Trip Reports

Road clear to trailhead (as always, tight parking). Trail is clear, a gradual, rocky ankle twister, to the falls 1200 ft up and 2 miles in. Still some wildflowers along the first two miles, thanks to a cold spring. The second two miles of the trail is snow-free, but for some patches above 5,000 ft, but the meadows are largely cleared. Trail is easy to follow. Melting snow has left small ponds scattered around the meadows.

On the slopes of the Stillaguamish ridge, as you switchback up 2,000 ft, the bunchberry (a low dogwood) is blooming, and there are patches of red columbine, blue lupine, indian pipe, goat's beard, cow parsnip and more flowers I can't identify. Up top on the meadows, the pink and white heather are just beginning their bloom.

First two miles have many rocky sections, the second two miles have a lot of roots and sags, so boots are >much< better than shoes (my hiking partner turned an ankle high up on the ridge, making for a painful limp out. Luckily she had a sherpa with her).

Washington has the best hiking anywhere!

The road in to the trailhead has avalanche debris that should be there for quite a while. It only adds a half mile or so, so no big deal really. The trail is in awesome shape (thanks in part to the WTA trail work done last year). The waterfalls are still huge with snow melt and flowers are everywhere. The crossing above the falls is easy but slippery. The trail continues to climb the lefthand side of the valley with plenty of places to water your dog. At about 3 1/2 miles snow takes over. It is hard snow but relatively easy to stay on course to the saddle which isn't much further. There is a great camp site just east of the lowest point on the ridge. From here it is another 15 minutes to the high point of the ridge before the notch which blocks access to Forgotten. The trail drops off to the eastside but is buried in steep snow and hard to follow. We crossed over and bushwhacked our way into the basin below Forgotten's summit. At this point, after serious sidehilling on loose and steep terrain, my son cried uncle.

Bottom line is, the trail is great as far as the aforementioned high point. The views from the camping site were awesome; Glacier, Baker, Big Four, White Chuck, Dickerman... Just wait until all th esnow is gone to make the ascent a little easier of Forgotten.

An avalanche blocks the road about a quarter away from the trailhead. The trail is in very nice condition until you cross Perry Creek. There is one avalanche that is covering the trail but is easy to cross. The creek crossing is a little sketchy due to the high water level on Perry creek. After the creek the trail is fairly steep and has some mild tread problems but all in all still in very good condition. At about 3 ½ miles or about 4500-4700 feet the snow started. The trail was quickly covered by about 3 feet snow. I walked up to the 5200-foot look out, which had excellent view of Big Four Mtn, Glacier Peak, and Mount Baker. I don’t recommend any one to continue to the top by the look out spot unless the have rout finding experience and good snow traveling skills. Crampons and an Ice Axe would help.

We had to walk about a third of a mile to get to the trail head due to fallen trees. The trail is in good shape. The WTA was out and working. They have done some excellent rock work on the stream crossings. There is a still a small snow field before the falls. Beautiful day with lots of waterfalls coming off the mountains.

great hike if you like water falls. there were water falls all around us. a couple of stream crossings that took a little thought. and one snow crossing just before the falls that require caution. we stoppped at the falls and had a snack before heading back down.

The turn to the gravel road to the trailhead is 15.3 miles east of Verlot, 1 more mile up a fairly straight road to end brings you to the trailhead.

A lovely Fall day started foggy and soon burned off into a sunny morning. Not a single switchback on the rocky traverse 2 miles to Perry Falls. Still plenty of water going over the water falls off Stillaquamish.

The snow level was at 4,800 feet, just below Mt. Forgotten Meadows. The trail was icy and didn't thaw all day being in the shadow of Mt. Dickerman.

SNOW IS ENCOUNTERED ABOUT A MILE INTO THIS HIKE. THERE ARE TWO CREEK CROSSINGS THAT CAN HAVE THIN COATING OF ICE ON THE STEPPING ROCKS, CAN BE VERY SLIPPERY. POLES VERY HELPFUL TO THESE CROSSINGS. HIKING IN FOREST NEARLY THE ENTIRE WAY TO THE FLATTENED RIDGE, LITTLE OVER 3 MILES TO GET TO. THEN TRAIL TRAVERSES RIDGE TO LEFT FOR ABOUT 1/4 MILE, THEN TURNS RIGHT TO ASCEND MT FORGOTTEN, BUT TRAIL AT THAT POINT IS BLOCKED OFF, APPARENTLY AS A WARNING THAT THE TRAIL IF UNSAFE ABOVE THAT POINT. POLES AND SOMETHING TO SIT ON IN SNOW GOOD TO HAVE.

