Hiking at Sol Duc Hot Springs

After our last post about our visit to the Sol Duc Hot Springs we wanted to add some valuable information for those who want to do the same right now. When in the area, most visitors also want to get some hiking done once they entered and paid the admission fee to the Olympic National Park.

We are lucky our Golden Eagle Pass - you got to obtain it at the Park's Visitors Center - allows us entrance to all the National Parks in the US. Some nice benefit for being older! For those, who want to read more about hiking and camping in the Olympic National Park, I found the Olympic Park National Camping Page most helpful. OK let's get to our recommendations when visiting the Sol Duc Hot Springs right now.

When you want to do the hike to the Sol Duc Falls right now, don't take the trail from the Campgrounds A Loop (A Loop just opened last weekend when we were there) and B Loop (was still closed last week). The trail needs a lot of work done to remove the fallen trees and winter debris. This is currently not a trail for family hiking. If you want to walk, take the street to the trailhead. There is no heavy traffic or just drive your car to the parking for Sol Duc Falls. It's a 0.8 mile walk from there. There was still one big tree laying across the trail when we went, which made it hard on those people who are not in athletic condition but one can walk around it.

This area is offering lots of longer hikes to mountain lakes. Overnight camping is possible. Be aware that the trails can be buried under snow which often lingers into late summer. Route finding skills may be necessary. When we asked at Solc Duc Hot Springs Resort about the access to Lover's Lane (6 mile loop) and Mink Lake (2.6 mile one way), we were seriously discouraged and advised not to do those hikes yet. You may want to call the Wilderness Information Center 360-565-3100 for trail conditions before you head out. We tried our cell phone at different locations in the Park and had no connection whatsoever. So, don't rely on your cell phone for emergency situations when visiting Olympic National Park.

The Sol Duc Hot Springs RV Park worked perfect for us. And the price was right at $25/nt. You got to have a self-contained unit. There are no showers or restrooms on the parking ground but water and electric plug-ins come with your lot. However, it's just a short walk to the hot springs with the cleanest showers and bathrooms - everything gets cleaned 4x a day! - we have ever seen.

Pool hours are 9am - 8pm at $11/ adult, children 4 - 12 yrs $8 and seniors (62 yrs and older) $8. You will get a wristband for the day, so you can walk in and out of the pool area at your convenience. For those who are not coming with an RV, cabins with kitchen $172 (2 pers.)/nt. and w/o kitchen $141 (2 pers.)/nt. can be rented. Not cheap but they are very nice. And remember you pay for a unique location! We will be back at the Sol Duc Hot Springs soon!

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Olympic National Park Hiking Adventure

Our special hiking adventure in the Olympic National Park

Hello again Sequim lovers,
The weather in sunny Sequim has been gorgeous ever since the beginning of July with blue skies and wonderful temperatures. Nights and early morning hours are little nippy for Hawaii expatriates. We love it and plan as many outdoor adventures as possible. Besides picking berries in Sequim, it's hiking the Olympic Mountains.

Well, here is our latest one. Our dear friend Bruce, a regular at the Sequim Aquatic Center just like us, told us many times to start one of those magnificent hikes from a hiking trail head area shortly before the entrance to the Olympic National Park leading to Hurricane Ridge. There was no cloud in the sky Sunday morning. We packed our lunch and water, drove to Port Angeles, from there to the trail head parking, studied the map with all the different hikes and decided for a 3.4 mile hike to Lake Angeles but missing the most important note strenuous hike.

We would find out pretty soon. The happy wanderers were pretty soon huffing and puffing and wondering whether it would go up that steep for hours. Taking little breaks and admiring the path through the woods, the bubbling noise of Angeles Creek along our way up and up into the mountains and deeper forest, we thought we can do this. Well, after some steep hill hiking for about two hours, we really met a person coming down the hill and asked him for some hikers advise. The lonely hiker told us that he had done the hike the second time within this week, that we had the toughest part behind us and it would take us just half an hour to make it to Lake Angeles, which would be worthwhile all the efforts. That sounded comforting and encouraging and we doubled our efforts.

Well, always be aware that there are different hikers categories. The lonely wanderer was obviously in the experienced half while we are Sunday wanderers. Believe it or not but it took us another full hour to make it finally to the lake, having half of our sandwich on the way to refuel our energy reserves. Here comes the good part. The scenery of Lake Angeles was from another world with sparkling lake waters around a beautiful fairy tale island in the middle, high forest covered cliffs all around the lake with dark blue skies behind and with the unusual stillness of nature, only interrupted by a few frogs croaking, some dragonflies buzzing around us and fish sending bubbles to the surface of the lake. We were beamed into another world, a lost one, which we city people have long forgotten. We took it all in for future memories.

It got later in the afternoon. We had to tackle the descend, as one does not want to get stuck in the middle of the forest with no cell phone connection available, which we had assumed would be so much easier. In some way it was but soon we noticed that we added to our sore hamstring and calf muscles some even tighter quad muscles. After about 5 hrs we made it back to our car, feeling each muscle in our body. Do not ask us how we are feeling 2 days later. Despite of stretching the recovery happens slowly. Whether we would do it again, we kind of doubt it but this hike will become a special place in our other hiking experiences. If you are not up for this challenge, make sure to check what the hike is rated at. With greetings from the Sequimers in Olympic National Park

Tags: Vacation in Sequim, Hiking the Olympic Mountains, Olympic National Park