I decided to go check out the Happy Lake Ridge before the easy access is shut down tomorrow. The trip report may be kind of pointless, since I doubt it will see much use for the next 3 years. But trip reports are few and far between for it, so here it is:

 The park service's recent trail report I found quite misleading, as there is not nearly as much snow as I expected from that. I took snowhoes, but they were pointless, as the snow was only intermittent, and much of it was steep sidehill where snowshoes are no help. Heavy boots and ski poles were a good combination for me.

  Started on a beautiful clear Saturday, hiking up the east end of Happy Lake Ridge from the Olympic Hot Springs Rd. 2 cars at the trailhead, 2 day hikers on the trail heading down as I approached the Happy Lake side trail.

  The trail is in good shape all the way up, with an impressive undergrowth of salal at the bottom, and vanilla leaf and roses closer to the top. There are two springs near the trail 3/4 of the way up - one is above the trail and has very nice icy cold, clear water pouring from a bark spout at the trail. The other is just below the trail. Lots of saprophytes blooming on the way up - pinesap, pinedrops, candystick, 2 kinds of coral roots, as well as salal, twinflower, pipsissewa, a few other kinds of orchids, Clintonia, a few starflowers, Campanula scouleri, purple and yellow violets, and probably a number I've forgotten.

  The trail gets a bit brushy near the ridge crest (mostly Rhododendron albiflorum, I think, and blueberries), and there are some snowdrifts starting around 4600'. And the lilies. The entire 7 miles of ridge crest has almost omnipresent thick beds of Erythronium montanum, and towards the west end (Crystal Ridge vicinity) E. grandiflorum. By far the biggest, most impressive display of these lilies I've ever seen. They are just everywhere, and at peak bloom right now. Many tens of thousands along there. And some extensive areas of spring beauties blooming, as well.

  At about 4800', maybe a half mile (maybe more...) before the lake turnoff, solid snow begins. The trail route is pretty easy to predict, though, and the going is easy. The basin above the lake is pretty well drifted in with snow. Another quarter mile or so past the junction the solid snow continues, with some steep slopes to sidehill. Then there are only the occasional drifts from there to the Aurora Ridge trail junction. Although some of those drifts are steeply sloping across the trail, and a steep (if short) climb up and down. Nice views now and then both to north and south - Hurricane Hill, Mt. Carrie, Cat Peak, Mt. Olympus, Ediz Hook, etc. Just a few blowdowns in this section, nothing difficult.

  I hiked out the Aurora Divide Trail nearly to the junction with the Barnes Creek trail, and it was more of the same. Lilies blooming, a few blowdowns, some snowdrifts. There is also some weird geology with some sinkhole-like features (collapsed headwall?), and a nice gravelly patch with lots of paintbrush, Lomatium, onions, lupines etc. No sign of humans here, and lots of flowers coming up through the trail, or encroaching from the sides (lilies, valerian, etc). The trail is a bit slopey and slumpy, but easy enough to follow.

  There is some more steep, NW-facing snow slope just west (aka south) of the Happy Lake Ridge/Aurora Divide Trail junction - this was perhaps the worst of the snow I saw, but even that was no big deal if you're used to walking on snow. The trail continues on ambling along the ridge, with more flowers, more snowdrifts, a few more blowdowns, more views. The Crystal Ridge area had some nice gravelly flower gardens on the south-facing slopes. And Crystal Ridge itself looks like a nice, open flowery area early in the year (like now), although I didn't go out there.

  The last mile along the ridge (W of Crystal Ridge) surprised me with perhaps the most extensive snow. Lots of snowy glades, and not always obvious where the trail was, except for the tracks of day trippers up from Boulder Lake. Nothing too tricky, just unexpected.

  The entire descent to Boulder Lake is completely snow free, although the area immediately around the lake has extensive snow. At least a few campsites at Boulder Lake are dry - I didn't spend much time there. Lots of people there, as well - the first people since the 2 day hikers on the previous day.

  There is almost no snow below Boulder Lake, just a long, rooty, rocky descent. And the biggest and most numerous blowdowns of the hike. Perhaps 8 good sized ones from the lake down to the hot springs campground. A couple of them required leaving the trail to get around (I think only one of those up on the ridge did).

  There was no one at the campground, and surprisingly few at the hot springs for the last day they were accessible. I even had the best pool to myself for a while. There were 30 cars at the trailhead, though.

