Hike along a raucous waterway into a quiet corner of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Amble aimlessly through groves of cedar, cottonwood, and towering ponderosa pines resembling pillars holding up the sky. Always within sight and sound of the crashing creek, you will find no dearth of great lounging-away-the-afternoon spots along the Chiwaukum.

From the trailhead kiosk, begin your walk by heading for a gated road that traverses private property. Hikers and horseback riders are allowed to walk this road to reach the actual trailhead. Hugging the creek in deep timber and passing just a couple of structures, the road walk is actually quite pleasant.

At 1.25 miles reach true trail (elev. 2000 ft), and after another 0.25 mile enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Traveling at first on a bench above the chattering (and in spring, roaring) Chiwaukum Creek, the trail soon comes down to creek level, where the water has tried to level the trail! Then it's back to higher ground. In spring and early summer the trail is lined with blooming calypso orchids, groundsel, trilliums, paintbrush, and the fun-to-say ballhead waterleaf. Look too for Tweedy's lewisia, a showy, somewhat rare blossom.

At 2.5 miles pass a nice creekside campsite (perfectly suitable for lunchtime napping as well) in a grove of western white pines. Farther upriver the trail meanders through pleasant flats of ponderosa pines, occasionally passing by a gargantuan specimen.

At 4.5 miles enter a forested area lacking old-growth giants, rife instead with cherry and aspen, species indicative of disturbance. Part of a private inholding (legacy of the railroad grants), the ancient pine forest here was "disturbed" by chain saws in the 1980s. Public outcry and protests from guidebook pioneers Harvey Manning and Ira Spring couldn't stop it. The parcel was eventually added to the Alpine Wilderness, but with substantially less board footage.

Reenter mature forest and, with the creek crashing beneath a formidable wall of rock, begin a short and steep climb of about 400 feet in 0.5 mile. Round a small knoll, and then descend slightly under a cool canopy of cedars to a precarious log crossing of Chiwaukum Creek (elev. 3300 ft). Here, 6 miles from your vehicle, is a good place to call it quits. Enjoy the creek chatter and the quiet of the surrounding wilderness.