Trip Reports

My daughter, Dylan, and i took advantage of a delightful sunny Friday in late August to hike 5 miles to Fisher Lake, passing Mt. Sawyer on the way with snow-capped views in the distance to the South of what appeared to be Mt. Daniel or Mt. Hinman and Glacier Peak to the North. The trail starts at Tonga Ridge and passes Mt. Sawyer after about 2 miles. At 2.5 miles, you come to an unmarked 3 way junction. Fortunately, we knew from the description in 55 Hikes Around Stevens Pass to take the right fork and then almost immediately the left fork (marked by ribbons)up a slippery trail-creek bed to the top of a hill and then follow the trail over another hill and through a valley to the descent to Fisher Lake. Fisher is a pretty, largely unspoiled lake. Noone was there and we saw only a handful of hikers along the way. We started in the early afternoon and got out at dusk, tired but satisfied. Next time we'll bring packs and spend the night. Some bugs and a little slippery in spots but otherwise quite pleasant.

Last week, our trip to Tonga Ridge was thwarted by a swarm of yellowjackets at the trailhead. This week,according to a hiking buddy of mine, the bees and the suspect car with spoiled food are gone, and they had no trouble hiking to Sawyer Pass, and up the side trial to Sawyer saddle. However, the huckleberries were all but cleaned out, and there was profuse berry-laden bear scat, indicating who/what purloined the berries. We may still do this trail in a few weeks, hopefully after the bears have wandered off, and a new crop of berries appears.

Today, a carload of us drove to the Tonga Ridge trailhead, anticipating a scenic stroll to Sawyer Pass. However, when we got to the trailhead, which had only one other car, we were immediately surrounded by a swarm of yellowjacket bees, which were also flying around the parked car, which was unoccupied, and presumably belonged to backpackers.

Since one of our group has a history of bee-sting allergy, we were unable to leave our car, and were forced to backtrack to the Skykomish Ranger Station, where we reported the swarming bees, and picked an alternate hike up Johnson Ridge. Fortunately, that was a great choice, and saved the day, after our otherwise bizarre experience, which seemed like something out of an old Hitchcock movie.

We wondered whether the other car at the Tonga Ridge trailhead contained some spoiled food that attracted the bees, but no way to know for sure.

Since we would like to try this trail again later this season, we would like to see a future report that it is bee-free.

Until then, hikers ""bee-ware"".

On a cloudy day in mid July, the Over The Hill Gang (OTHG) drove FS Road 6930 / 310 gravel road to the Tonga Ridge Trail (Green Trails Map 175) and set out for a day hike to Mt. Sawyer. Some deep snow was encountered in the first ¼ mile but from there on, the trail was dry and in good condition. There were a few trees across the trail and we saw several fresh droppings of bear scat.

Flowers and huckleberry were just coming out after a very long winter under snow. Two years ago, this area was snow-free by July 8th and wildflowers were profuse. This year however, even though many flowers were blooming, a lot more were just beginning to develop color.

The side trail to the top of Mt. Sawyer was mostly snow-free, except at the very top. A secondary trail up the south side of the mountain that avoided deep snow drifts was accessible with a little scramble. The hike took us two hours and 20 minutes.

The mountain was peaceful and quiet…..the scenery non-existent since we were in the clouds all day. After eating lunch on the summit, we returned to the car in two hours.

A very enjoyable cool hike in the fog and a welcome respite from the city despite the lack of any vistas of snow-clad peaks in the distance.

Old friend Deb and I chose this trip for a great day of spring skiing. I wasn't willing to drive my low clearance car through the snow past the usual winter parking area, but I could see that there was clear road up ahead. I figured we'd walk a ways, but thought that we'd have plenty of snow at the Y where the Tonga Ridge Road turns off the Foss River Road. Unfortunately, we had a bit more walking than that. We still had to walk about another mile before the snow became consistent, but it didn't get really deep for about another mile. After that the conditions were fantastic spring snow! Fabulous views and we had the whole place to ourselves. I can't believe we're skiing in May. It's melting fast, but there is still lots of the white stuff if you get up high enough.

the ranger at skykomish ranger station says that this popular shoulder season snowshoe trip now has a foot of snow on the access road FS #6830 starting at 2000-2500 feet after the gate. ONLY hi-clearance 4WD vehicles are recommended to reach the trailhead at 4400 feet. [this is surprising since the cumulative rainfall this november is well below the normal range.]

be aware that starting the day after thanksgiving through the weekend, and the weekend after, the national forests permit the christmas tree outfits to cut trees, so traffic is heavy.

also this route is a favorite of cross-country skiers and snowmobilers.

With the 6830 road now repaired (3-blowouts two switchbacks up the Foss River Road from 2006 storm)we headed up to the Tonga Ridge trail head. The 310 spur road is now covered in snow. It was 36 degrees as we started the hike. Once on the trail it was snow free under the trees with some snow in the open areas. With clear skies we had nice views along the way to Sawyer Pass. From the first view spot Sloan Peak and the top of Glacier Peak could be seen to the north. To the south are Mt. Hinman and Mt. Daniel along with many other peaks. There was a flock of Gray Jays flying around us while we took in the view. The trail then dips down below the south side of the ridge before getting to Sawyer Pass. Between the junction with the side trail up to Mount Sawyer and the pass, I could smell campfire smoke. We heard two guys talking down over the hillside, but didn't see them. There are no trail/campsites in that area of Tonga Ridge, so this seemed a little odd. At the pass there were several inches of snow on the ground. We found a fallen tree to sit on for lunch where soup, sandwich and hot cocoa tasted pretty good. The place was silent except for a few small birds chirping and one lone raven flying overhead. After lunch I wondered around to take some photos and found some fresh black bear tracks in the snow. We also saw small animal and bird tracks in the snow. Only a couple of small trees had fallen over the trail. One you need to duck under. I sawed off the limbs to make it easier to go under with a pack. Only saw one other hiker with his dog on this trip. An other great day in the wilderness, far from the maddening crowds.

Rejoice happy hikers, the road to Tonga Ridge has been repaired and if you are lucky you might be able to get a hike in here before the FS closes it down to thwart Christmas tree poachers. This is what they told me in Skykomish. Go figure. Anyhow, the road is in excellent shape and so is the trail. Nobody out to join Alan and me on a nice hike to Fisher Lake. No snow. The trail to Fisher is pretty pleasureable except for the initial climb which is rutted and slick. While I headed up to Mount Sawyer-good tread-just a little brushy-Alan greeted a black bear. There are lots of them out right now. They've had this entire area to themselves for almost a year now.

Trail is closed due to winter storms, does not appear as if it will be opening soon. Check with Ranger station before heading out there.

Two high school pals and I decided to take a drive to the West Fork Foss River trail and inspect the damage from last November's flooding.

It was impressive. The trailhead, once a verdant pathway into the wilderness, was now essentially a scoured riverbottom. (see attached photos)

The flooding removed all the soil and duff from the trail and left a rock and boulder strewn pathway, that while passable, would be a real ankle turner for the unready.

I walked in for about 1/4 mile and encountered a number of blow downs accross the trail. Finally, the trail just daylighted from the top of a fresh escarpment carved by the river.

I returned to the car and drove up the Tonga Ridge road for 1.5 miles to where the Forest Service had blocked the road with ecology blocks. The road is partially been washed out at at gully by what appears to have been a culvert failure. The damage doesn't appear too significant, but with the budget the FS has to repair such things, it may be quite a while before this road is opened to automobile traffic.

I certainly hope that somehow the West Fork Foss River trail can be repaired or relocated by next year. I am planning to hike into Big Heart Lake in August or September 2008 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my first hike into this georgeous piece of wilderness.

Road report: Road is in good shape for first four miles. Crew was installing a culvert there so I could not go further today, but the crew leader said the road was clear to the Foss Lakes trailhead. Another hiker to got in and out before the culvert operation reported that the last bit of road is really potholed and lots of trees down, but nothing blocking.