Rain all day; wet snow higher up. Today, the trail is snow free up to the Perry Creek crossing; snow covered after that. Gets kind of deep at 3 mi; I lost the trail soon after that. Crossing the creek was OK.

The maples leaves on the trail made it a little slippery here and there, and the trail is a real rocky ankle buster in parts, but otherwise the 2 mile hike up to the falls is as great as can be. And it truly is a fern-watcher's Eldorado!

I wouldn't dare try to cross the log at the top of the falls. The water was running over half of it and the other half was slippery.

The trail #711 is in fine shape and the climbers-path, after the Forgotten Peak junction, is easy to follow. Great views from the ridge looking north to White Chuck and Forgotten. The flowers are still blooming along the meadows and on the summit block. The bugs were around but not too bad if you keep moving. A few snow patches above 5000' but melting fast.

Glorious summer day on the Perry Creek and Mt. Forgotten Trail. The trail is in good shape with all blow downs cleared and no snow until just before the meadows. Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, Big Four, and Monte Cristo peaks are among the many treats we had.

Beyond the meadows to the summit of Mt. Forgotten there are still substantial snow slopes to cross. The day was warm enough that we were able to kick steps but there is a hard crust just below the surface. Sadly, we ran short of time and had to turn back maybe 1/2 hour from the summit.

Bring ice axes if you plan to go past the meadows to the summit.

A wonderful Independence Day hike up Perry Creek to Mount Forgotten Meadows. The trail was in great shape, freshly cleared. Snow began just below the ridgeline, and the meadows were still quite snow-covered, although there was a great dry picnic spot up top. Fantastic views!

The recent storms did some damage to this trail before the waterfalls. Beyond it appears to be undamaged (and under snow). Every stream that crosses the trail has a rock and/or mudslide. Some of the trail is a bit of a pain to traverse, but it's all passable. There were some avalanches onto the trail too.

The snow starts in earnest about half way to the falls.

Amazingly, the water levels were not high and crossing Perry Creek on the log wasn't too bad.

There are NO mosquitos!

Started out in the rain and clouds, but the rain had stopped by the time we reached Perry Creek Falls. Water flow a little low this time of year, but the falls have formed quite the little gorge. A little confusion just past the falls before crossing the big log to the trail on the other side of the creek. Trail is in fantastic shape all the way up to the meadows, which were full of blueberries (yummy!!). From the meadows, we dropped down and began the traverse. There are several off-shoot trails and many seem to lead to the same place. We got soaked as many branches lean over the trail and at times it seems like you're bushwhacking. Made the summit in about 4 hours to some sun breaks, but very few views. Clouds did part on our way down to get a view of the summit and route, which is an interesting traverse. With time at the summit and picking blueberries in the meadows, roundtrip was about 9 hours.

Just the two of us today. I and hiking buddy Blue Towel drove the Mountain Loop highway 15 miles beyond Verlot, turned left on FS #4063, and drove an easy mile to the trailhead: a Monday morning, and only two other cars were there.

Last Fall, we hiked this same trail all the way to Mt. Forgotten Meadows. The rainy season had begun, the waterfalls across the canyon were flowing, and the moss covered boulders along the first couple of miles of trail were phenomenal. This year we were earlier, on a warm summer day with the moss crisp and dry, and little water flowing.

Our crossing of Perry Creek was easy today. A few steps on dry boulders, then the remainder on that wonderful, long log. Then up through the forest, at first on short switchbacks, then on longer ones. Here, we encountered a lone backpacker with his small dog, the only other person we saw all day. We continued up a bit more to reach an obvious, if unsigned, ""Y."" Last Fall we stayed right to reach Mt. Forgotten Meadows. This year we chose left, an unofficial but obvious

trail, heading first up to the ridge top, then back down to skirt two boulder fields. Then back up to the ridge top again to reach the first great viewpoint, with Whitechuck Mountain and Mt. Pugh to the north, Mt. Forgotten and Glacier Peak to the East. But still no sign of Stilly, out of sight there to the west.

A bit of brush, then the first small hillside meadow. The early wildflowers were long gone, the lupine sporting only seedpods. But the fireweed was out in force, and asters still showy. A second small meadow offered more of the same.

We reached the top of a rocky ridge, a fine viewpoint across more meadows, with the summit pinnacle of Stillaguamish now looming beyond (photo.) It seemed a bit of a way off, but looked like an easy stroll across the meadows. We contemplated this. We'd already come about as far as we had planned and the afternoon was getting on. But the day was exhilarating and we decided to press on, at least for a while.

Oops, after more meadow we came to a notch, not obvious earlier! We would have to scramble down a bit of rock, then down a couple of hundred feet more through a woodsy section. Should we stop, or go on? Oh, well, why not...? Down a ways we found a well-worn campfire coffee pot left on a branch by some former traveler, though what the message was we weren't sure.

We reached the bottom of the notch and started back up. Soon, a large boulder blocked the trail, and the trail switchbacked up twice then, perversely, seemed to dead end. We pressed on up through more brush, where bits of orange ribbon showed others had been too. (But, on our return, we discovered it would have been marginally easier to hop over that big boulder and continue up directly from there.)

We emerged into the final meadow, with the summit pinnacle ahead. The east face is a true precipice, but we walked easily to the south shoulder to check out prospects from there. At that point, Mt. Pilchuck was visible to the far west, and the route to Stillaguamish's summit was clear.

We would have needed to drop down around some more brush, traverse a narrow path across a rock face, then scramble up an easy slope of rock and heather to reach the summit. That did not look particularly difficult, but it already was late, and it would have added significantly more time than we had allowed so, with some regret, we began to think of returning home.

First, we looked once again around the horizon at all the peaks, beginning with Mt. Pilchuck in the west, then Big Four Mountain and Vesper Peak to the south, the Monte Cristo Peaks to the east with Sloan Peak looming beyond them, Glacier Peak to the far east, and Mt. Forgotten and Mt. Pugh much closer. Whitechuck Mountain was prominent to the north. To add to this, from further east in the meadows, we already had enjoyed good views of Whitehorse Mountain and Three Fingers to the NW.

To the far NE, a billowy cloud of white smoke from a distant forest fire was visible. While some haze from other fires was evident in the air today, it did not diminish the fantastic views of so many peaks.

This is a great hike for the views, and for the likely solitude. We may try it again next year as an overnight backpack, to allow ample time to scramble all the way to the summit of Stillaguamish.

Three of us got a fairly late start around 9am at the shady cool Perry Creek Trailhead, at the end of good gravel road. The trail was surprisingly crowded with a dozen hikers setting off as we arrived, with another group of two in their wake. The trail proceeds for a few minutes through some unattractive 2nd growth, then into the open base of the Perry Creek valley. After two miles appear the falls (watch the last step), then the long uphill on the ridge to the meadow and the end of the trail. The flowers were still out, though past peak. Views of Glacier Peak and Baker were nice on the warm clear day. The group of 12 (which we had passed) just reached the meadow after we finished lunch and began to head on the boot path to Forgotten.

The path is always clear, but sometimes steep with loose footing. Everything is easy enough, but careless steps may result in unpleasant downhill tumbles in many places. The path rounds to the milder east side of Forgotten revealing a tiny tarn and some remaining snow. Quickly the path heads up a loose but not very steep gully of broken granite. Continued uphill through lupine yields the summit with a dual register, one for people and another for recording goat sightings (apparently none since this register was placed June this year). Views are superlative in all directions with a tiny flat spot at the airy summit (again, watch the last step). Swarms of what appeared to be flying ants covered trees at the summit, but were confined only to the top ten feet.

A fine walk on a fine summer's day.

The ridge tops were in clouds so there were no views but the flowers were in full bloom. The Perry Creek trail was in good shape. Per an earlier trip report, we left the trail at about 4700 feet and headed up the hill looking for the route towards Stillaguamish Peak. We found the way-trail about 100 feet below the ridge and it was easy to follow most of the way. The route passed first through open forest then flower fields then heather meadows. The views from these meadows must be nice on a clear day.

Perry Creek trail is in good shape with only a few hundred feet of snowfields in the last quarter mile, if that - all easily negotiable. The mosquitoes are out where the snowmelt is running off but they do not seem to be bothersome yet. This is a great training trail with constant elevation gain all along and a lot of uneven surface. Flowers are out with nice Tiger Lily in a little patch about a mile in and Columbine in places higher up above The Falls. Great views at trail's end to the north (Baker), east (Pugh and also looking up North Fork Sauk River to Glacier Peak) and south (to Monte Christo peaks).

A beautiful hike on a beautiful day!

No problems to report except one very tenacious bee near the main waterfall. It found us no matter how we tried to avoid it. Please give it our regards should it visit you as well--we certainly spent enough time with it today.

""Meadows"" at top are beautiful, plus meadows on higher up (go to the right at the first set of meadows and follow the trail as if you are going to Mt. Forgotten to get to these higher meadows) were nearly snow-free, with s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g views of Glacier, and a cloud-shrouded Baker, plus innumerable other peaks.

Well worth the trip, and no blow-downs or other problems to report. The waterfalls are stunning, too, and the trail was not so crowded this fine Sunday.

Thanks to all who make this a great site for reports and information!

Finally, a day off to go hiking after six days of work! Famous Amos arrived at my door at 9:30am and we headed out for a day hike at Perry Creek and Mt Forgotten Meadows. The trail is in excellent condition all the way up to the first view point. We took some pictures and went on a bit further, but didn't want to deal with snow so we ended up having lunch and spending time at the first view point facing north. Nice views, fun hike, a great day out in the woods :-) oh yeah, bugs!

Distance- about 8 miles?

Time up- 2 hours

Time down- 1.75 hours

Drive- 1.25 hours from Lake Forest Park

Just a short update on current conditions to several earlier excellent reports for this trail ...

Significant snow coverage on the trail starts at about 5000', just before the first (north-facing) viewpoint. The remaining 1/4 mile or so to the view meadows to the east (with their fine view of Glacier Peak) is perhaps 70% snow covered, but navigable (and well worth it). This last section of trail contour-climbs around the south side of the 5396' butte to the meadows at 5250' or so. If the snow-tracks aren't good enough to follow, just keep ascending on a reasonable route - there is almost no chance of getting lost or otherwise mis-positioned.

The meadows themselves are about 90% snow covered, but there are a few islands of bare ground on which to have lunch and soak in the view.

When the weather called for 80's it was time to get out and get some views. Bridgit, Bob and I left Lake Stevens at 6:15AM and hit the trail at 7:10AM. It was already warm enough for shorts and a shirt but the early start kept us from getting too warm as we worked our way up the trail. The early part of this trail is very nice with lots of mossy rock and tree cover. As you get higher the trail opens up in some avalanche fans and across the valley from Perry Creek were many huge waterfalls.

Two miles got us to Perry Creek Falls which is roughly the halfway point. Elevation gain from the trailhead to the falls is 1100 feet. Just above the falls the trail crosses Perry Creek on some logs and rocks. It is pretty easy but we used our poles for better balance.

After the crossing the trail gets down to business gaining about 1100 feet in the next mile. After a major switchback the trail heads northeast and gains another 700 feet until you get to a ridge top with views of Mount Forgotton, Baker and Shuksan. We hit some patches of snow around 4700 feet but it was easy to follow the boot tracks and trail to the ridge.

Once on the ridge the snow is solid as you go a bit further northeast and work around a final hump to the meadows on the east side of the hump. This is considered Mount Forgotton Meadows. The meadows were completely snow covered except for a few small areas around some trees with room enough to sit and eat but no room for a tent yet. Glacier Peak is in full view as is Forgotton, Pugh, Del Campo and Dickerman.

This is a great hike with lots of views and we had a blast.

Total distance: 4 miles

Total elevation gain: 3100 feet

As reported by Jimbo in his June 22nd report on the Perry Creek trail, the parking lot was packed. Initially I was annoyed thinking of the masses of hikers on the trail. Then surprisingly pleased to notice the WTA trailcrew. I did feel a tad sheepish hiking past them, hard at work as I went off to enjoy the mountains.

The trail, as far as the falls, was in great shape. Only minor wet spots here and there. Most all of the avalanche debris has been cleaned up. The crossing of Perry Creek is not signed, but doesn't really require a rocket scientist either. There is a huge log spanning most of the river, only minor rock hopping was required.

