Saturday, September 4, 2021

Olympic National Park with Kelly and Chase

 We had a wonderful mother/daughter backpacking trip with Kelly and Chase in early August. They landed on a Sunday morning and we explored Seattle with Alex. Then lunch for Grandpa's birthday. Then we headed to Port Angeles for the night. 

Here's my trip report from WTA:

Two-night backpacking trip with my childhood friend and our daughters age 11 and 13. Dropped a car at Sol Duc and took the Olympic Hiking Co shuttle to Hoh River (great driver - Joe). Warmed up on a crowded Hall of Mosses then hit the Hoh River Trail headed for Olympus Guard Station. Easy hike - moderate crowd, few bugs, great trail, temps in the 70s. Had a few unexpected River crossings, perhaps my map was out of date. At OGS, spent a long time searching for the perfect camping spot but finally found it out on the sand bar. Next day headed up Hoh Lake trail. It was tough and slow going. 1 mph for a fairly fit group. In 4-5 places big trees were down that we had to go over, under, or around but nothing crazy. Ran really low on water since no sources until nearing the lake. Only saw one other party the whole way up. Got to Hoh Lake early afternoon. It was full of cute tadpoles. Girls went swimming and it wasn’t too cold. Saw maybe 3 parties at the lake. Then headed to High Divide. Amazing 360 views. Trail in great condition. More people up here but not too bad. Long winding descent to Sol Duc Crossing for camp. Good water sources. Beautiful site with level spots for tents. Only drawbacks are getting to water was a little steep and it’s right on the trail so nighttime hikers woke us up. Next day descended to Sol Duc. Easy stroll. Lots of people by the falls. All told, 29.2 miles and 5,700 ft gain. Few bugs. Some flowers. Great views. Wonderful mother/daughter memories. Highly recommend. 




































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