This is the rolling plateau just north of White Pass. Lots of lakes and lots of trails. In the wrong season, so do hordes of mosquitoes but I am thrilled to report that we had NO MOSQUITOES or other bothersome insects this beautiful Labor Day weekend. And postcard perfect weather the whole time, too. Berries were disappointing, found very few ripe ones though lots of bushes.
This was a 3 night backpack loop with three kids, ages 9, 9, and 5. Day 1: Started around 5:30 pm at Leech Lake trailhead at White Pass, north up the PCT about 2 miles to Deer Lake. Decent camps there, and a beautiful meadow on the other side of the PCT for moon gazing. Day 2: In the morning headed another 5 miles up the PCT to Pipe Lake. Some nice vistas and very pretty lakes along the way. Lots of small campsites, too. We camped on the little wooded promontory that sticks into Pipe Lake. Nice camp, and a very pretty lake; cliffs into the lake were a little nerve wracking with kids. Probably the best camp around Pipe Lake is actually three minutes further up the trail, on the next small lake, a grassy south facing site close to the trail with nice beachy water access. It was already occupied, however.
Day 3 we did the 4.5 mile RT, 1,100 foot gain day hike to Tumac Mountain, a cinder cone that sticks up about 600 feet above the surrounding plateau and gives fantastic 360 views, saw Mt. Stuart, Mt. Rainier, Adams, St. Helens, and lakes and forests below. The hike there is a mix of forest, meadows, and dramatic views back towards Mt. Rainier. Kids had a great time chasing tadpoles at a tiny pond on the way back.
Day 4: Hiked out via Dummbell and Cramer Lake to Dog Lake. Very pretty meadow just before Cramer Lake, with good lunch logs and an unmarked trail that heads east to Cramer and probably beyond. No obvious trail access to Cramer Lake once you leave that meadow intersection.
The last 4.9 miles from Cramer Lake to Dog Lake just flew by. One adult got a ride from some other hikers back to our car 2 miles and 600 back up the road.
All in all this was a perfect kid backpack - nice lakes, easy hiking, good day hiking, and NO bugs. Total distance including the Tumac day hike was 19.3 miles and 1900 feet elevation gain. Without the dayhike the loop alone would have been about 13 miles and 1300 very easy feet of gain. Saw plenty of other people including at least 5 PCT thru hikers.

I will do a quick writeup as I am still recovering from this hike :)

Before I start: Carry halfmile's maps! They were incredibly useful and helped us find water/ camping sites etc.

Also note: I split it up in the sections that I hiked as it was easier to read that way. I do not recommend going the distances that these camps require you to hike without the proper training/prep/experience.

Day 1: Hwy 12 to Two Lake:
The first 12 miles were relatively easy- minimal elevation gain/loss, no bugs, and clear trails. We met up with a through hiker at this point that flew all the way from Germany to hike the PCT- incredibly friendly person with a good attitude :) The Bumping River crossing was annoying- we had to take off our boots and walk through the rather chilly water. Rock hopping didn't seem possible. The weather turned quite cloudy/ foggy on the ascent past crag and buck lakes. Two lake had good water (but was .3mi off trail).

Day 2: Two Lake to Big Crow Basin:
The major water sources that you run across are the lakes that you pass- we were fairly damp due to the morning dew which ended up causing a bit of annoyance later on (we were not able to dry off for a while) From Dewey Lake down to 410- AMAZING scenery! Lots of people for a Wednesday- but I can see why! Quite Nice out there. 410 to Sheep lake was uneventful- talked to a few people as we walked by them. Sheep Lake is another good water supply (I would recommend filling up here as it is a while before the next water source) Sourdough Gap was pretty steep/rocky. Climbing up and over Scout Pass was tedious and we were incredibly happy to be done with it. Big Crow Basin has minor water sources- small amounts of flow- but manageable. Lots of fog at night (temps in low 40s) and incredibly windy.

Day 3: Big Crow Basin to Windy Gap:
This hike was the shortest of our days. Overall uneventful- be sure to hydrate and fill your water! It was incredibly cold hiking that day and we couldn't rest for long before getting too cold. Made it to Government Meadows where we met up with another PCT hiker- yet another really nice guy- ended up bumping into him a few more times that day. Government meadows has a decent stream to get water from (always filter/disinfect!). There is not much in the way of water between here and the last water source that is shown at mp2360 on the halfmile maps. Lots of ripe berries and bear scat here.