The trail winds up the slope at a decent clip with only minor inconveniences. Beckey describes the route as turning ""NW thru light timber where the trail switchbacks to the NE"". We followed this direction going cross country thru light underbrush, spots of snow and lots of dead grasses in the open slopes. Only problem is the slope is fairly steep. Muddy and wet grassy areas were difficult to negotiate. My twelve year old son said that going up is fine, but ""how are we ever going to get down?"" Near the ridgeline we ran into an old trail that is in great condition. On our way out however this trail disappeared into the snow before it reached the main trail. We wound up having to cross country again to find the main trail. Another week or two and it will be completely melted out.

So we followed this trail westward until it gains the summit ridge/plateau. There are spots where it is buried in snow and hard to follow and even a spot or two that the snow is fairly steep (35-40 degrees). The snow was soft and easy to hike in. It was also easy to find round about ways to get past the steeps spots.

As the day progressed the low clouds lifted, affording us views of Mt Forgotten, Twin Peak, Big Four and others. The trail bounced up and down on the ridge line, skirting steep, snow filled gullies on it's north side. The avalanche lillies were out in force as snow slowly was losing the battle. The last couple hundred yards towards the summit the trail kind of peeters out. Beckey describes going directly up the ridge (avoid the first little rock pile). An easier alternative is to flank the summit to the left, dropping a hundred feet and approaching from the other end. The former approach was loose but easy third class and very quick. We descended the latter finding it dirty, loose and just the longer way around. The summit itself is small, flat and grassy. It would make an excellent camp site.

Beautiful trip all and all. Six to seven hours round trip.

Long days mean play time after work so off to show my son this trial to some awsome views. I was shocked that the end of the road was full of cars ? There must be some reason for all this trafic on a week day after noon. Well it was a work party from the (WTA). I wished I had taken your all's picture and posted it.. They said that they had been working the first mile of trail, and there did a AWSOME JOB.. Thanks again fellow hikers. We made Perry in an hour and refilled our water jugs here. Just past this we passed a guy with a pack that was huge, he was going up for the night. We made the first look out spot in another hour. We took some of that in and I explained that last year I had made it to the top of Forgotten. That is a neat spot to view it all isn't it.. We made the meadow shortly after that and took 10 minute break in the cold wind before heading back down.. The trip was 3 hr. 20 min. I figure 5 ft. of snow still on top.

Made it up to the ""meadows"" at the end of the trail on Sunday. I say ""meadows"" because I've been there three times but always in spring when they are snowfields.

Snow is just patchy enough to find the way up to the ridge. Once you've (almost) gained the ridge, it's still solid snow, but at that point it's very simple to just keep moving up the top of the ridge without any risk of getting lost. My hiking buddy for the day wore his climbing boots and did the kick-stepping for me. The only somewhat steep part was getting to the top of the rocky point overlooking the meadows (before you have to drop back down if you're continuing to Mt. Forgotten). That was our turn-around point.

On the way back down, we saw a group of about a half-dozen teenagers making their way up the ridge in *sneakers,* and rather than following the top of the ridge, they were walking at the top edge of the steep snowfield on the lefthand side of it. I suggested that they move over to the middle of the ridge and follow our footsteps, and thankfully they did. That could have been very bad.

Went up to the falls today; didn't go beyond. One person who did go a bit beyond said there was lots of snow and he didn't have equipment so he turned back. The first part of the trail is very well maintained, and dry. There are a couple of minor rockslides, but those are easy to climb over. A little past halfway to the falls there was an avalanche/rockslide/mudslide that gouges several feet into the earth; the other side of the trail is a tad obscured by brush moved and the tributary is crossable on the hard snow. After that point the trail has a few snowy patches with hard, albeit melting, snow. Approaching the falls there is one place where part of the trail has a little crack, looks like half the trail may break off at some point. The falls were wonderful, though, and worth the trip!

Mountain Loop Hwy is open all the way to Barlow Pass. Perry creek road is icy in places and snow covered all the way from the Hwy. I used 4 wheel drive with out any problems. There is a easy to follow track all the way to Perry Falls, several ice falls along the way on both the North & South sides. No goats sighted :(

Many cat tracks criss crossing the trail. The path along the falls is very icy and the old wooden hand rail has been missing for a few years now. Great snowshoeing above the falls, mostly covered brush and rocks. Surrounding peaks all bathed in bright sunshine.

