Dec 1 ONP Deer Lake ski tour....and beyond...
12/15/09
WA Olympics
4529
5
Trail is about 25% snow covered to Deer Lake from the Soleduck parking lot. Clear skies and cold temps made for fast climbing on solid snowpack past the Lake. Better on boots than on skins. Deeply runneled and icy snowpack made for almost impossible skiing on the north facing basin above Deer Lake.... not worth a dam for turns! Almost no southerly aspect in the basin is keeping the snow icy and treacherous. The route to Bogachiel Peak will need crampons until it warms up or we get more snow.
Beautiful day but I am afraid there is not enough daylight this time of year to complete the Seven Lake Basin Tour in a day.. better give it at least two days minimum!
There was no sign of the 2 inches of snow that fell on Hurricane Ridge the previous week which made for some good turns on frozen granular on southerly aspects this past weekend.
Beautiful day but I am afraid there is not enough daylight this time of year to complete the Seven Lake Basin Tour in a day.. better give it at least two days minimum!
There was no sign of the 2 inches of snow that fell on Hurricane Ridge the previous week which made for some good turns on frozen granular on southerly aspects this past weekend.
Wow .....
Ambitious day trip this time of year. The slopes above Deer Lake would be fun skiing in good conditions, a multi-day trip is the best way to enjoy what this area has to offer.
Gary and Jan
Ambitious day trip this time of year. The slopes above Deer Lake would be fun skiing in good conditions, a multi-day trip is the best way to enjoy what this area has to offer.
Gary and Jan
Thanks for the report and info. That looks like an interesting place.
Thanks for the report. I'm hoping to get up there sometime in midwinter for a multi-day trip. There are lots of great slopes in & around 7 Lakes Basin. The road will be gated at the highway until April, but I'm thinking a mountain bike road approach should make it possible to get reasonably close to the trailhead well before then. If anyone has done this before I'd like to hear about it.
Ambitious for sure. I am supprised that the gate was (is?) still open. Was anyone else up there? When does it close?
I had planned to do the loop last spring but the bridge closure impaired my resolve. I hiked it this summer and have since modified my intended approach.
Jeff- I'm sure that you know but that is a long road. I had considered riding from the hwy but even in a car it keeps going and going and going. Not undoable by any means but if felt longer than it looked on a map.
Appleton Pass?
Wadda you think Gary?
I had planned to do the loop last spring but the bridge closure impaired my resolve. I hiked it this summer and have since modified my intended approach.
Jeff- I'm sure that you know but that is a long road. I had considered riding from the hwy but even in a car it keeps going and going and going. Not undoable by any means but if felt longer than it looked on a map.
Appleton Pass?
Wadda you think Gary?
author=Snow Bell link=topic=14701.msg61811#msg61811 date=1260348371]
Jeff- I'm sure that you know but that is a long road. I had considered riding from the hwy but even in a car it keeps going and going and going. Not undoable by any means but if felt longer than it looked on a map.
Appleton Pass?
Wadda you think Gary?
I think any way into Seven Lakes Basin before the Sol Duc road is open is a lot of work! ;)
Jan and I have biked the Sol Duc road many times, it is a great ride, especially when there is no traffic. It's about a 12 mile ride from the highway.
Here are 3 options and some rough estimates of distance and elevation gain.
1. Bike up Sol Duc road and enter 7 Lakes Basin via Deer lake. 12 miles biking, 6 + miles hiking and/or skinning, 4,000 + vf elevation gain.
2. Hike and/or skin from the Elwha to Appleton Pass and then descend to the Sol Duc, climb up through Sol Duc Park to Heart Lake. 14 miles
and 5,000 vf elevation gain. Appleton Pass and the surrounding area have some great skiing terrain and would be an excellent destination for
a multi-day trip. Here is a link to a TR from April, 2008
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=9858.0
3. Another possible option might be to hike up the Hoh River trail (9.5 flat miles) to the Hoh Lake trail and then go up to the High Divide from
there (5.5 miles of climbing). This would be about 16 miles of hiking and/or skinning and 4,000 vf elevation gain. Although we have hiked up
the Hoh lake trail in the summer, I am not certain this would be a viable winter route.
We have enjoyed the ski tours we have made into this area and will definitely revisit in future years.
Gary
Reply to this TR
Please login first: