Despite the lack of sleep and the start of our mosquito plight (that would plague us for the rest of our trip), we started strong and made good time to Bogachiel Peak pass, our first pass of several.
In stark contrast to our beach hike, the sun was out and the sky was mostly clear. This combined with an unfortunate haze that clung to the mountains meant our photos didn't turn out as well as they could have, but the views were definitely still breathtaking. The major reason this hike is so popular is because the trail follows a ridge line where on one side, you get picturesque views of Mount Olympus, and all its glaciers, and on the other side you get gorgeous views of the Seven Lakes Basin. Despite all the mosquitoes we tried to take in all this beauty. The pictures definitely do not do it justice.
The high divide trail between Bogachiel Peak and Heart Lake has some of the most stunning high mountain vistas we've seen, even compared to Colorado. Verdant meadows bursting with wildflowers of every color juxtaposed with pine trees, snow, mountain lakes, and rocky slopes...ah this what we needed to recharge our alpine-loving batteries. Granted it is a bit wetter over in the PNW and the collective elevation of these mountains tends to be lower, so the landscape can't be directly compared to Colorado, but this is close enough. And if it weren't for the mosquitoes, we'd have spent a bit more time going off on spurs and trying to get that perfect photo of Mount Olympus.
Once we made it to Heart Lake, by about early afternoon, we were finally over all the major passes and headed back into the trees. The rest of the hike was slowly sloping downhill, alternating between forests and open meadows. We had plenty of water sources to fill up our bladders now and even saw some frogs and this weird flowering fungus that, according to my non-expert quick Google search, looks suspiciously like pinesap. This is the second time we've seen flowering fungi in the pacific areas of the continental US. Our first time was in Yosemite NP where we saw snow plants.
The only thing I'm a little peeved about on this trip was this: we were basically promised mountain goats on this trip (by the forest service folks and all the websites talking about this loop). The guy at the visitors center specifically said beware of "aggressive" mountain goats that want to lick your sweaty hands and sweaty clothes (cue me squealing with delight at that idea). But we did not see a single mountain goat! Granted, we hit the passes and Heart Lake (apparently where they frequent) right at peak early afternoon, with the highest temperatures and full sunshine. So it could be they just needed to retreat to some shade until late afternoon. But I was a little disappointed because, as Dan knows, I love mountain goats! We also hardly saw any other animal life, save the occasional marmot, frog, or large bird. This makes it sound like this trip wasn't amazing though, so let me clear that up: I loved this hike. It was definitely one of most gorgeous hikes we've done in quite a while. I'd highly recommend Sol Duc Loop for anyone visiting this part of Washington. And the best part is, it is definitely possible to do in 1 night, like we did. We did pass one older gentleman on our way to Deer Lake the first day who was just finishing his hike of the entire loop in one day. So that is also possible!
After making it back to the trailhead we decided to grab a hotel in Port Angeles and take advantage of an extra night in a hotel. Our next trip was scheduled to be 5 nights, so we really wanted (and needed) to recoup and take a hot shower. After grabbing a milkshake at the first place we could find (that's our post-hike staple), we headed to Port Angeles to find a nice brewery and relax. Our next trip was a whole different adventure.