New gate going in at Deer Creek. Hwy was frosty in places but easy

I decided it was my turn to start helping the WTA on a trail crew work party. It really feels great having done this. We all met at the Perry Creek trailhead at 8:30 and hiked at a nice pace. The seven of us carried tools and buckets in about a mile and a half. There was a section of trail near a creek bed that we would be working on.

There were a few large rocks we moved and then some trail to fill in. Mike, the crew leader, was very cautious about finding where the water would travel and making the trail strong enough to hold 10 feet of snow.

Everyone needs to try this volunteer stuff out. We were done working at 3:00 pm. Really this wasn't very hard. We were encouraged to work at our own pace and above all to have fun. We did.

The pictures show the before and after of our work today. I am sure it will look even better after the crew tomorrow gets a hold of it.

Well after a change in plans I headed off on the Perry creek trail to climb Mt.Forgotten. Originally I had planned to climb silver tip peak after driving into Monte Cristo. Trouble was I had forgotten my key for the gate. Prehaps this is why I made ""Forgotten"" my back up choice. I have travled along the mountain loop for 25 years now and have thought about doing this hike at sometime well sometime turned out to be today. The trail is in good condition with no downed trees at present an good tread going across the many slide zones. Made good time getting to the summit and was surprised to see what an airy summit it is. The climbers trail from the meadow is easy enough to follow. No water past the falls though. Met several nice folks along the way as usual because you always meet the nicest people in the mountains don't ya. Also the blue berries are at peak right now get them while you can!

I got a late start (unavoidably) on Monday, and hiked up the Perry creek trail just to the falls two miles in, and set up camp with Daisy just past the falls. A ranger I met on the way in said that camping was OK as long as impacts were kept to a minimum, so I made sure to bag the dog's poop and carried it out Tuesday. The mosquitos were pretty bad, so Daisy and I hit the hay at 8 pm, possibly the earliest ever for me. It started raining right after we hit the tent, insuring lots of muddy footprints in the tent after a couple of bathroom breaks. It rained all night, and was still going strong the next morning. The falls were nice, but hardly worthy of an overnight trip.

I thought about hiking up to Mt Forgotten meadows anyway on Tuesday, but I'm just not the kind of hiker who will bust my hump climbing 2,000 ft plus to see the inside of a fogbank in the rain. The rain eventually let up, but the fog was relentless, so at noon we just bailed back to the car. I hate packing up a wet tent, but there was no option. Of course, once back at the car things lightened up a bit, so at least I was able to take Daisy to Bear lake for a swim and some play time. When I got a view back up the Mtn Loop, it was still fogged in, so I guess the weather impovement was location-related.

It was not my worst-ever BP by a long shot, as the conditions were not horrible or anything, but I felt as if I had wasted a weekend for nothing. I could have done Esmeralda basin in the Teanaway, and almost did decide to do that, but my hopeful nature got the better of me. Let me tell you, camping in the rain with a dog is no fun at all, now everything that was in my tent smells like wet dog. It's all part of life's rich pageant I guess, and it will make my next non-stinking outing seem all the more sweet. I won't bore you with the depressing pictures.

The hike up to the falls would make a pretty sweet dayhike if someone was looking for something short with little elevation gain. Lots of big trees, moss gardens, peek-a-boo views, and a respectable waterfall. The weather this weekend appears on schedule for a nice ""make-up"", mostly sunny nad hot.

The trail is pretty nice up to the falls. The brush has been recently trimmed. Just a fews tenths of a mile past the falls the trail gets steeper. There was some mud in places, but will probably dry out with a few more dry days. If it rains much, the trail above the falls could get pretty mucky. The trail section from the meadow to Mt Forgotton isn't too bad to follow if you pay attention. Again, if it rains much this section of the trail could get pretty slippery.

The top couple hundred feet of Mt. Forgotten was in and out of fog while my trip to the peak. I waited for about 30 minutes on the summit, while having lunch, for the clouds to clear but no luck. I was unable to see any nearby peaks. By the time I had returned to the meadow, the top of the peak had cleared up nicely. It was tempting to hike back for a nice view, but not today.