Blissman, Silly P and myself met up for this ski trip with a nasty weather forecast and low expectations. We had a fabulous day instead! We were the only car in the parking area and we figured that everyone else had either been scared away by the weather forecast or had been invited to a party except us! The snow was typical spring type although a bit slow. A snowmobile had broken trail for us the day before so it was easy going. The weather just kept on improving and we actually got some blue sky and sun by afternoon which inspired a chorus of ""Here Comes the Sun"". We skied to about the 6.5 mile point, but then started back due to a rather late hour and a hankering for margaritas and Mexican food. We saw no one else all day, but lots of interesting animal prints in the snow and wonderful views.

Tonga Ridge 10/7/06

The Tonga Ridge trail was in perfect condition and the weather was very kind to us. It was mostly sunny, cool, silent except for our voices and footsteps, and the woods smelled of autumn. We started high (4300 ft., higher than Stevens Pass) in forest climbed a bit and then alternated between meadows and forest all the way to the final big meadow/berry patch, which was our lunch spot. Wonderful fall colors were all around almost the entire route. Of note: vast sweeps of Bracken Fern turned golden yellow, orange Vine Maple and Mountain Ash bushes, and Huckleberry bushes with foliage turned red/purple yet still loaded with sweet fruit ! Clouds obscured the high Alpine Lakes peaks for most of the day.

However we got to see a few in late afternoon as well as a peak at

some in the (proposed) Wild Sky wilderness.

I had a mixed group of Mountaineers with wide ranges in age, fitness level, and hiking experience. All had signed up to enjoy nature on this mellow wilderness trail. We hiked in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. This area between I-90 and US-2 was established as wilderness by congress in 1968. The Mountaineers Club was instrumental in that process as were Washington state's greatest-ever pair of senators: Warren Magnuson and Henry Jackson. There are logging scars all around the A.L.W. Today we started our hike on the edge of a logged over area but moved into untouched forest as soon as we hit the wilderness boundary at 1/2 mile up the trail.

The 10 miles of gravel road to the trailhead are very smooth and recently maintained. No pot holes or rough spots at all. Parking is limited and late comers must park 1/4 mile or more down the road. No outhouse! The nearest civilized facility is at the Skykomish ranger station.



Statistics: 6.5 miles 600 ft. elevation gain

4800 ft. high point

temperature 45-50 degrees

visibility 10 miles

12 camp robbers (Grey Jays) begging at lunch

75 miles from my north Seattle home.

Robert Michelson

Taking note of weather forecasts of much cooler weather coming later in the week, I grabbed the opportunity to still hike in more summerlike conditions, which in fact turned out to be even more summerlike than I expected; on the mostly south-facing slope of this ridge hike, I was badly wishing I had brought shorts instead of just jeans. Coming on Tuesday provided what I presume to be a relief from crowds; I saw only three other groups the whole day. Actually, seeing that there is no real parking lot at the trailhead really made me wonder just where everyone parks on those crowded summer weekends.

The south-facing slopes also provided a surprising presence in the foliage: pine trees, which I had never seen before growing that far west in the Cascades before.

I had decided to try to find the Fisher Lake trail. Taking along one of the previous trail reports was of help here. From the 4-way junction at Sawyer Pass, I took the right (south) fork marked with the flag and soon came to the parallel trail mentioned in the last report. I had to guess then whether to head left or right on this trail; I chose left, which turned out to be correct, but I only needed to take a half-dozen steps or so on it before I spotted another (fainter) trail and after looking several seconds more, the flagged tree.

My book said that there were three hills to climb, but that was rather an oversimplification. The first climb is by far the hardest, producing an ""oh man!"" exclamation at one point -- but as the book said, when a trail is created by fishermen it tends to have a shortest-path-to-the-fish-is-a-straight-line characteristic. Once (finally) up this hill the remainder of the trail was easy to follow. On the return trip, about halfway from the lake back to the summit, the trail forked into two equally wide ones. I took the left fork, the way I had come. Originally I was thinking that the right fork would go to Lower Fisher Lake, but re-reading some earlier reports suggested that it instead re-joined the other trail further ahead -- with less climbing to boot. The trail is over-grown in the first part and has some blow-downs (all easily climbed over), but what do you expect on an unmaintained trail?

Berries, of both the blue and huckle varieties, were both out in force. I encountered three primary berry-picking areas: the saddle just west of Sawyer Mountain (for huckleberries), Sawyer pass (for both), and the high meadows above the steep climb on the way to Fisher Lake (for just blueberries from what I saw, but I didn't spend much time looking.) The meadows had plenty of red color -- not from flowers but from leaves. I did actually see a few flowers -- but fireweed isn't going to excite anyone.

This could possibly become a family tradition, a trip with the sole purpose of picking blue huckleberries as well as getting in a summit. Princess didn’t make the trip this time as she had attended a church youth group all night party and didn’t get home until 7:30 AM; by which time we were well on the trail. So it was four of us this time, Me Lady, the Trailmaster, the Little Lady, and myself, the ole goat. There were three other vehicles at the trailhead when we arrived and I figured correctly, that they had hiked into Fisher or Ptarmigan Lakes. We left the trailhead at 6:45 AM and were on the summit of Mt. Sawyer by 8:30 AM; 1 hour and 45 minutes later. The whole way up we never saw another person. On the way up we noticed that the huckleberries were ripe, although not as many or as large as last year. We also noticed that because of the dry weather this year that many were dried and shriveled up.

We spent an hour or so on the summit, eating cheese and crackers, dried fruit, beef jerky and some canned fruit. A very early lunch or a late breakfast. Views from the summit were absolutely fantastic looking southward to Mt. Daniel and Mt. Hinmon and Chimney Rock. Mt. Rainer could even be seen. A bluish haze with just a hint of red stretched across the western horizon and toward the north. And although Baker, Three Fingers, White Horse, Sloan and Glacier Peak could be seen, the haze prevented a clear view of them. Weather it was caused by smog or the forest fires I can’t say. What did surprise me though was that we didn’t see any smoke plumes from the fires. After an hour of eating and enjoying the views we headed on down to pick huckleberries.

We stopped at several spots along the trail, but found the berries rather small this year. Our favorite types are found near or just above timberline on bushes from 4 inches high up to foot. Fall is definitely here as many of the huckleberry bushes were turning red and purple. It took us maybe an hour to pick a gallon then we put our packs back on and headed down. We stopped twice on the way down, once to pick a few more blue huckleberries from the higher bush type, which we don’t like as well just to fill out our gallon. And the second time to watch a ground squirrel, his cheeks full of seeds, dig a hole, deposit the seed in the hole, then cover it back up. Patting the dirt down with his front paws. Back to the van by noon and back home a little after 1:00 PM and root beer floats.

It was a beautiful day; clear & sunny after yesterday's rainstorm. Up on Mt Sawyer, you could see 360 degrees of views including Mt Ranier, Mt Baker, Glacier Peak, Hinman, Daniel, etc, etc. The best part was eating those wonderful blueberries all the way along the trail! Trail was slightly damp, but not muddy; well marked.

When we just got to the beginning of Tonga Ridge, 4 military fighter jets screamed by, just over our heads. If we had been on Mt Sawyer at that time, we would have been looking down on them. Amazing.

Beautiful day to be in the mountains.

Road to the trail is in good shape. Limited parking at the trailhead. If full, then just park down the road a bit and walk to the trailhead.

Trail is in good shape. Could use some brushing in the next year or two. But otherwise in fine shape.

Followed the trail 3 miles to Sawyer Pass where there are literally fields of blueberries. Picked a couple of quarts of berries and headed back to the trailhead. If you feel like it, take the unmarked spur trail about a mile up the trail that leads to the peak of Sawyer Mt. The views are spectacular!!!

Got home and made a fresh blueberry crisp for dessert that night :-) Yum!!!

After a several week layoff, the Hike-of-the-Week Club sprang back into action with a jaunt along Tonga Ridge to Fisher Lake. Some huckleberries are ready for picking, but the blueberries aren't quite ready yet. Fisher Lake was great, with at least four separate parties enjoying the water. Glorious views of Daniel, Hinman and the rest of the Foss River basin on the way in.

We did encouter hikers along the way who were having difficulty finding the trail, so here are the tips to finding the trail: Once you reach Fisher Pass on the maintained Tonga Ridge trail, head for the approximate high point, then look for a ""social"" trail that parallels the main trail in a east-to-west direction about 300 feet to the south of the main trail. Search along that trail for a somewhat overgrown trail departing into the woods to the south. (There were orange flags marking it, but they come and go, so don't rely on them.) That's the fisherman's track to Fisher Lake (don't look for a USFS trail -- there isn't one). Follow it for about a quarter of a mile as it twists and turns to avoid trees and brush in a generally southerly direction to a base of a hill. The trail then follows a step creek bed that is dry by the end of summer up about 250 vertical feet to a first long skinny meadow area. Proceed along the west side of the meadow about 300 feet then follow the trail to the right up a little hill to a second long skinny meadow area with a pond. Cross that and up another little hill to a very large park-like area, covered with low blueberries. The trail heads south through the meadow to the toe of a ridge. The obvious trail (people voting with their feet) goes to the right along the toe, then up and over the ridge and down (about 3/4 miles) to the lake. A less obvious trail turns left and takes a shorter end-run around the ridge, saving the effort of climbing the ridge. Pay attention to where the two trails join again so you can follow the easier way back as well.

On our way to the east side of the crest, we stopped to hike Tonga Ridge and Mt. Sawyer, hoping for ripe huckleberries. We were in luck, as they are coming on strong, especially on the trail up to Mt. Sawyer. After many years of hearing about the berries on this trail, we finally got to taste them. And the views from the top were a bonus. A little haze to the east from the fires, but Mt. Daniel and Hinman were quite clear. Very few bugs.

We were brave and chose a hike off of Hwy 2 on a Sunday (more on that later...)

I had hiked to Fisher Lake many years ago and wanted to try something a little more scenic. Mt Sawyer did the trick. The trail is in excellent shape but very dusty in parts. No water on the section we were on. We followed an older WTA report and found the trail for Mt. Sawyer with no problem. It's rough right at first and then just climbs up and up through every kind of huckleberry bush imaginable (a few more weeks till they ripen). On the way up and once you are at the top the views are incredible: Mt. Rainier, Mt. Daniels, Mt. Hinman, a bit of Baker and Glacier. With all the cars at the trailhead we expected to find people at the top but there was no one for quite a while and then only one couple joined us. Flowers were the best on the Mt. Sawyer trail (but it was quite brushy and overgrown) and no animals were seen except for some huckleberry filled scat (do any other animals eat huckleberries besides bears?) right at the spot where you turn off the Tonga Ridge trail for Mt. Sawyer. Biting flies were bad on the Tonga trail but didn't bite if you kept moving. Traffic came to a halt right after Skykomish and we cruised along at 5 miles an hour for most of the way back to Monroe. HWY 2 westbound on a Sunday NO MORE!

A spur of the moment hike. Trail is in excellent condition and though it says in the guide books that you must scramble to the top of Sawyer Mountain (5500'), there is a well trodden trail that obviously branches off the main trail. The trail to the top is nice and I would advise to head to the summit instead of one of the lakes, unless of course, you are fishing. Wildflowers are nice. A little snow near the summit, but there are some nice rocks, cleared of snow to sit on and have a snack. Views all around- Glacier, Baker, Rainier, Monte Cristo Peaks, Mt. Daniels, Baring and Index Mountains, etc etc. A nice, quick hike. Total time, 4 hours.

A little snow on the Tonga ridge trail at the beginning. Bugs were very mildly annoying, didn't put on repellent and didn't get any mosquito bites. The mount sawyer trail takes off to the left after about 2 miles. It is unmarked and you kind of have to look backwards to see it. It is very steep at the beginning and at the top for just a hundred feet or so, but the rest has a decent grade. Lots of snow on the north side of Sawyer moutain that covers a small portion of the trail. The trail goes back to the south side (snow free). This is a good trail for kids who are 7 years or older. Probably a little too hard and exposed for younger ones. THe flowers were all leafed out but blooms were few. A little bit of paintbtrush and lupine on mount sawyer and some spectacular displays of Phlox on mount sawyer. About 20 cars on the road, but only saw 5 groups of people on the trail. The views are incredible, from mount daniel and chimney rock to glacier peak and sloan peak with mount baker and mount rainier thrown in.

Hiked the Tonga ridge trail to Sawyer pass where we set up camp. The road to the trail head is in excellent shape. The trail is in great shape as well. A few patches of snow at the start of the trail but it's pretty much clear all the way to the pass. Sawyer pass is covered in a blanket of snow (1-3 feet in places). We found the only flat and dry camp site at the pass. Room for about 3 tents. Wednesday night it was a little overcast but it didn't rain. Thursday was perfect. Warm sunshine. The ""fishermans path"" up to Fisher lake is buried in snow so we made our way up to the top of the south ridge and ridge walked until we found a nice spot to drop down to the lake which is still partially frozen. We had lunch on the NW side of the lake which was much larger than I had imagined. The hike out was nice with magnificent views. No bugs, good trail, nice weather and the route finding up to the lake was easy to navigate.

Our group was looking for a good conditioning walk, about 8 miles round trip with 2000' of gain. We were focused on the Alpine Lakes area, and decided on a road walk up FS 6830 toward the Tonga Ridge trailhead. We probably made our distance, but fell just shy of our elevation goal.

We parked about 1.5 miles up at a wide switchback and started up the gravel road about 10:30. Fleece and long pants quickly gave way to shirt sleeves and zip-offs. The well-maintained road has a gentle slope and is bordered by mature trees on both sides. At times it has the feel of a forest walk, but it's mostly exposed due to the width of the road. There are several nice waterfalls, and views of what I assume from the map are the Cascades, Maloney Ridge and Malachite, Bald Eagle and Silver Eagle Peaks. Snow covered the entire road at about 3000' and 2.5 miles from the cars. It was a slog the rest of the way up -- the snow was easily three feet thick in spots, and very slushy where the sun had a chance to work on it. We stopped short of the spur road and enjoyed some lunch.

On the way back down, my boots became soaked by the snow, and my numb toes were not happy. This slowed my pace and shortened my stride, which, of course, meant more stepping through the wet snow. When we finally got back to gravel, I wrung my socks out and stuck my feet inside my fleece until the blood flow returned. I've never been much of a snowshoe fan, but an extra pair of socks will be my eleventh essential from now on! More bad luck when my sunglasses met with a most unfortunate end at the Skykomish Ranger Station. Suffice to say that they will see many a full moon this year...

OK, OK, so this is the 5th(!) report from Tonga Ridge in one year. We're boring, what can I say. But, we had tagged a couple of potential Christmas trees a few weeks ago, and now it was time to do some cutting! The day was perfect, made all the more so because good ol' Sadie was along for her first romp since surgery. I'm happy to report that all seems well. It appears the tumor was completely removed and there will be no chemo/no radiation. Little Sadie is good to go for another few years and lots more trails! The weather was picture perfect this fine Sunday in December. Along for the tree hunt were Bernadette, Tom, Eric and Rick with faithful companion Evie. We headed out from Skykomish at about 9:15 a.m. thinking we had left plenty of time to hunt trees and head up to Mt. Sawyer. We took the Foss River turn-off about 1 mile east of Sky and up we went. It branches off in about 3 1/2 miles - take the left branch and head up. The road is in fairly good condition. If you have a 4-wheel drive, you shouldn't have any problems at all - or even a front-wheel drive and maybe chains But then, even the best laid plans can go awry. At about mile 7 a pick-up truck had managed to get itself sideways in the road. We huffed and we puffed, but we couldn't blow that sucker down. Rick tried to tow him out with his 4-wheel drive truck (and snow tires) - but it was not to be. We spent almost 2 hours just trying to move him out of the way so we could continue on our merry way. Nope. So, there we parked (down the road about 1/2 mile) and on we put our snowshoes and struck out for the Ridge - about a 2+ mile walk from where we parked. None of us were too pleased. Just goes to show that folks NEED TO BE PREPARED in the back country!!! And they had two small kids with them too! Errrrggghhh. By the time we finally got to the Tonga Ridge trailhead, it was 2:00 p.m. Bummer. We wouldn't get far that day. But we did have fun romping in the very deep snow and searching for trees. And - ta-da - we successfully achieved one of our goals on this lovely day. But, the very best part of all was having Sadie back to be my backseat driver! My buddy is back.

