May 10, 2006, Seven Lakes Basin Loop, Olympics
5/10/06
WA Olympics
2140
1
I last did the Seven Lakes Basin Loop on skis in April of '74, as a day trip with four others. At that time, we were all on skinny wooden skis made in Norway, complete with grip wax and lignostone edges. This time I was solo and I still chose fairly light gear--a pair of twenty-year old metal-edged nowax skis and equally old and light leather boots. I guess, in my mind, lightness was equated with speed for this day jaunt. I had qualms about visiting Olympic National Park because of all the different fees they charge these days, but nostalgia got the best of me.
I got started a little later (0700) than planned from the Soleduck trailhead. I chose the map-counterclockwise direction for this tour for the same reason we did it way back when. The reasoning was that of a ski-touring ranger (now retired) well known in these partsif theres a chance one might have to ford the upper Soleduck River (wet boots) due to lack of footlog or inability to locate footlog, its better to do so toward the end of a long day than near the start.
A couple of hours on the trail brought me to Deer Lake and thats where I put my skis on. I continued to follow basically the same route as the summer trail leading to the Basin. With the gain in elevation, the route follows a ridge leading eastward toward Bogachiel Peak. The ridge was eventually followed on its south side until reaching the important low point (col at just under 5000) on the ridge leading NW from Bogachiel Peak. I crossed that col to descend slightly into Seven Lakes Basin (with snow-covered Round Lake and Lunch Lake visible just down below) where I stayed relatively high and contoured eastward, eventually climbing gradually to reach the High Divide. Some of the most pleasant touring of the day was the traverse through the gently sloping snow-covered meadows of the upper Basin. I stayed mostly on the north side of the Divide where the travel was easier. There were occasional nice views of Mt. Olympus and the Bailey Range when I crested the Divide.
I reached the edge of Heart Lake Basin in late afternoon and thats where the big descent of the day began, past Heart Lake and down through Soleduck Park. With fairly narrow, light gear and trickier snow high up, the turns werent the nicest at times. But it was fun enough. I did experience some slight routefinding delay in lower Soleduck Park while trying to locate the footlog crossing of Bridge Creek. Once I found that, I removed my skis and followed the snow-covered trail switchbacking down through the timber to the crossing of the Soleduck. The amount of snow remaining in the upper Soleduck valley seems as much as any that I can recall in spring. Farther down the valley, it was a very pleasant evening walking through the forest primeval, with the song of the varied thrush and the sound of the river in the distance. I arrived back at the car after fourteen hours of glidin and hoofin. And I didnt even have to break out the headlamp. I had been lucky with the weather as well--it had remained sunny all day, with blue skies in the morning turning into high, thin overcast later in the day (I had noticed a ring around the sun and the sky had a steely look to it.) The snow was fairly consistent throughout the tournot completely consolidated spring corn at the higher elevations, but I wasnt really slogging much. One final thought: it might be interesting to try the Loop in the other direction sometime, for a change.
A couple photos (with cheap low-res camera).
A look back at Seven Lakes Basin from the High Divide:
A view of Mount Olympus from the High Divide:
I got started a little later (0700) than planned from the Soleduck trailhead. I chose the map-counterclockwise direction for this tour for the same reason we did it way back when. The reasoning was that of a ski-touring ranger (now retired) well known in these partsif theres a chance one might have to ford the upper Soleduck River (wet boots) due to lack of footlog or inability to locate footlog, its better to do so toward the end of a long day than near the start.
A couple of hours on the trail brought me to Deer Lake and thats where I put my skis on. I continued to follow basically the same route as the summer trail leading to the Basin. With the gain in elevation, the route follows a ridge leading eastward toward Bogachiel Peak. The ridge was eventually followed on its south side until reaching the important low point (col at just under 5000) on the ridge leading NW from Bogachiel Peak. I crossed that col to descend slightly into Seven Lakes Basin (with snow-covered Round Lake and Lunch Lake visible just down below) where I stayed relatively high and contoured eastward, eventually climbing gradually to reach the High Divide. Some of the most pleasant touring of the day was the traverse through the gently sloping snow-covered meadows of the upper Basin. I stayed mostly on the north side of the Divide where the travel was easier. There were occasional nice views of Mt. Olympus and the Bailey Range when I crested the Divide.
I reached the edge of Heart Lake Basin in late afternoon and thats where the big descent of the day began, past Heart Lake and down through Soleduck Park. With fairly narrow, light gear and trickier snow high up, the turns werent the nicest at times. But it was fun enough. I did experience some slight routefinding delay in lower Soleduck Park while trying to locate the footlog crossing of Bridge Creek. Once I found that, I removed my skis and followed the snow-covered trail switchbacking down through the timber to the crossing of the Soleduck. The amount of snow remaining in the upper Soleduck valley seems as much as any that I can recall in spring. Farther down the valley, it was a very pleasant evening walking through the forest primeval, with the song of the varied thrush and the sound of the river in the distance. I arrived back at the car after fourteen hours of glidin and hoofin. And I didnt even have to break out the headlamp. I had been lucky with the weather as well--it had remained sunny all day, with blue skies in the morning turning into high, thin overcast later in the day (I had noticed a ring around the sun and the sky had a steely look to it.) The snow was fairly consistent throughout the tournot completely consolidated spring corn at the higher elevations, but I wasnt really slogging much. One final thought: it might be interesting to try the Loop in the other direction sometime, for a change.
A couple photos (with cheap low-res camera).
A look back at Seven Lakes Basin from the High Divide:
A view of Mount Olympus from the High Divide:
Nice. The varied thrush does it for me too.
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