There were alot of flowers in bloom up the last couple hundred feet up Forgotten, well worth the hike. I saw only 4 other hikers on my way down and they were only going to the meadow.

Mark

Beautiful short hike up Perry Creek to the waterfall (about 2 miles in). Trail is clear. Great hike for botanizing - many ferns and wildflowers blooming. Can go further to the Peak if you wish. Great for a half day outing.

I finally had another go at the Perry Creek trail, one of my favorite day hikes. You gradually climb up the Perry Creek valley, with open views back down the valley and up at the waterfalls cascading down the dramatic cliffs on both sides. You then cross Perry above its own substantial waterfall, switchback up the side of the valley, and end up on meadows surrounded by nearby snowy peaks and a picturesque view of Glacier Peak at the end of the Sauk valley.

The trail is free of snow until right before you hit the ridgetop, and then the snow suddenly becomes continuous and deep until the official end of the trail near the knob between Forgotten and Stillaguamish. I donned gaiters and slogged and kick-stepped my way up to the top of the knob, good enough for me. Even though it was mostly cloudy and chilly, the snow was annoyingly soft; gaiters were definitely key. Clouds obscured the tops of peaks, but it was still a dramatic, beautiful spot. While I was resting up there, it snowed on me. Gotta love spring hiking.

I had the trail pretty much to myself. As I was about to hit the trail, 3 carloads of people showed up, but I never actually saw them on the trail and they were gone by the time I got back, so they were probably scared off by the heavy shower that hit as I was halfway up the mountain, or they just went as far as the falls.

After a long hiatus, I managed to sneak out on a trip Saturday to Pemmican Peak, el. 5442. We hiked up the snow-free Perry Creek trail to the falls. The creek can be crossed without getting wet feet over some logs and rocks folks have arranged. The trail continues snow free as far as we followed it -- to about 4200 feet. The ridge towards Stillaguamish Peak has several feet of snow about half the time, snow-free the other half. It looks like it'll be gone in a month.

The long slog to Pemmican involves some tricky route finding to avoid cliffs, but we managed to tease it out. Not a terribly impressive summit but what the hey... we can retire this ridge.

Don't breathe with your mouth open while hiking the Perry Creek trail -- some of the bug clouds were pretty dense. They weren't biting though. One or two creek crossings have damanged the trail quite a bit, which involves a little scrambling to get back on trail.

The trail starts not only snow free, but dry and stays that way until 4700'. It seemed much more like an early November day instead of mid March. The snow above 4700' is getting very consolidated and two of our party had no trouble walking on it without gaiters. The view from Pt. 5396' just south of Forgotten is superb.

We headed up to Perry Creek on Sunday to take advantage of the nice weather. I was hoping for not much snow-- at least to the falls. Wrong! There was a bit of snow and frozen slush on the road. For the first mile or so of the trail there was 2-4 in. of snow with some clear spots in the trees and some deeper spots in the open. Beyond the first mile or so it got heavier. Maybe 6-8 in the open areas though it was well packed down on the trail itself. Some of the steeper spots were a little slippery, especially on the way out. Not quite enough snow for snowshoes, but almost.

The weather was very nice. It wasn't too cold and practically no wind. Up at the falls if was considerably breezier and colder. Nice views of the falls with ice and snow, the peaks on the other side of the highway, and some other nice falls across the valley.

The early morning drive was not bad until I got east of Granite Falls and then it turned out great!Lots of sun hitting the ridge tops. I meet six people at the lot.We carried shovels and pulaski's up to within 1/2mile of the falls.Then we started having fun!Fall colors are out.The sun was out and the temperature was nice.We got to play in the dirt or I should say rocks. Now there are less rocks in the middle of the trail.Had lunch looking across the valley to a water-fall and fall colors.Back to the cars early (around 3:30) for pop and cookies.GREAT DAY!!Try joining a WTA work party!

The first two miles of the Perry Creek trail, to the falls, were wonderful, great views and great colors. The second two miles to the top were not so wonderful; rooty, rocky, steep in places. The view from the top was grand, but worth the drudge of the second two miles?

The trail itself is in as good of shape as it can be in. The crossing of the creek above the falls was easy with very low water. There were some flies at the top, buzzingly annoying but not biting.

Folks considering this hike should read the guide books and trail reports to determine if they want to go beyond the falls to Forgotten Meadows, Mount Forgotten, or Stillaguamish Peak.