While the Puget Sound Basin was blanketed in a shroud of sm/f/og - just east of Index, it was crystal clear, blue skies and lots and lots of sunshine! A perfect day for a snowshoe romp. So, we opted for our FOURTH trip to Tonga Ridge in a year! Just past Skykomish off of Hwy 2, you take a right onto the Foss River Road. From there, you travel about 4 miles until there is a ""Y"" in the road - take the left arm of the ""Y"" onto FS 6830 - then in about 7 miles you take the right arm of a ""Y"" onto 6830-310 - the trailhead is a little more than a mile from here. However, you don't need to know about this second ""Y"" - because unless you have a very high clearance vehicle with huge tires and 4-wheel drive, you won't come anywhere close to this road! We parked about 3 miles away from the trailhead and walked up the road. We didn't need our snowshoes until after we got on the trail. There had only been one vehicle up this spur road since the last snow - there was evidence of snowmobbublers, however. We got out of the little truck about 10:40 a.m. and made it to the trailhead about Noon - on the way, we were actively looking for potential Christmas trees (another trip in a couple of weeks). We stopped and had lunch on the side of the road just before the trailhead - nice little location where we could carve out a ""bench"" in the snow and look at the lovely view across the Foss River Valley. Snow starts at about 2800' and is very, very serious by about 3000' - so be prepared to walk some if you want to do this trail. The trailhead is @ about 4000'. The snow was lovely and not to deep through the first part of the trail - in the trees. Once it starts to open up, the snow gets deeper. There was one set of snowshoe tracks going ""in"" ahead of us - we met up with a solo 'shoer about 1 mile up the trail. He said that he had gotten about 1/2 way to Sawyer Mtn. before it got to deep for him. So, we pressed on to see how far we could get. We saw his turn-around spot - but if he thinks that's deep, he'd better stay away from Higgins or Dickerman (our previous two snowshoes)! We managed to go a bit further, but it was already 2:30 p.m. and we didn't want to get back to the truck in the dark, so we turned around. Didn't quite make it to the Sawyer trail spur. There had been some folks behind us at the trailhead, but they never made it up the trail. In any case, we headed back down and it's a good thing we did, because by the time we got to the truck, it was ""twilight"" - and it wasn't even 5:00 p.m. yet! But, anyday is a good day to play in the snow - especially when it is so sunny and lovely! Sadie will be taking a hiking break for a while - she has some challenges ahead that don't include mountains of the geologic kind. She has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor - in her nose of all places - so, she will be going in for a nose job. With any luck and a few prayers, it can be removed with surgery - there is no evidence of the cancer anywhere else. We shall see. Hopefully, she'll be back on the trail to greet you again soon!

The ""snow on trail"" tag gets used in a happy connotation now.

The original destination was Kendall Peak Lakes, but we found out just as we stepped out the door that eastbound I90 was now closed too. So a quick scramble for other snowy destinations led to Tonga Ridge. Unfortunatly the long drive and late start didn't leave time to reach the actual trailhead.

Snow starts about 2 miles after turning off onto road 6930 and quickly gets deeper. My little car bravely pushed its way up another two miles or so, and with the help of snow chains past several 4x4s who quit quickly.

When we parked we walked further up the road in giant tire tracks carrying our snowshoes for a half mile or so before putting them on to get some use. There is plenty of snow for walking, unfortunatley some yahoos in their mini monster trucks were barreling all over the place through it. Areas where we could find untouched snow were good, although the snow is not too supportive yet.

Our estimated turn around point was somewhere near the turnoff for the trailhead due to the short days. Around here we encountered the 4wheelers as they came blasting by double compacting the snow. Returned as the sun set lighting up the surrounding snowy peaks, dug out the car, and headed back down where we promptly sat in stop and go traffic all the way back to Sultan on Hwy2.

We spent a wonderful, warm, sunny, September day enjoying Tonga Ridge and Mt. Sawyer. It wasn’t too crowded, and there were no biting bugs. We had great views, and had lots of huckleberries to sample.

The highlight of the trip was the peak of Mt. Sawyer. The views are incredible, providing a 360 degree lookout over the Cascades. Since the publication of the 1993 edition of The Mountaineers 100 Hikes in Washington’s Alpine Lakes, there is a defined path from the Tonga Ridge trail that leads up to the peak of Mt. Sawyer. It is unmarked, other than with a small cairn, and it is somewhat hard to find.

To locate the path to the peak of Mt. Sawyer, follow these directions: From the trailhead off of road #310, walk generally southeast toward Sawyer Pass. At a little over 2 miles, you will come to a flat meadow area, with places to camp or relax. The trail will then continue along the ridge, with a steep slope to your left along Mt. Sawyer, and great views to your right. Within a 1/4 mile or so, watch carefully for a path to your left, that climbs initially straight up from the Tonga Ridge trail. If you miss the trail, after around 1/2 mile you will come to another meadow area, with places to camp, with a number of paths leading away in various directions.

The path to the peak of Mt. Sawyer is significantly more challenging than the Tonga Ridge trail. Even though the elevation gain is only 700 feet, it is not recommended for every hiker.

We decided not to continue on to Fisher Lake, giving more time for Mt. Sawyer. Other writers weren't wowed by Fisher Lake.

The huckleberries were still in their prime along the path to Mt. Sawyer. Following are two good links regarding huckleberries:

WTA - Getting to Huckleberry Heaven: http://www.wta.org/~wta/cgi-bin/wtaweb.pl?0+pr+10102

The Northwest Berry & Grape Information Network: http://berrygrape.oregonstate.edu/fruitgrowing/berrycrops/huck leberry/huckleplnt.htm#anchor3

Enjoy!

Road 6830 is in good shape to the Deception Creek Cut-off trailhead. Take the trail west for a mile and a half until you reach a large, flat, bare spot in the meadow where people have obviously been camping. A very obvious trail worn into the dirt leaves the bare spot. Follow this to Fisher Lake. There are many social trails that branch off this, so try to aim for the biggest trail going toward the lake. The trail continues along the north shore of the lake and a fainter trail descends to Lower Ptarmigan Lake. From the outlet of Lower Ptarmigan we thrashed our way straight up the fall line, mostly in open trees,to point 5789 on the ridge. We climbed the NE Ridge without any difficulty (class 2-3). According to the register, we were the first party on top this year. All this took us five hours. There were nice views of Daniel, Hinman and Cathedral Rock.

On the way down we follwed the north ridge to point 5382 quite easily. There is a boot path worn in most of the way. Beyond 5382 we brush-crashed down to the road. The brush was hard going down, but faster than back-tracking. It would have been impossible to ascend the jungle, so we felt pretty good about the more circuitous route we took up. The descent took 3 hours.

Sally and I headed up Highway 2 under cloudy skys, hoping for better weather as we went east. We decided to hike the Tonga Ridge trail since we had not been up there in some time. The trail is in good shape as we hiked along, then Mt. Daniel and Hinman came into view to the south. When we got to the junction with the Mt. Sawyer trail, we headed up. I had not been up there before and Sally had hiked to the summit 15 years ago. The trail is steep for only the first 100 yards, then continues at a gentle grade most of the way. After getting to the ridge line, the trail is on the north side of Mt. Sawyer before getting to the summit. The is a USGS brass cap cemented on a rock with the date 1937 and Mt. Sawyer stamping in it.

The top of the peak has some trees growing on it, so we had to move around to get views for different directions. The clouds were above Mt. Sawyer, but covering the tops of Hinman and Daniels. We had a bite to eat, took some photos and enjoyed the views. Only a few bothersome bugs and the weather was great for hiking. Some birds were flying around the summit and there were several different flowers on the open slopes of Mt. Sawyer. On the north side, there were a couple of small snow patches that still had not melted. Only saw four other hikers on Mt. Sawyer, but several more on the Tonga Ridge trail. As were were hiking back to the trail head, some people were heading up the trail late in the afternoon. On guy wanted to know how far it was to the ""lake"".