Day 4: Windy Gap (technically mp 2360) to Lizard Lake
Fill your water at mp2360 and hydrate like crazy! The spring is just downhill from the trail/campsites. Good water here. The next 23 miles to Lizard lake were incredibly dry. We did not look for the water that is 200m off trail at mp 2372 (right before Tacoma Pass) so we can't speak of the quality of that spring... We ended up getting 2L from the seasonal stream at Bearpaw Butte. This was not so good water... Took a long time to get 2L out of it... just barely a trickle. We headed off to lizard lake to find that it wasn't as natural of a lake as we were hoping- lots of vehicles going on the road and we talked to other hikers that were a little concerned about how much gunfire was happening earlier in the day there. We were cooked at this point so we hid off in the woods and filtered the water from the lake. Water is more plentiful and better quality after Lizard Lake- but keep in mind that there are about 23-24 miles of minimal water sources (if any)before Lizard. Just be sure to fill up whenever you can.

Day 5: Lizard Lake to Snoqualmie Pass:
We filled our water near Stirrup Creek and were incredibly happy to have fresh water once again! Dumped a bit of food on two PCT hikers here and conversed with other hikers as well. The trail has a bit more that is overgrown in this section and can be difficult to get through it (especially with walking sticks). Beyond that- Mirror Lake was beautiful and provided us with more water. The hike to Olallie Meadow was much better than a month ago- the avalanche debris near Silver peak is easily passable now.

So.. maybe that was a little longer than I thought it was- if I missed anything or if you want to know more- please let me know in the comments.

Finally- huge thanks to PCTA and all other crews that have/are working on the trail currently! They are making the trail much easier to pass through on.

On Sunday, I enjoyed hiking the Cold Creek/ Silver Peak loop in the Snoqualmie Pass area, as described in the out-of-print Mountaineers' guidebook, "100 Hikes in the South Cascades and Olympics". These trails get less use than the popular ones north of Snoqualmie Pass, perhaps because the mountains on this side of the pass are lower and less rugged. Also, this area is not located in protected Wilderness, and some clear-cutting has occurred. But the logged trees are growing back and healing the scars, and there is plenty of alpine beauty in the high basins around Silver Peak.

Starting from the Twin Lakes trailhead on Road 9070, I first hiked an easy mile through cool and shady subalpine forest to shallow and placid Twin Lakes. This portion of the Cold Creek trail was well-maintained in good shape, though rocky and eroded in spots. At the lakes, the Cold Creek trail crossed the outlet stream on a sturdy log, then commenced a steep 1200' climb to the head of the valley. The trail picked its way across talus slopes, dodged around rock outcrops, and clambered up steep forested slopes to gain the ridgeline and a junction with the famous Pacific Crest Trail.

In past years, this stretch of the Cold Creek trail had been in bad shape, but lots of work has been done on the trail recently. Now, most of the path is in considerably better condition, though narrow, steep and rooty in places. However, the upper third of this portion of the trail had not been worked on, and I had to cross a number of blowdowns toward the top of the climb.

At the junction on the ridge, I turned right on the PCT, which traversed a scenic series of talus slopes, tumbling creeks, and meadowy basins at the head of Cold Creek - nice subalpine country. A surprising amount of snow lingered on the trail, and some steep snowfields required some caution to cross. About 1.5 miles before Windy Pass, a massive avalanche had come down from Silver Peak and wiped out a hundred yard section of the trail. Clambering over the mess of fallen trees and lumpy melting snow was tedious but ended soon enough. Beyond the avalanche, the remaining distance of trail to Windy Pass was easy and pleasant.

At the Silver Peak trailhead at Windy Pass, I left the PCT and followed the road a half mile to the start of the lower portion of the Mt. Catherine Trail. This final piece of the loop hike took me on a steep descent toward Twin Lakes. The trail was in fair shape, with a stretch of muddy tread and some blowdowns to cross. The first part of the Mt. Catherine trail crossed a brushy clearcut, the final portion passed through a lovely old-growth forest. This is not a super-scenic trail, but it's lightly used and you are not likely to see any other hikers - always a nice thing in this crowded part of the world.

Now back at Twin Lakes, I enjoyed the easy one mile hike back to the trailhead. Overall, this loop hike covered 6 miles with 1300' of elevation gain.

I was up at the Silver Peak and dog named Mosely run away after a firework. Took off running down the snow field towards the car, but lost site and he was not at the car. Kept looking for him that night and next day, but no sign on him. So if you could be so kind to keep an eye out for him, he is a short haired grey with some spots about 40+ lbs. I left a flier at the trail head where we started our journey, but I figured this can't hurt. My phone number is 206 919 2589 or you may call the number on dog's collar/tag. He is also micro chipped as well. Thank you in advance.