In 2014 we went on our first backpacking trip through Glacier National Park in Montana. I definitely caught the bug, and have ever since been trying to find time to go again. Lucky for us, the Pacific Northwest is full of places to hit the backcountry trail. We decided Olympic National Park would provide a good opportunity to explore another National Park, and get into the backcountry.
The Plan
Though Olympic is another National Park, it appeared to be much less popular(for obvious reasons) then Glacier. There is no shuttle through the park to provide easy pickup/dropoff service, so a lot of plans were in and out routes, which I didn’t want to do. We had hoped to do some of the rainforest area, but ended up picking the 7 Lakes Basin area. It looked like a decent loop with good views of Mt Olympus and some alpine lakes.
Another difference between Olympic and Glacier was how the permits were handled. Whereas Glacier would just save up any forms sent in prior to April 14th for a random assortment, Olympic would just ignore any reservation forms received prior to the April 14th date. Permits are so cheap($2/person/day) that we just added on 3 more people with the hopes of finding people to fill those permits.
The Prep
Camping at Lunch Lake
Last fall we sold our car with the plan to utilize bikes as our primary mode of transportation, relying on ZipCar/Car2Go, friends, and the errant rental car to suit our vehicular needs. For the most part this worked out ok, but over time started to realize the pain in not being able to get out to do much hiking unless we wanted to drop some cash on renting a car for the better part of a day. This meant that throughout the summer leading up to the Olympic trip we did a lot fewer hiking trails then we did last year in preparation for Glacier. Fortunately, with the lower milage, and the fact we biked everywhere this summer, I wasn’t too worried about being in shape for the trip.
Backpacking has a fairly-high cost barrier to entry, in that you need a lot of gear to get started and enjoy yourself. This meant last years Glacier trip ended up being a lot more expensive, because we had to purchase so much stuff new. Luckily, that gear is mostly reusable so this year we had little we needed to purchase. Besides food, I had been making a list of hiking gear I’d like to replace before going again. My top 2 items were tent and sleeping pad. And those ended up being the only two we got replaced this year. We got new self-inflating pads, and a new backpacker friendly tent, both of which worked out ok. I might write another blog post with short reviews of each of the products in more detail. The packs, hiking poles, sleeping bags, and cooking gear we were able to use what we had already.
Since we had gotten extra permits, I was able to convince my friend Doron to join us backpacking. He had never done a multi-day hike before, and so had to put together his own gear package. Fortunately, we were able to share a lot of the gear and lessen the up-front costs needed to spec out a full equipment list. This plus being able to borrow a backpack meant he was able to get going at a relatively low cost.
As the date drew nearer, we found our friends, Alyssa and Josh, were also to make the trip with us, so we set a plan for the 5 of us to hit the park together.
The Drive
Just a few days before we left, we added another new companion. Marceline, the Vampire Queen, joined the family. This Jeep meant we wouldn’t need to rent a car in order to drive up to the Olympic Peninsula. However, Marceline did not get a AC recharge, so it was very hot drive up north. All in all it took about 5 hours with a stop at the ranger station in Port Angeles. By the time we got to the trailhead we were already hot and sweaty. It was late afternoon, but the northern sun doesn’t go down till late in the summertime.
The Walk
Day 1
Since we had arrived to the trailhead late in the day, the plan was to only hike a few miles on the first day. We grabbed our packs from the car, and set out for the trail. 3 miles in we found the Sul Duc river and crossed the bridge. This was a beautiful river and I was looking forward to hiking alongside it.
There was no marked camp site around, but there was some wide open space, so we set our packs down. I did some quick scouting around in the dying light, but I couldn’t find anything else that resembled a campsite. Since we were right by the river we sat on rocks and cooked our meal there. We had packed some heavier stuff and stuff that might spoil for the first night since it was a short hike. This included 1 can of beer I brought on this trip, a Hopworks IPA. By the time we had finished setting up our gear and eating the sun was setting so we packed it in for the night. I fell asleep with the sound of a running river.
Day 2
The second day was day of climbing. Started with a slow include through wooded landscape and brush, the trees thinned out but never left us. We followed the Sul Duc river(and tributaries) for most of the entire day. The sun twinkled through the tree tops and we just kept climbing. Thus far the hiking terrain was very similar to the other day hikes we’ve done in the area.
The campsite for this evening was again by running water, which was handy for re-filling our packs. This campsite was set along side a small pool that was filled by a waterfall and then continued off into a smaller stream downhill from our campsite. We got to the campsite early enough in the day that we decided to take a swim in the water. The entire area was still in tree cover, and so it was very shaded. The pool was deep enough to come up to my chest, but was very very cold. I didn’t stay very long but it made for a good way to wash some dirt off my body. We hung out around the campsite and played rummy for the evening.
Day 3
Third day was the last of the major climbing. We left the trees fairly quickly, and came to some great views of the surrounding vistas. Before climbing up to the ridge surrounding 7 lake basin we stopped at another smaller alpine lake and talked with another backpacker who was hanging out on the lake side before continuing his journey.