Warm day, rain threatened but never showed. The drive up was beautiful. With 20 minutes of starting, found bear clawings on multiple trees, one was very fresh. Mud in places along trail, but nothing bad. Bugs were out in force. Views from ridge were postcard-perfect. A very easy hike!

I just want to inform people to be cautious on the Tonga Ridge trail. The trail is in great condition as is the spur up to Mount Sawyer. There is only a little snow up on top.

We did see a shredded tree and bear scat. We also saw what I believe is cougar scat 4 times in the middle of the two trails. It appeared to be very fresh, segmented and dark with a greenish tinge and the size of my 90 lb Golden Retriever's poop. (I am certain it was not dog as we were the only people on the trail and the only car at the trail head and I am extremely familiar with dog feces.)

As we drove down the road from the trail head, we did see a young cinnamon colored black bear.

Our group of Mountaineer skiers decided to give winter another try. I chose this trip when my original plan to ski the Anderson Butte road had to be changed. Drove up the road to Tonga Ridge and parked at about 3200' with low expectations. Put on the skis and were surprised to find decent snow! Actually rather wonderful snow with lots of powdery hoar frost and only a few crusty areas. We skied to the trailhead and then pushed up the cat track to a little knoll in the sun for lunch. Everyone had lots of fun negotiating small trees and rolling around in the fluffy snow. Blue skies, good company and views...what more can you ask for! Some of our group were students getting in their required club trip to graduate so congrats to them!

It's been about 10 years since I've been to Trout Lake. Last time was in my float tube and the lake was flooded in to the trees. Lake has dropped back down to near previous landslide levels. Many dead trees and blowdowns in the dreary woods. Camped out on the W Fk Foss River for several days and enjoyed the solitude. Very little snow till you are about 1 mile from the parking lot and then only 3-4 inches at the parking lot. Quite a bit of alder blowdown on the road in, but easy to drive around. Trail is snow covered and icy in spots, but easy to travel. Several blowdowns along the trail, but nothing large that couldn't be easily stepped over. Flooding has pushed around the logs getting across the river, but no problem crossing. Lake is mostly frozen except for outlet and inlet area. About 2-6 inches of snow at the lake in shaded spots, but dry areas that have seen sun. I walked up the trail about 1/4 mile and there were no tracks. I was going to hike to Copper Lake, but decided against it when I saw clouds moving in. I see a no campfire sign at the lake. That's too bad as the blowdowns and mess in the woods could stand some cleaning up. I met one other hiker as I was getting ready to leave, so amazing on such a sunny winter day. I also drove up the Tonga Ridge Rd. to the 3,400 ft. level before I hit solid snow on the road.

Started in the fog Thursday 9AM, which had cleared by the time we made Sawyer Pass. Found the trail to Fisher Lake and also found that we had it to ourselves. Fish were rising but didn't like what we offered. Found and lost the trail to lower Ptarmigan lake. A beautiful place. Fished again with no luck. Headed out of Fisher lake Friday AM. Scrambled up the slopes to Mount Sawyer with great 360* views. Saw our first hikers there. It was the tail end of falls brilliant colors. Weather great, no bugs and trails were fine.

""Now *these* are blueberries"" was Bill's pronouncement as he plopped another succulent orb from the Tonga Ridge meadow into his mouth. The blueberries along the Tonga Ridge trail are in their full glory right now; the berries along the open hillside are so good that it may be tempting to pick your fill before going farther. However, the berries in the meadow (about 2 miles from the trailhead) are wonderfully large and easier to pick than those on the hillside trail.

The trail conditions are standard for Tonga - one downed tree across the trail that is easy enough to cross, lots of dust. An easy - and fun - trip for the entire family.

Tonga Ridge is in good shape. The blueberries are just about ripe, and bugs are minimal even at Fisher Lake. The only hitch was two or three large logs across the trail that might cause trouble for stock, and that it gets a little crowded on nice days like this one. We met four groups of backpackers coming back out, and met five pairs of day hikers heading up to Fisher Lake where we ate lunch within shouting distance of three of those pairs. Most of the day hikers we met spent a long time milling around the saddle of Sawyer Pass, wondering where on earth the trail to Fisher Lake is. Here's a little direction: The main trail to the lake is directly off the campsites at the pass-- but there are two different trails to the top that I know of, and they're both arguably better than the main one. Good luck finding them!

Well this was definitely a day to celebrate! My hiking buddy has been laid low recovering from an earlier hiking injury, but today we got out. The air was clean and the flowers beautiful along this hike. This is a great hike for views, especially if you're not up to the big stuff. The trusty camera was again in evidence and snapping away on this wonderfully sunny day. Sasha had just got back from Rainier(Camp Muir) so it was a good recovery hike for her too...and me, I'm just happy anytime I'm in the forest! The Foss River Rd. is in good shape and the Tonga Ridge trail is fabulous on the feet. Happy Hiking :0) P.S. There were plenty of pesky black flies and the only way to avoid being carried off was to keep moving.

Arrived at the trailhead around 12:00 looking forward to a swim at the lake. Trail wound through the woods, with mild ups and downs- at times opening out into clearings with spectacular views. This part of the trail would be fairly easy and enjoyable for most people. After about two miles the trail ended at a meadow with some very attractive camp sites. This is apparently ""Sawyer Pass"". Here we were confronted with a bewildering array of unmarked paths leading every which way. Guidebook was no help- even explicit instructions from other hikers failed to aid our directionally impaired party. We decided to follow what seemed like the most well-traveled path which rapidly became extremely steep- (steep enough to require some scrabbling) definitely not in keeping with the ""700 foot elevation gain"" promised in our guidebook. Due to time limitations we had to turn around before reaching the top. Never did find the dang lake. Oh well maybe another time. Note: look out for the four ""camp robber"" birds at the meadow- they will steal your sandwich, trail mix, and toddlers if you're not looking.

Parking lot was crowded, lots of people on the trail. Stopped for lunch at Sawyer Pass, birds were eating out of our hands! Took awhile to find the trail to Fisher Lake, even after consulting with a couple other groups with maps. Eventually found it, quite a difference from the flat Tonga Ridge trail. Trail was in good shape, though it's more of a dry creek bed than a trail going up the first hill. Great view from the top of the 3rd hill, before desending to the lake.

Camped overnight at Fisher Lake, lots of people! Went for a swim, water was great! Mosquitos were quite heavy, and found every spot missed by the bug spray...

My family let me drag them up to Tonga Ridge for a Father's Day hike (it's the one day of the year that they let me have my way...). A beautiful day and a fun time. The trail is in good shape with a few short snow fields right at the start. We stopped at the little meadow for lunch in the shade (under the watchful eyes of 4 grey jays) and then tackled the climb up Mt. Sawyer. It was a bit steep and scary for some of the party - but they carried on to the top in a Father's Day fervor. Or rather almost to the top. There's still LOTS of snow once you make the turn around to the north side of Mt. Sawyer and the trail is nowhere to be seen. So that's as far as we went. Beautiful views from there looking north (see attached photo) and along the trail looking south. A great hike and people are starting to realize it. There were 3 other cars at the trailhead when we arrived at 11am, but more than a dozen at 4pm when we left.

Headed up to Tonga Ridge and Mount Sawyer via Foss River. I wanted to do a short climb because of the nice weather and still get back by noon. Left Monroe at about 6:30 and enjoyed the early morning drive down hwy 2. Arrived at the trailhead at 8:00. The road up is in great shape. The trail is clear of snow except for a few patches and in very good shape. I hiked for a good long while taking in all the nice glimpses of the surrounding peaks, birds, ect. I soon realize had gone to far. I headed up through the brush and trees toward Mt. Sawyer and soon came upon a nice trail, which lead to the summit. The views were great especially of Mt. Daniel, Hinman, and Glacier Pk. I spent a good half hour taking pictures and lounging. Taking the trail I found down revealed I had gone a half-mile past it, but I didn’t know it was there either. The trail that leads to the top is about 200ft past the meadow (approx. two miles from the trailhead). This trail traverses Mt Sawyer and then heads up the southeast ridge. On the way down I saw a nice snowshoe rabbit, which still had white feet from its winter coat. The trip was real nice for being so short. There were lots of birds and no thirsty bugs (bet they’ll be swarming in a few weeks). Another plus was that I didn’t see any people the entire trip. Also saw a bobcat while I was driving down, haven’t see one for about three years. Trip took a total of 2hr 50min, 40min from top of Sawyer to trailhead. I think I spent more time driving there than hiking, O well!

