This is a spectacular hike even on a day with fog and light rain. We hiked to Ridge Lake - about 1 mile past the end of the Katwalk. About 13 miles roundtrip from trailhead. Took us 2.5 hours to the Katwalk with steady pace. Low clouds and mist rolled in by the time we made the Katwalk as you can see in photos. This is about as late in the season as I'd want to do this hike. Light rain and breeze at Ridge Lake made for a cold lunch that kept us moving after 15 minutes resting to warm back up. Highly recommend this hike. Forest, rocks, ridges, alpine lakes, incredible views. It has it all.

Now that I have been able to get myself to walk the 5ft from my bed to my computer... Here is the trip report :)

The trail to Kendall Katwalk was quite pleasant and was actually a lot easier than we had anticipated. Saw a lovely rainbow that was touching a well lit peak (picture will be uploaded). No blow downs left from last year- excellent trail. Made it to Kendall Katwalk and I must say... I had expected more. Saw a large bear at the bottom of the cliff eating what looked like an animal that had fallen from the cliff. We continued onward with a longing for the bear spray that I left in my car (decided we wouldn't see a bear... oops!)

Ridge Lake was quite nice despite the rain- lots of clean water here for us to refill with. The trail was still excellent to here and I will be back on a better day to appreciate the beauty with the sun shining.

The trail from Ridge Lake to Park lakes was uneventful- just lots of rocks and minor ups and downs. It got tiring and made me wish we had gone on a day that wasn't totally full of fog/clouds and rain. As we got closer to park lakes- the foliage was AMAZING. I have never seen such beautiful fall foliage and took a few pictures. This is the only part that I had wished for my good camera (I took one of me less expensive ones ad I figured it would be dead at the end due to the rain)

This is when it got exciting- Mineral Creek trail was just as big of a mess as I had remembered it. The rain soaked all of the brush so we were soaked from this- my waterproof boots were full of water at this point and I was not the most comfortable I have ever been in my life. I would recommend going on an incredibly dry day (just remember... the trail is full of brush etc.)Lots of blowdowns.

Little Kachess trail is what totally killed our spirits. All of our maps showed a fairly straight trail with minimal ups and downs. We found that to be wrong- we were zig zagging through the woods and climbing like crazy. What we had anticipated taking us 2 hours to travel through ended up being 4 hours. The cliffs were also impressively concerning at night- the trail has a few washouts and narrow areas right next to the drop offs. We considered setting up our tent on the hillside for the night but we couldn't find a good area where we didn't have the security of knowing that we wouldn't roll off the hill in the middle of the night. I did not like this trail and I don't want to go on it again- especially after a long day if hiking haha.

Total mileage was about 24.5mi with 5,563ft of gain. Total time 15 hours and 20 min. Not the best time but we had some leg problems that slowed us down incredibly at the end.

This is still, by far, my favorite running trail! Of course it's great for hiking and backbacking as well, considering it is part of the PCT. Whatever suits your fancy, it is the ideal incline and distance for a partial day hike or a several hour run. Starting out with a smooth, wide trail, the natural roots and rocks blend in for remainder of the hike. A good portion of the way is spent in the airy forest, and then it opens up to the talus slopes, now nicely decorated with fall colors. The switchbacks are relatively gentle, but do make you work, as you rise towards the ridge.
  Of course the ultimate is hitting the katwalk which is well worth the steady push up the sides and the scurry across the scree slopes. Looking one way into Western Washington and the other into Eastern Washington is quite the trip, and nicely exhilarating. Prior to this past month of heavy smoke from the fires, the mountain ridges extending into the distance were highly visibly. It has still remained beautiful but this last trot up the mountain gave way once again to brilliant blue skies. Take my word for it, hit this trail before the winter snows come. It is incredibly breathtaking and you will definitely be glad you didn't pass this one up. Way to go hikers/backpachers and trailrunners! Hope to see you other runners out there, maybe some other women!

I did this hike years ago and was shocked by the mileage. 20+ miles out and back. This time we took the old trail towards Commonwealth Basin before connecting to the PCT to shave a mile or so each way. We also shaved a lot of distance by going cross country at the beginning of the avalanche slide. By staying to it's left and diagonaling up and left we hit the PCT about 1/3 of a mile before the catwalk. Serious mileage saver!

No fear though, the trial is all in excellent condition. No mud, ripe berries, and even a few flowers still out. The inversion layer of cold air held the smoke from all the eastside fires low all morning. By afternoon though the winds had changed and the air had cleared.

If you go to Thompson be sure to turn up towards the correct notch (Bumble Bee). It is above Alaska Lake, just after Ridge lake. The trail is right at the turn in the trail. It actually looks like a water drainage for the first 20' but quickly turns into a very steep trail up and over the notch.

The basin is easy enough to cross (if not by terrain at least by navigation). The trail up the East ridge goes up the gully that hits the ridge just to the left of the pointed tower on the right. The heather slopes above are crisscrossed by climbers trails but all go the same place. The only place of difficulty is nearly at the top towards the left side of the ridge. A 3rd class chimney goes about 20' before easing off. Most will want to rappel down this from the trees. A 40m piece of rope should do it. There is a piton in the chimney for those who want to lead this. A couple of small nuts could be used as well. Take helmets if you plan to use a rope, otherwise just get out of the way.