August 22, 2018. Boulder Creek Campground to Deer Lake
I was feeling my age when I woke up. Thankfully, I only had a 16 mile day scheduled. I’m not a big hot spring guy, but today felt like an exception.
I hiked down to the hot springs. There were about seven. They ranged from shallow foot-soakers to large group- soakers. I chose a moderate sized one. Honestly, it stunk like sulfur and had an inch of mucky material on the bottom which swirled around at the slightest agitation. I lowered my feet in first. After liking the hot water, I sat down. Ten minutes was enough for me. I got out, rinsed off, and left.
Coincidentally, I ran in to Not Guilty who had also been camping at the same campground. He was just waking up so we chatted briefly before I took off.
While level in the early going, the “easy” day I was expecting vanished once I started uphill for Appleton Pass. The trail was rocky and steep. There were a few beautiful streams along the way and plentiful huckleberries. However, the switchbacks towards the top were surprisingly hard.
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I snacked at the peak and descended down a similarly steep trail. My knees protested, reminding me of their sacrifice yesterday.
Towards the bottom, it leveled out and had some gorgeous streams.
To make up for the down hill, I naturally had to go up along the Sol Duc River. Before getting on the ridgeline to hike the High Divide Trail, I joined about eight other people to get water at Heart Lake. An otherwise unremarkable lake, from above it is perfectly named.
Once on the High Divide Trail, it was like hiker turnpike. I passed couples, families, groups of college students, you name it. Campsites are strictly controlled in this highly popular seven Lakes Basin. Naturally, I passed a couple camped illegally on the ridge. Further, they were throwing food to some bird or animal. How I wished I had some tuna or peanut butter I could accidentally drop on their tent.
Despite the smoke, I loved the views down in to some of the Seven Lake Basin. I was naturally drawn to the sardonically named Lake Number 8. As the afternoon turned to evening, the crowds evaporated and I enjoyed the ridge walking.
At a critical juncture, I switched to another trail and descended for a good 20 minutes. I then encountered a couple about my age. The wife had braces on both legs but seemed okay. The husband had a huge pack and seemed to creak and groan with every uphill step. I was immediately concerned given the hour, their condition, and the distance they had yet to cover. I asked whether they needed water or electrolytes or food. They said they were ok, but for the next couple days I couldn’t help but wonder how they fared.
Just as the sun was starting to get behind the highest western peaks, I finally dropped down to Deer Lake, my designated campsite. I had heard this area was bear-heavy and it lived up to that reputation.
The first one was a large bear eating it’s way uphill. At first, it looked like my trail would lead me on a collision course. Fortunately, that was not true. I kept talking as I circled 50 or 60 feet above him with thick trees between us.
Next, there was a smaller black bear downhill. I had to talk for about 5 minutes before it looked up from its huckleberries. It gave me an annoyed look.
I was getting nervous as it got darker. I saw my third bear. This one had a gray muzzle like it was old. Again, I compared poorly to huckleberries and it barely acknowledged my existence.
Still on alert, I nonetheless drew a pretty firm conclusion that the multitude of berries greatly outweighed any interest I might generate. Glad to reach Deer Lake, I was eager to eat and get a campsite before total darkness.
At first, the only place I could find open was next to the toilet. Between the flies, smell, and door banging all night, I would rather stealth camp. Fortunately, and again I am not making this up, there was a llama camp. Miraculously, there were no llamas and I had a great, quiet campsite.
After eating my dinner up at the main cluster of campsites, I put my canister about 200 feet from my tent and fell into a deep, relieved sleep. That was the toughest 16 miles I’ve hiked in a long time.
backpacking over the hill 