I decided to try for an early season ski trip to Tonga Ridge hoping for enough snow to actually ski. Well, there was almost too much on this trip to do what we had planned. Skiing up the road was fine and lots of fun, but once we got to the trailhead (after about four miles of road)it became a real struggle as the snow is deep and heavy with probably 3 1/2 feet of powder and no real base. Lots of floundering about in the soft stuff caused us to decide that maybe lunch and a turn around would be a good idea. It was gorgeous though as the trees were packed with snow and the little waterfalls along the road were encrusted with icicles. Unfortuately there was still a few nitwits forcing their trucks through the snow and messing up our tracks, but the snowmobiles were almost welcome as they broke much trail for us. A great first day of skiing!

Since it was a wet, dark Saturday, we decided a hike in the snow would be much more fun than in the rain. We packed up the snowshoes and headed to Tonga Ridge.

There was no snow on the access road until the 4,000 ft. level, at the beginning of FS road 310. The first mile of the trail had just an inch of snow, but the snowshoes were helpfull for better traction. About 2 miles down the trail the snow was approx. l6"" deep, with 4"" of fresh snow over a hard base. Snowshoes weren't necessary, but made it a lot easier.

Most of the day we had no views, but the snow flakes coming down made a very pretty outing.

Saturday was a beautiful day for a hike.

The road up to the trailhead was VERY well maintained, with only one pothole that could have bitten us (fortunately, it didn't).

Although covered in snow, the trail was easy to find and follow, and did offer beautiful views across the valley as advertised.

Not quite enough bang for the buck, given the distance from Seattle, but if you live closer, or are taking out some rookie hikers, this is a great place to go.

What’s a little rain when you live in the Northwest? That was our thinking Monday morning as we headed up highway 2 to Tonga Ridge. We arrived at the trailhead around 10:30, under steady rain. We threw on our rain pants, coats, and hats, and headed off into the wooded beginning section. Puddles and streams were forming in this section, but the trail was still in good condition. As we reached the small clearing at the crest of the hill, we noticed the rain had become more intense. We thought it would pass.

We continued onto the ridge section where the views of surrounding mountains and scenery were obscured by clouds, but did enjoy the fall colors that the ridge had to offer. The intensity of the rain had not decreased.

When we entered the meadow, as you would expect to find, the trail had transformed into a creek, and there was plenty of standing water. We strung our ponchos, and sat underneath to have lunch.

On the trek out, puddles, streams, and creeks covered the trail. Even with the record rainfall, there was very little mud. The trail remained fairly hard.

When I got to this trailhead on Saturday I decided I didn't feel like hiking in the rain but at least I know how to get to the trailhead now for future reference. I did however take several photos of the peaks in the distance that already have snow on them. There were clouds below in the valley which made for a nice composition. Can't wait to see them. I did read the sign at the trailhead which had a trail report signed not long ago that said ""Bear spotted 9/29/03"".

My son and I arrived at the trailhead at 9am to beat the crowds, but the crowds didn't show up until after noon! The weather was perfect - sunny but not hot. The recent rains had soaked into the trails, so they weren't dusty. So we had great views and no dust. Our first stop was the meadows at Sawyer Pass (I think that's where they are). We saw no one for our entire lunch, except the birds, which are pretty agressive. One even divebombed my sandwich while it was in my hand. In the past, we've always turned around and gone back from the meadows, but now the kids are older, my son wasn't tired at all. We decided to hike on and see if we could get a glimpse of Fisher Lake. There are so many spur trails from the meadow it's difficult to tell what's what, but we do believe we found the correct trail. The trail wasn't very clear, so I tried to keep looking back for familiar locations. We reached the top of the hill shown on the map, and it was beautiful! The meadows are just turning red, and there were a couple of marshy ponds from the recent rain. The views were spectacular, even my 13-year-old commented on them. Even better for him, some fighter planes were practicing in the mountains, and we saw them. We never did manage to spot the lake. As in the meadows, we saw no one on the hill. On the way back down the hill, we lost the trail once. Just as my son announced that we were lost, we spotted the trail we needed to be on. Whew! We're really *not* the kind of hikers that can afford to get lost. This is the only trail I've ever had to pull out the compass. We saw lots and lots of hikers on the way back from the meadows. The meadows are full of berries, and there are lots of berry pickers out. Finally, there are no bugs!

Made the trip to Sawyer Pass and back. Not a drop of water, but plenty of dirt. I had one of those ""oh, duh"" moments when I realized that everyone I passed was kicking up goodly clouds of dust and that had to mean that *I* was doing the same. And how.

Busy day on the trail, which isn't at all surprising on a gorgeous holiday-weekend day (70s, deep blue sky, not too much haze, barely any clouds). I arrived at the trailhead a little before ten only to find cars already snaking back a couple hundred yards; in the time it took to put my boots on, three more arrived, and by the time I was back at 1:30 it was solid parking for at least half again as much. This of course meant LOTS of people out there - seniors, babies, and all types in between including one party I particularly liked hauling grocery sacks in for a picnic.

No flowers any more, unless you count dried husks; the floral show must have peaked at least a couple of weeks back. There are still a few berries to be found at the Sawyer Pass end of things - everything on the first couple of miles was picked clean, not surprising considering the traffic. Great views of Hinman and other peaks to the south, clear views to the Monte Cristos from the ridgetop clearing that's a few yards to your left as you break out of the trees at the beginning of the hike.

Dusty access roads, but they're all in good shape for driving. Highway 2 back to Puget City was remarkably fluid for a Sunday evening, but I'm sure the holiday schedule's involved with that, and - sorry - the fact I had an easy drive is of no help to anyone in the future who gets to creep from Gold Bar to Monroe at 15 mph.

My doggy buddy Tasha and I took a quick trip to Tonga Ridge to look for my friend Phyllis' camera. (She lost it there on a recent trip and if anyone has happened upon it please call her at 425-743-4096.)With only a half day to spend we decided to do two of our favorite pastimes -- trail running and berry munching! 40 minutes put us on top of Sawyer with no views today, but lots of berries. The season is early this year and won't last long. H.H. and I saved you some!

Wow! For a day hike this one scores a perfect 10!

First off you drive to the Tonga Ridge trail head on reasonable gravel (1 point) to an altitude of 4,300 feet (2 points). Then the trail rolls through the Alpine Lake Wilderness for a couple miles (watch for deer and grouse!) (3 points).

Just past the first small meadow on the left (or as a friend of mine would say, ""on the north if you are going east..."") is an unmarked trail up the hillside for about 30 feet and then bending to the right. I was expecting a hidden track since most books say to just head up the hill anywhere - but the trail is very evident and very well used. It makes long easy switchbacks up the side of Mount Sawyer (4 points) through fields of ripe berries (5 points) and the last gasp of wildflowers (paintbrush and fireweed mostly, plus a small white flower that I couldn't identify) (6 points).

After just a half mile or so of relatively easy climbing the top of Mount Sawyer gives you a 360 degree view of the neighborhood including lots of snow and ice on Mount Hinman (7 points).

Back down on the trail for another mile or so to Sawyer Pass. At the far end of the pass the trail splits three ways - left a short way to a stream with water, straight ahead towards Deception Creek, and right to Fisher Lake. The trail to the lake is also unmarked, but easy to find. Take the right fork for a short ways and it curves around to the left. Then there is an obvious trail to the right that goes uphill sharply. It eventually follows a streambed and over a ridge or two to a beautiful lake (8 points). A perfect spot to loll on some warm rocks, eat a sandwich, and take a nap (9 points).

Walking back out on the trail is enjoyable (it's only 5 miles and nothing too steep). All day long I met just one couple camping at Fisher Lake and one family of 5 coming into the area.

Beauty, a mountain top, a mountain lake, relative solitude, and a not too painful workout (about 11 miles total). That's 10 points!