Then the serious climbing began. The ridge was very steep, and it was slow going. The reward was well worth it however, it was on these peaks we saw some beautiful views of Mt Olympus and the Hoh rain forest. We could also look back down on where we had come from and climbed along the ridge and looked down into the 7 lakes. Due to the lack of rainfall, and high temperatures, the whole pacific northwest(in reality a lot of the US) was experiencing wild fires, and places that weren’t on fire were seeing the smoke from the fires. This included Olympic National Park in fact one fire was in the rainforest itself, which really brought home the climate impact on the region. Fortunately for us, the fires were nowhere near us. What it did mean was most of the vistas were shrouded in a reminder of smoke.
Our campsite for the 3rd night was Lunch Lake, which was one of the lakes down in the basin. This meant a very steep downward hike into the basin this lake resided in. This landscape was very different then the previous days hike of tree covered soft dirt. Here was firm rocks and sharp cliff faces. The lunch lake campsite was much more spread out then the previous 2 campsites with several tent sites spread around the lake, a pit toilet, and a ranger outpost. We arrived in early afternoon when the sun was the hottest. After the heavy climb and descent of the day we were all pretty worn out so we sprawled out across some flat space and recovered for a while. After I felt some strength return, I decided to go check out the lake. These alpine lakes were entirely fed from winter snow melt and rains, there was no inlet or outlet. The years drought had impacted the regional lakes in noticeable ways, including some being empty entirely. Luckily lunch lake was big enough to still have plenty of water for swimming in. Since there were no trees around, this lake got the full amount of sunlight that day and was much warmer then the previous nights pond. After spending some time swimming and lounging about, we made dinner.
Because this area didn’t have nearly the amount of tree cover our previous sites had, we were able to get an actual sunset. This vista provided probably the best views of the entire trip. Our campsite looked over a valley with another lake at the bottom, and we could sit on rocks above and watch the shadows grow longer. Josh took a long time-lapse of the sunset on the wall of the basin we were in. The reds and oranges on the rock were otherworldly in beauty. Some people camping in a neighboring site came walking by mentioning they had seen a bear on the ridge wall across the basin. As we relaxed in the dusk we continued to try and spot a bear among the wildlife. Also, due to the lack of trees, our campsite went from baking hot to cold very quickly. Sadly as the sun set, a bunch of clouds came rolling in and blocked any good starscapes.
Day 4
The next morning was still chilly, the sun took a while to get over the basin ridges. We didn’t get any great sunrise vistas, due to being down in the basin. It also kept the campsite chilly in the morning. After we had packed our gear up, Emily and I walked over to the privy for the mornings business. While we were waiting in line, we saw a black bear meander through the campground. The bear walked over a hill and through another campers site and kept walking. It was the first time we had seen a bear in the wild, and it sort of took me aback. We told the rest of our party, and Josh took off to see if he could get some photos.
Back at our site, we packed everything up and set out. Because we were deep in a basin, we had a big initial climb up the steep wall. Here we ran into the bear again, and so we took a break and watched him(or her) climb their own way up the basin wall. After that short hike we continued the climb. By the time we got to the top it, we were pretty wore out. Fortunately that was really the only climbing we had for the day.
The rest of the days hike was spent going down alongside the other side of the basin ridge back into the forest. The topo map I had seemed had proven several times this trip to be incorrect, as we continued to find the milage was off. When we got to our planned spot for lunch, we determined we only had a few miles left to go for the day. Because of this we spent a good long time hanging out at the lake, lounging in the sun, waiting for food to get cooked and such. The lake was filled with fish, and Josh tried to rig up a way to catch some, but no luck.
After spending a long break at the lake, we continued our downward trek. The plan was to camp fairly close to the cars again this night, and making for an easy leave in the morning. Josh and Alyssa had to be drive home, and wanted to get a start as soon as possible. However, the further down the hill we hiked, the more we realized we had most of the day left and were practically to the car. When we got to our planned campsite we were only a few miles from the car, and it was only 2pm or so. Sitting around the campsite, we brainstormed options and finally decided to head back to the cars. We threw our packs on and headed down the hill. The last miles didn’t fly by, but you could definitely tell everyone was looking forward to getting their pack off and sitting in a comfortable seat. When we reached our cars, we made the hour trek back to port angeles and stopped in the ranger station. They were able to tell us of a nearby car-camping site we could set up for the evening. After we dropped our stuff off there, we went into town and enjoyed some food at a local brewery. Very different then the last few days together, but a great way to wrap up a trip in Olympic National Park.
The Closing
After we finished hiking in Olympic, Emily and I hopped on a ferry to Victoria BC and spent a few days hanging out there while Doron drove Marceline back to Portland but thats part of a whole other story.
Olympic National Park is a very diverse park, and thats what will draw me back. We saw only a portion, but between the coastal region, the drier plains, glacier mountains, and the rainforest there are a lot more areas I’d love to get back and check out.
These are the breaks 