At the beginning of the hike we passed the beautiful Sol Duc Falls.
A bit further up the trail Jamie and I posed on a bridge crossing Canyon Creek.
After Canyon Creek the hike began to gain elevation. While climbing the clouds parted and were greeted with sunshine. Halfway up the trail we came across Deer Lake which offered a wonderful view.
As our hike continued up we came upon some snow fields. Even though it was September the snow had not melted from the previous winter. We passed over a ridge and headed along a mountain side trail filled with wild flowers. We were able to get a glimse of Mount Olympus, but I declined to take a picture since I thought I would see it again on the trip.
After some more climbing we headed over a ridge and dropped into the Seven Lakes Basin area which was mostly covered with snow. We were able to find a dry spot and made camp. We talked with the ranger and found out that we were one of the first groups up there for the summer. The extreme weather from earlier in the year had buried the area in snow. Besides some frogs and a salamander the only wildlife we found was a deer who wandered through our camp.
During the evening the clouds moved in and raindrops started to fall. It rained most of the night and we had to to throw on our rain gear a head back down the trail. We hiked all eight miles back in the rain, but everyone was in good spirits.
Before heading over the first ridge I looked back at our camp area. It looked like it was winter with all the snow and fog.
We made it back to the cars very wet, but everyone had a good time. Jamie now wants to go backpacking again even though it rained. I had to convince her that normally backpacking trips are done without the rain.
September 4-5, 1999