This is a great hike on a warm day. The only route finding problem I had, was on forest service roads. The numbers had changed since my guide was published, my old Mountaineers hiking guide from the 70's listed road numbers that have been changed by the Forest Service. Luckily I went by mileage noted in the guide and found the trail head. For those who have not taken this hike, the road ends abruptly with some room to turn a car but not much.

On Wednesday I was the only car at the trail head when I arrived about 10:00 AM. The trail starts out on a relatively steep old road bed before gaining the ridge line trail in about 1/8 of a mile. The next mile or so of the hike is in cool forest. At about 1 mile there are some side paths leading to a great camping spot on top of the ridge. The site offers 360 views of the Cascades and Mt. Daniels

The trail to Sawyer Pass is in good shape and very, very dry. Bugs were not much problem unless you stopped. The problem bugs were deer flies which were immune to OFF but at least did not bother me if I kept moving. I did find a trail that took off toward the summit of Mt. Sawyer and walked it for about 100 yards. It was steep in places but easier that bush whacking.

In general this is a great hike on warm days as not much leg energy is required to hike the ridge. Views are nice to great, and there was solitude on this Wednesday. I met one other hiker as I got near my car about 1:00 PM. Flowers are out in the meadows but past their peak. I could identify Indian Paint Brush, Lupine but there were others out as well. I suspect in this dry weather the flowers will be gone shortly.

Lovely Day at Tonga Ridge. The mighty mountain poodle and I arrived at the Tonga Ridge Trailhead around 10:50...I put my boots on in the car because bees kept circling it. Most were flying too fast to identifly but a bald faced hornet did land on my windsheild as I was getting ready.

We headed out around 11. Trail is in beautiful shape. First mile is heading up through the forest. Then we got to the meadows. Wildflowers were blooming in the meadows. We saw paintbrush, mountain thistle, tiger lilies, douglas aster and others. Of course since the wildflowers were out that also meant there were tons of butterflies! Of course, there was lots of bees as well. MMP and I had bees following us much of the time. While I wasn't too worried about the yellow faced bumble bees--there were some that were a little aggressive. The next 2 1/2 or so are in meadow with the occasional forest for shade. Lots of excellent views. Only one log down over the trail and it is easily negotiated. There is no water on the trail now so it is very hot and dusty.

Then the last mile or so is in the forest then clears into a very flat area with lots of shrubbs and trees. I went until the trail forks in three different ways. Aproximate milage is 9.2 round trip.

Got back to the car at 3:27..MMP went to sleep on her side and I drove back home.

Today's goal was Talus Lk which is about 2 miles south of Deception Lakes and can be reached off of the PCT. I used the Tonga Ridge road for my approach, this shortens the approach greatly. I had never been past the Turnoff for the Tonga ridge trail. The road is in great shape all the way to the trailhead. It is however much longer than I expected. There is some limited parking just past the trailhead (1059b). This was a first for me the hike starts on a steep decline as it drops to meet the Deception Creek trail. The trail is in very good shape as climbs steadily to reach the PCT just south of Deception Lakes. I did not intend on going to Deception Lakes, but since the weather was very warm I thought it best to catch some shade and have some lunch. The bugs were a mild nuisance, as I did some exploring near the uppermost of the Deception chain. I returned to pack up and head for the day's objective. Talus Creek crosses the PCT about 2.5 miles from Deception Lakes, there is a great campsite just before the creek crossing. I dropped pack here and crossed the creek and climbed on the south side of the creek all the way to Talus Lk. The first part is the steepest but it moderates quickly. I picked up some fisherman's trail now and again on the way, the area is pretty open so it only took about 45 minutes to reach the lake. The lake itself wasn't much to look at and the fish were not biting. The descent went very easy (30 minutes). I packed up and started out stopping frequently to gawk at Mt Daniel, Cathederal Rock and Terrace Mt. There was plenty of water on the trail and all trails were in good shape.

Just an update, the Tongas ridge trail is completely snow-free, still very few bugs, and the color is beginning in the meadows. It should peak in a week or two. At the far end of the meadow at Sawyer's pass, things are boggy and muddy, but the good part about that is the shooting stars are blooming. This is a great hike to start the season with, if you are out of shape as I am. Mid-week I saw only 1 other hiker!

With some company in town, I chose the Tonga ridge trail. I always choose this trail when with inexperienced hikers. You do almost all of the climbing in the car. The views are stunning with minimal effort. I left the rest of my party in the meadows just under Mt Sawyer and set off the climber's trail that starts just past the meadows. The trail was clearly defined and easy to follow. The trail wraps around the eastern shoulder and reaches the summit from the north side. There was still some patchy snow on the north side. Amazing views of the Alpine Lakes area as well as Glacier Pk. to the north. The bugs were, suprising to me, very minimal.

The first 2/3 of the trail are mostly dry, though there are a few snow patches and spots where the snow is melting into the trail. However the meadow at the pass is still firmly snow-bound. Mt Sawyer looked snowfree if you can find your way through the trees. Round trip 6 mi 2.5 hr

Directions to TH in the 3rd edition of 100 Hikes/Alpine Lakes are more accurate than the 1st edition (don't know if there is a 2nd yet) of Snowshoe Routes-Washington. Last turn off road 6830 onto Spur 310 is about 7 miles, not 3.3, from road 68. Minimal snow on the last 2 miles of the drive, with about 2"" at the trailhead (4300').

The trail is easy to follow to Sawyer Pass, with about 12-14"" at the pass (4800'). I didn't look for the routes to Mount Sawyer or Fisher Lake. No distant views due to low clouds, but it's nice to see winter finally arriving with a little snow in the trees and under foot. I'll probably be back with snowshoes in the next 2-3 weeks unless it really dumps at lower elevation.

Probably won't be only report on this trail; I came up fairly late (almost 2) and was surprised to see 25+ cars at the trailhead. It was gorgeous up there, guess everyone else had the same idea. Trail in fantastic shape, parts frozen but not at all slippery. Not even too cold, though the forest shade on first 1/2mi made things cooler. Went up to Mt. Sawyer, the backside had just a little snow maybe 2"" but could avoid almost all significant snow if you wanted by staying frontside at top. Outrageous views of Daniel and Hinman, all surrounding peaks dusted at something around 5500 foot level. Road to trailhead pretty well graded this year. Boy, I will probably remember this fall hiking season for a long time, it is unreal to be doing scenic (mostly) snowfree sunny alpine hikes like this into first weekend of November.

The surreal stretch of great weather held out for one more week, so I had to hike one last time before the monsoons arrive. It was a crystal clear but cool day, temps in the 40's. The first few miles are basically flat and easy, as you traverse around the mostly open ridge and Mt. Sawyer. Nice views across the Foss River valley. There were a few snow patches but the trail is obvious.

At Sawyer Pass there was more snow, 2 or 3 inches, and several unmarked forks in the trail. I followed the way that seemed to have the most bootprints, which turned out to be correct. Next the trail climbs steeply, with less snow but a bit a bit obscure and hard to follow in spots, even with flags. After reaching an odd sort of plateau, there were a few more forks, but I kept following the bootprints. The rest of the way to Fisher Lake is easy, downhill.

After a brief rest I headed toward Ptarmigan Lakes. No one had been this way in a while, so no prints to follow. I quickly lost track of the alleged trail, but found the lower lake easily by contouring around below the big talus field. The lower lake is beautiful. I then headed onward across the talus, a short distance but a long time getting to the upper lake. This one's not quite as nice, but a good lunch stop. Just as I finished lunch the sun dropped behind the mountaintop, and man did it start getting cold fast.

As it turned out, getting back to Fisher Lake involved a lot of unnecessary bushwacking and elevation loss/gain. I thought I'd found the way trail above lower Ptarmigan for a while, but wound up losing it again and actually getting kind of lost. After wandering around for a while I found a ravine heading down to what I thought was Fisher Lake, but on arriving there it became obvious that I'd stumbled upon Lower Fisher Lake, which was not worth the trip. I found the rather obscure inlet stream and climbed back up to Fisher Lake.

The rest of the return trip was uneventful. With the sun going down fast, I had to hustle to climb Mt. Sawyer. By the way, the 100 hikes book (or at least my edition) advises you to pick a likely spot and just scramble up to the summit. There's actually a perfectly good trail, starting a half mile or so from Sawyer Pass. The view from the top is awesome, especially nearby Mts. Daniel and Hinman.