  By the way, can anyone explain why the park service ripped up all the asphalt on the old road, but left ridges of gravel on either side, with absolutely no drainage? I fear the trail/road may erode pretty badly, as there is no place for the water to go but down the trail for most of it. It certainly has a lot of water flowing and puddling on it in the winter.

  I didn't see much wildlife, nor even tracks in the snow. A couple of grouse, some juncos and robins and thrushes and such, some deer tracks by Boulder Lake... that was it.

 Overall, this was a great hike - some quiet and isolation (no one has hiked the Aurora Ridge bit in the last month or more, and not many the Happy Lake Ridge) and lots of flowers, and some views. If there is a few weeks of summer this summer, it will be quite a pleasant stroll after the snow melts down some more.

  Oh, yeah, found some ripe wild strawberries on the roadside while walking from the end of the road back to the Happy Lake Ridge trailhead. Yum.

The Olympic Hot Springs Road and these trails are closed through October 2010 for construction on the Lake Mills Delta and the Boulder Creek Trail Rehabilitation Project. Visit Olympic National Park's website at: http://www.nps.gov/[…]/wilderness-trail-conditions.htm#CP_JUMP_150133 for the latest updates before heading this way.

Arrived at the end of Olympic Hot Springs Rd (Appleton Pass trailhead) at 8pm. Was surprised to find more than a dozen cars there this late on a Tuesday, but there was still plenty of space to park.

The short hike to the Boulder Creek campground followed an old road. There were several washouts, all of which could either be hopped over or had some kind of bridge. The campground isn't located down by the river, but in a beautiful bit of forest above the river. Even though there appeared to be quite a few people camping there, the campground was large enough to not feel crowded. There was a small stream a bit further along the trail, which seemed like a good option for getting water.

Checked out the hot springs the following morning (down and across the river from the campground). Resisted the urge to jump into any of the sulfur-scented, shallow pools along the trail, even though we had the place to ourselves.

The trail up to Boulder Lake was in good condition, with few blowdowns. Passed a sign with a helpful map of the campground upon arriving at the lake. Being the first party to arrive at Boulder Lake, we chose one of the two campsites on the small peninsula. Two or three other parties arrived later.

Tried to follow the east ridge up to Boulder Peak that afternoon. Started out on a well-defined trail towards Three Horse Lake. There appeared to be an intermittent climber's trail that was following the ridge (mainly on the north side). But we gave up upon reaching a steep and slippery section. Descended via a gully, which turned out to be another (more direct) climber's trail. No issues with that approach, other than a trickle of water in the middle section of the gully. Back at camp, the mosquitoes were eagerly awaiting our return.

Tried again the following day, this time from the north ridge. The trail sign that marks the Happy Lake Ridge trail appeared to be missing, but the junction was obvious (to someone with a map). Followed that trail up to the last switchback, and bushwacked along the ridge from there (on the way back we found a faint climber's trail that joins the main trail a bit further up). Encountered just one short section that was problematic (traversing loose gravel on a steep slope with some exposure).

Continued along the Happy Lake Ridge and down to Happy Lake. Other than a few blowdowns, no issues with this trail. Surprised to find only three proper (though large) campsites around Happy Lake, but no other parties joined us. The lake was pretty enough, but the water didn't look inviting, and instead of fish there were a lot of frogs, as became evident the moment the sun set.

Climbed up to the ridge east of the lake the following morning, and attempted to follow it, but gave up soon as not all members of our party felt comfortable scrambling on sharp, crumbling rock.

Packed up camp and headed back up to the Happy Lake Ridge trail, which we followed down some long switchbacks to the (small) Happy Lake Ridge trailhead. One of the members of our party had left her car there, thus saving us a 1+ mile road walk.

Wildlife: We had been looking out for marmots, but didn't see (or even find signs of) a single one. Some squirrels up close, and a bear from far away.

Wildflowers: Pink Heather and White Rhododendron were most ubiquitous, but many others were blooming as well. But only few early flowers such as Avalanche Lilies were left.

Olympic Hot Springs is an easy two mile walk down a crumbling paved road. I spoke to a ranger on the way out who mentioned that the asphalt is going to be torn up, and a proper trail built in its place within the next few years. During the time this work is being done, access to this trail will be blocked.

We continued up the trail toward Boulder Lake, and began hitting snow and ice patches at about 3500'. The trail up to this point is in generally good shape. A few large blowdowns make this trail impassable to stock.