Correct Map: Lake Crescent / Happy Lake Ridge, Washington
Green Trails Map: Lake Crescent, Wa. No. 101
Agency: Olympic National Park
This trail follows the divide between the Sol Duc and Lyre Rivers. Although it begins on the Sol Duc, it is more closely allied to the Lyre and therefore has been included in this section.
Beginning 2.5 mi/4.0 km south of US 101 on the Sol Duc Hot Springs Road (see Sol Duc chapter for road description), the trail climbs to Aurora Ridge, then follows the watershed until the path merges with the Aurora Divide Trail, where Aurora Ridge becomes Happy Lake Ridge. (The change in terminology is arbitrary because the ridge is unbroken; thus it reflects man’s penchant for classifying geographic features into ever smaller units.) The ridge does not rise above timberline, but the route crosses meadows that provide excellent views. Because this trail is not one of the popular “beaten paths,” the hiker is more apt to find solitude here than on most trails that are close to roads.
Beyond the parking area (1260 ft/384 m), the trail follows an abandoned logging road bordered by colonnades of tall alders. This area, logged before the national park was created, is now covered with second-growth forest. The trail crosses several brooks, then leaves the logging road and enters virgin forest, consisting mostly of Douglas-fir. When the ridge crest is attained, one can see, through the trees, sky below on either side. The trail now follows the rounded crest of Aurora Ridge, through dense stands of western hemlock and silver fir, to a junction (5.5 mi/8.9 km; 3700 ft/1128 m) with a path that leads left to the Eagle Lakes, the source of Eagle Creek.
The spur trail climbs a bit, then drops sharply, ending at the largest lake (0.6 mi/1.0 km; 3075 ft/ 937 m). Bordered by tall conifers, it lies on a bench, and a stream flows into it from the south. The second lake, slightly lower in elevation and to the north, is little more than a long, narrow pothole half-filled with silt and aquatic plants. The third and smallest lake is located still farther down the slope.
Beyond the Eagle Lakes, the Aurora Ridge Trail meanders through stands of silver fir, western hemlock, and Douglas-fir, then makes a gradual ascent, no longer on the ridgetop but traversing the steep south side. The trail then returns to the ridge, where one can look to either side. Here the forest consists mostly of true firs, and the undergrowth is sparse. On the south slope of Sourdough Mountain, the trail crosses a big meadow overgrown with juniper, ferns, lupine, huckleberry, and wild strawberry. The beautiful view here includes Mount Olympus, Mount Tom, and intervening forested ridges, as well as the vista up the North Fork Sol Duc.
Sourdough Camp (8.5 mi/13.7 km; 4550 ft/1387 m) is located north of the trail in a little meadow just beyond the big one. The shelter that once stood here is nothing but a heap of ruins today. This camp is not inviting because the terrain is not level and water is scarce, although a nearby path leads to a ravine where it can be found in early summer.
The trail now begins a long, ascending traverse of a steep sidehill, then switchbacks down to a brackish pond and a meadow marked by snags with bleached trunks. A tiny stream crosses the trail here.
Beyond the junction with Aurora Creek Trail (10.4 mi/16.7 km; 4100 ft/ 1250 m), located in a thick stand of silver fir, the trail descends a bit, crosses a little meadow, where Mount Olympus is once again visible, then climbs toward Aurora Peak. Skirting just below the summit, the trail contours to Aurora Spring (12.0 mi/19.3 km; 4450 ft/1357 m). The tiny rivulet emerges from the bottom of a slope covered by meadowland and subalpine firs. The spot is too swampy for camping, but tents can be pitched on the ridge above.
East of Aurora Spring, patches of forest, which extend to the ridge crest, alternate with a succession of ever larger meadows, from where one can see for miles. Most of the time the trail traverses the south slope of Aurora Ridge, but now and then it follows the narrow divide or drops into the mountain hemlock forest on the north slope. At various points one can look up and down the North Fork Sol Duc and glimpse, beyond intervening timbered ridges, the snowy peaks of Olympus, Tom, Carrie, and Appleton. The view to the north includes the valley of Barnes Creek. Occasionally, part of Lake Crescent is visible, but generally it is hidden by Mount Storm King.
One is most impressed, however, by the vista of the North Fork Sol Duc. The river is not visible, hidden in the dense forest, but the beautiful scene down the valley includes truncated spurs that appear to alternately overlap each other, like shingles, as they extend toward the stream from the bordering ridges, thus creating through the forest a zigzag line that marks the river’s course. The valley is heavily timbered, and the view of virgin forest, unmarred by fire, logging, or road building, is one of the finest in the national park, comparable on a lesser scale to what a more famous vista was like before it was impaired by logging—the view from Kloochman Rock, overlooking the Queets Valley (see Kloochman Rock Trail).
This stretch of trail is particularly delightful during Indian summer in late September and October. The ice on Mount Olympus glitters in the soft, pale sunlight, the wind whispers in the clumps of subalpine firs on the ridge, and the tall meadow grasses undulate restlessly with every vagrant breeze.
Beyond the last meadow, the trail traverses dense forests of silver fir to a junction with the Aurora Divide Trail (15.1 mi/24.3 km; 4750 ft/1448 m).
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