I got back to the car about 15 minutes after local sunset, with just enough light to hike by. This was really cutting it too close, because while unpacking, I realized I hadn't brought a flashlight. Anyway, a great late-season hike. I saw only three other people all day. Total mileage was about 13 miles and elevation gain 2500' (including unintentional trip to Lower Fisher Lake).

Tanja, Daisy and I went berry picking on the Tonga Ridge trail today. The road up is in great condition. The first mile or so of trail is pretty picked over, but after that the berries are still plentiful. All the mountains in the vicinity picked up a coat of snow recently, and there were some patches next to the trail as well. The fall colors have mostly faded but can still be seen in spots. We picked a quart of berries (plus an equal amount eaten) in about 1/2 hour of ""work"", and Daisy ate at least a 1/2 pint right off the bush. We went as far as the meadow at the foot of Mt. Sawyer and saw some decent views of rocky peaks freshly dusted with snow.

An easy hike, made more worthwhile by a sidetrip up Mt. Sawyer, which has fabulous views at the top. The huckleberries are ripe and many people along the trail seemed to be there just for the berry picking. Good fall colors, especially on Mt. Sawyer. Be prepared for LOTS and LOTS of people on this hike. The road to the trailhead is in great shape. Hardly any bugs.

Update on Tonga Ridge: the road is open, no problems encountered. A beautiful day to stretch out our legs on an easy trail. Brought home 2 quarts of very ripe, but sweet blueberries. A perfect day.

ROAD CLOSED!!!! Tried to do Tonga Ridge today, but when we were almost to the top, road is closed. A drainage pipe under the road was broken, and it was being replace and the road is dug up and closed. =( We did Barclay Lake instead. Check before you go. The fella I spoke with thought it would be completed by tomorrow, Sept 18th.

My two seven-year-olds and I did this tour. Mt. Sawyer has a nice trail and good views. The Mt. Sawyer Trail is a distinct unmarked trail, T-ing off the main trail at about two miles in.

The black fies were bad at the beginning, but breezes the rest of the hike kept them down. Ripe blueberries were abundant. Nice tiger lilies right now.

This is a relatively easy hike with nice views. We saw a lot of parties with young children.

I started at around noon Tonga ridge trail in good shape until turn off for Fisher lake. The first part is difficult to follow due to deep snow. Best bet is to climb to 5200 feet were the trail crosses and starts to descend. The drop into Fisher is easier to follow and much less snow. Cross the outlet of Fisher lake and pick up fisherman's trail to Ptarmigan lakes. Trail is fairly easy to follow, drop down to Lower Ptarmigan and follow rock slide on western shore. Cross the outlet of Upper Ptarmigan and there is a great campsite on northen shore of the upper lake.

Left for Terrace Lakes in the morning, I climbed out of Upper Ptarmigan in a se direction. Pick up the creek and climb to both of the Terrace Lakes pretty easy cross country.

Bugs were above average but not a trip killer. Above average route finding ability required until melt out, which won't be too long at the rate it is going. Great Trip aprox 14miles round trip.

Trail is pretty much clear all the way to Sawyer pass. Unfortunately, it looks like many folks on the Tonga Ridge trail are fearful of getting their shoes dirty - second, third and fourth ""lanes"" are getting trampled into the meadow. Come on folks, that's what hiking boots are for! Walk in the shallow mud, it's fun!

Mount Sawer side trail provided gorgeous views and a nice spot for lunch.

Four of us went to Tonga Ridge for some snowshoeing. We encountered increasing snow on the way up and parked where Road No. 310 goes up to the trailhead. We needed 4WD to get that far and were concerned about getting stuck on 310.

It was an easy hike up the road, and we put on snowshoes at the Tonga Ridge trailhead. There was about 15-18 inches of snow there. For the first half mile or so, we enjoyed a path broken by someone else. We continued on, breaking our own path along the trail. We stopped for lunch a little short of the junction with the trail to Fisher Lake. The snow was as deep as 30 inches, so breaking the trail was hard work, but with four of us on the trip, the path was worked in pretty well. Our return was much easier and took about half the time.

The trees were laden with fresh snow. The cloud cover was too low for any sensational views, but Tonga Ridge was a wonderful place to be today. Anyone looking for a nice snowshoe trip should hustle up there before the road is blocked by more snow and before our work breaking a path is buried in the next snow storm. Enjoy!

This sounded like an appealing early-season snowshoe trip in the ""Snowshoe Routes-Wash."" guidebook by Dan Nelson, so I gave it a go on this chilly but fair late Nov. Sunday. All the F.S. access roads are in fine shape, no snow on the road to the trailhead. Driving directions: Take F.S.Rd. # 68 (Foss River Rd.) off eastbound SR 2 just past the Skykomish Ranger Station (closed-but toilet's open!). Proceed 3.5 mi, turn left on Rd. # 6830. Proceed 6.5 mi to junction with Rd. #310, turning right. Proceed 1.5 mi to trailhead or as far as your vehicle can take you depending on the snowline. Trail: it starts thru 2nd growth forest, shortly passing a wilderness sign & you enter old growth & occasional clearings (nice mtn. views west across the Foss River valley)as the trail passes just below the ridge crest, very gradually gaining 500 feet. 2 miles in you pass under the flank of Mt. Sawyer (5501')on your left. When you first see Sawyer at a clearing/meadow area it appears you can scramble steeply up to the rocky summit at an angle- it's approx. 700' above the trail. I didn't allow enough time for that, but would recommend it for the best views. The trail goes another mile, gradually more snow is encountered on the trail, pretty hard-packed after all the recent rain. Finally you reach a large clearing which I assume is Sawyer Pass, but the hoped-for views promised in the guidebook were disappointing-- obscured by the tree tops! Maybe the views were better a bit further on but I had to get going and turned around & had a bite to eat. Left trailhead 10am, nobody else there, reached 3 miles/turnaround at noon, passed 3 parties on the way back, arriving at trailhead at 1:15pm. Trail is in great shape up to the snowline. Never needed the snowshoes.

Despite unfavorable weather forecasts, we had a great day up on Tonga Ridge on Sunday. The road to Tonga Ridge is snow-free up to the last spur to the trailhead. The 2wd cars stopped a half mile from the trailhead and most of the 4wd stopped a quarter mile short. There was a foot or so of icy snow on the road and the first short climb of the trail, but once in the woods there was no snow at all except in places where you come out of the woods.

We headed up the spur trail to Mt. Sawyer, and hit heavy snow and post holing for the first time when it the spur swang around back to a westerly direction.

There were very nice views of snow-coverd peaks in all directions. Mt. Daniel and Mt. Hinman were particularly impressive, decked out in full white. It is a classic look for the season that is upon us.

Nice day for a ridge hike. Trailhead is reached by a series of forest service roads which are in pretty good shape. Fall colors were really starting to come out and there were millions of blueberries still on the bushes. Trail was in good shape though narrow in places. There needs to be a sign at the pass indicating the direction of the main trail and the branch trail to Fisher Lake. Pretty crowded and lots of people with dogs (both leashed and unleashed). As a bonus saw lots of salmon coming up the Wallace River to spawn.

A pleasant little hike to the meadows. Once you get to the flats there are a million little trails to Fisher Lake. Our party lost enthusiam on the rickety/nasty trail so we turned around with less than a 1/4 mile to go to the lake (darn). On the way back to the car we scrambled up to the top of the ridge where we could see Hinman, Daniels, Rainier, Glacier... Definately worth the extra 20 minutes to get such a great view. The flowers are pretty much gone, but the blueberries are in full force. No bugs!

Had a nice hike to Sawyer Pass with my 10 year old, then backtracked to the Mt. Sawyer cutoff and summitted after a quick lunch. The swirling clouds obstructed some but not all of the great views. No snow remains, but plenty of BLUEBERRIES! Looks like this was the first weekend for picking and there are enough that are not quite ripe to extend the picking a few more weeks. There were plenty of bushes next to the trail and thousands more off the trail. Yum! The bugs left us alone, for the most part.