Because my friend didn't show up, I didn't actually hike this trail, but wanted to report that the road sign for the Perry Creek Road is missing. There is a hiking sign still on the pole, and someone has written the name of the road on the pole, but I would have missed the turnoff to the road if I hadn't been slowed down by road construction at that intersection. I'll try it again another time. I took my son to Big Four Ice Caves instead.

Despite the marginal weather reports, I decided to meander down the Mountain Loop Highway for my long-awaited first trip to Perry Creek/Mt. Forgotten. It was just me and the banana slugs on the trail; I didn't come along a single other human. The trail is in beautiful condition to Perry Falls. Granite rocks border the trail and are carpeted in moss. Surrounding waterfalls pierce through the granite and fall colors. The day was a bit moist and rainy, the water level was high, and so the creek crossings were a challenge. Just past Perry Falls, at the largest creek crossing, I had to remove my shoes and ford the river. Oooohh the water was refreshing! Thereafter, the climb begins. As Mt. Forgotten Meadows is approached, the trail spider webs and becomes confusing. Stay to the right if your destination is Mt. Forgotten. The meadows were sublime, and the views from Mt. Forgotten were commanding. I made it back to my lone car in the lot with muddy clothes, clean river-washed feet, and a refreshed soul. Good one!

16 July. This remains a favorite. It is remarkable that on this sunny beautiful day (a Friday) we were the only party on the trail. In our group of 4, ages ranged from post-college to 67. At a leisurely pace up to the Mt. Forgotten summit and back, one should plan on at least 8 hours. The trail to the Falls is really almost perfect. Up to the meadows, it is straight-forward with some areas needing the expert attention of WTA. After the meadows, it is the same old adventuresome trail to the North side of Mt. Forgotten, but the trail is quite apparent. To be clear, just continue to the north side where things open to a broad tree-free bench before starting up another 600' to the summit, where the Mountaineers have a new register. Summary: trail is good; bugs are not an issue this late; snow is minimal; views are great; a good adventure. Maybe the biggest challenge is finding the trailhead.

This is a hike that I have never been on before so it was a new experience. The hike does have a lot of rocks in the first couple of miles but the majority of the elevation gain is in the back half of the hike which makes it better. The water falls at the half way juncture were nice. I managed to get one foot wet on the way up and also on the way down but at least it was the same foot slipping into the cold water both times.

The weather was overcast and fairly moderate so it was a great day for a hike. Unfortunately the views at the first meadow were not as good because of the weather. There were a few bugs at the top but for this time of the year it was pretty good. There was a decent amount of people on the trail.

A fun day of hiking all in all.

Trail is in good condition... excellent shape to the waterfalls. From there, the trail does a creek crossing that you'll want some tall boots for. From the creek crossing, the trail switchbacks steadily up the mountainside gaining about 2000+ feet. The grade is moderate, with a couple steep of sections. The trail is starting to erode some over the last few years. It is starting to slough a bit on the steep hill side and creep downhill. There are a few roots, but they aren't bad. The meadows were not in bloom yet, and one tiny tiny snow field was present. It is small and flat and poses no problems even to the most intrepid hiker. The way trail to the meadows was in surprisingly good shape, and I think it may have been brushed out. We went in anticipation of some amazing views. We received them. They were of clouds. Big disappointment. So we decided to continue on the scrambling route up to Mt. Forgotten. This is a bit more challenging, and you'll want to use some care. It is steep in places, and there is some brush to deal with. We did encounter some nice wild flower meadows though. Sadly, the rest of our party decided to return to the car, so we bagged the day early because of time, and weather. Some day I will get to the top. Bugs were non-existent

Washington weather is never quite what you think it should be...we thought it would be warmer on this hike. It was actually splendid hiking weather (not too hot) and when we arrived at 10am there were about 10 cars there...when we left there were about 40, so obviously others found it would be a good hiking day as well. This is a beautiful hike and the cleared brush was a huge help.(BIG THANKS to the workers):0) However I wouldn't call it generally foot friendly with the many rocks to go over till you get past the Falls. The scenery is spectacular and the views grand (once I stopped looking at my feet)! Our total time to do this hike was four hours. Bugs were not a problem except at the meadows when you sit down to eat. Happy Hiking :0)