not allow him to take vacation, it was necessarily a Saturday-night-only reservation ... making it about 8-10 miles a day and about 4000' elevation gain and loss.
He invited Tom with a tempting offer: he would carry "all the stuff", but would be blasting ahead so he could explore everything. While this seemed attractive, Tom was unsure, since he kept envisioning getting separated by one of several scenarios (Tom wasn't physically up to it, Brian crossing a snowfield that Tom wasn't comfortable crossing, the campsite wasn't obvious and Tom couldn't figure out where Brian was, etc.), and having to bivouac without a tent and minimal food. But all the stars seemed to align ... reports indicated minimal snow, we got good info on where the site was, we each had satellite communication devices, and the weather looked perfect. So, Tom agreed. This was a chance for him to visit the area a 3rd time ... the last time being on our honeymoon trip ... almost 30 years ago. But at what cost?
We departed Seattle at 5:15 am (ouch!) to tackle the 3-4 hour drive. We had to stop in Port Angeles to pick up our permit, and arrived (not on purpose) a couple minutes before 8 am, when they opened. A line of 30 or so people were there trying to score walk-up permits, and we started envisioning spending an hour waiting in line, while each group optimized their plan based on the available options. But fortunately, there was a special line for people like us ... with reservations just looking to pick up their permits. So 10 minutes later, we were off on the hour-long drive to the trailhead.
The hike was absolutely fantastic. A bit of a grind both in and out, but fantastic! Classic old-growth forest transitioning to subalpine meadows dotted with lakes, and ridge walks with killer views of the adjacent drainages as well as the Mt Olympus massif. And the flowers!!! Constantly changing and surprising! The Olympics are actually home to quite a number of unique species that were added to the usual mix. They made progress difficult for Tom, as they kept tugging on his camera! A few clouds kept the temperatures under control during the climb up, then departed to give crystal clear views. And, amazingly enough, Tom found the campsite where he expected it with the tent already set up. The bugs were a bit of a nuisance at camp, so we wandered our own ways in the late afternoon and after dinner.
We explored a bit more in the morning, before heading back down about noon. The hike out quickly dropped off the ridge by lovely Heart Lake, then along cascading streams through meadows, followed by a long forest walk following the Sol Duc River. It was much hotter than the day before, and the people grinding their
way up the hill toward Heart Lake really looked like they were feeling
it. We felt fortunate for the cooler temperatures and cloud cover on our ascent! While the miles along the Sol Duc River got tiring, the forest was quite a treat, with huge, ancient trees and fern undergrowth!
We arrived at the trailhead a little before 5 pm, and decided to stop in Port Angeles to get a meal. Great idea, but it being 6 pm on a Sunday, all the tourists using the town as a base for exploring Olympic National Park also had a similar idea, and were likely using Yelp, too. The first place (a burger and shakes drive-thru) had 2 lines of cars way out into the street. The second choice was a brew pub, but the wait there was and hour and a half! So, we walked down the block and got slices of pizza to tide us through. Google Maps did a great job of directing us to scenic routes around a couple of significant backups on the drive back, and we arrived home at 8:45 pm. Brian, whose MO is to pack it all in, then mentioned something about how the Olympics really aren't really set up for a weekend backpack! Kinda true, but definitely worth all the effort!
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| Deer Lake |
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| Bear Grass and Heather |
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| Heather |
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| Avalanche Lillies |
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| Trail beneath Bogachiel Peak |
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| Tiger Lillies |
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| Lunch Lake in Seven Lakes Basin |
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| Red Indian Paintbrush |
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| Ridge near Bogachiel Peak |
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| Blue Glacier on Mt Olympus |
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| Carpet of Avalanche Lillies |
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| Mt Olympus (left) and Mt Tom |
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| Evening light on Bear Grass |
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| Seven Lakes Basin |
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| Mt Olympus |
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| Sunset on Mt Tom |
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| Sunset over Seven Lakes Basin |
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| Morning above Seven Lakes Basin |
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| Awesome campsite! |
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| Lupines and Mt Olympus massif |
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| Mama Mountain Goat |
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| Kid Mountain Goat |
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| Heart Lake |
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| Almost done! Tired, but still in one piece! |
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| Forest Ferns |
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| Forest along Sol Duc River |
Activities
- Backpacking: Sol Duc River > Deer Lake > High Divide > Heart Lake > Sol Duc River
5-Star Moments
- Flowers, flowers, flowers!! Just about burst Tom's smile!
- Killer views of Mt Olympus!
- Sunset over 7 Lakes Basin!
Random Scenes
- Just as we were finishing breaking camp, a female mountain goat and her kid
visited our site ... probably a daily habit to see what last night's
campers left behind. The shedding mom looked pretty disheveled, but the
kid was cute as a button. We did a little dance with them ... they'd
walk straight towards us, we'd yell at them to go away, they'd circle around a
bit more and approach again, and so on! It ends up that a multi-year
effort to remove almost all the goats from the Olympics (they are not
native, and were introduced for hunting) was supposed to start during
the several weeks before our trip. They (the removers) had permits to
fly helicopters into the area to get them, but somehow didn't have the
permits to land and release them in the Cascades. So, unbeknownst to
them, these goats were living in the area on a year's reprieve.
Random Questions
- You're on a premier hike in a premier National Park, and you're 10 miles from the car, above treeline. You've found a great rock a bit off the trail to sit on (with a commanding view of Mt Olympus), and are just soaking it all in. Is it ok to be miffed if other hikers come and sit down 10 feet from you? Is there a good way to politely ask them to move further away, without them thinking you're a jerk?
Tom's Daily Stress Points
- None, once all the stars aligned prior to the trip!
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