Trip Reports

The NPS report of snow coverage on this trail is discouraging, but in reality it couldn't be much easier. First snow was encountered just below the creek crossing (4200'). If you loose the trail, simply step over to the creek and follow it upstream a few yards to the bridge. Trail is clear for about 20 minutes before disappearing in snow. Ignore footprints running parallel to the creek; they lead nowhere. Instead, look for a switchback up to the left. After locating this switchback, you'll find the trail bare for another 20 minutes until the forest clears to allow veiws of the Tatoosh Range. At this point, look for a switchback to the left (keep looking behind you, it's easy to miss) or continue cross country towards Chutla Peak if you prefer. The final steep switchbacks to the saddle are bare. If you choose to continue to Eagle summit, be warned: I dispute the rating of Class II. I'd call it IV, and I'm fairly certain I was on the standard route. Rock quality is generally good, but holds are not always shaped or positioned as you might prefer, and exposure is considerable. My final approach to the summit was guarded by a trio of goats, one neonatal. The adults were more protective of their territory than I'm accustomed to. No mosquitos sighted.

This hike starts at the end of the North Fork of the Sauk road off of Mountain Loop Highway. The intended route to the summit was to be on trail for 9 miles until reaching White Pass and then to hike the 3/4 mile along the easy ridge to the summit. There are two big problems with the trail. One is that there is no bridge over the swift moving Red Creek. One has to cross on logs which are 14 feet above the water and if you fell in you would have a high likelihood of drowning. The water then sluices through a narrowing which has a log stuck in it. The second big problem is that the trail from 3,300' until 4,300' (where it switchbacks up toward White Pass) has been obliterated by avalanche debris. Hundreds of trees, branches, and stripped off needles cover the slope and it is impossible to even see where the trail is. We climbed over a lot of the debris before heading to the sanctuary of the adjacent forest. It took us over two hours to gain the 1,000' of elevation here. It will take a platoon of workers a week to clean up this mess. At 4,300' the trail reveals itself again and had snow only in patches until the 6,000' White Pass. We actually angled up toward the summit on Class 2 slopes from about 5,700' elevation. Left the car at 0830 and summited at 1500. Roundtrip miles were 19 with elevation gain of 4,900'. Glacier Peak, Indian Head, Sloan, and the Monte Cisto Peaks are highlights. Black Peak to the NW is also quite striking from this summit.

Went from trail head to Mill Creek. Nicely maintained trail except for the descent just above Mill Creek. The short side hike to Rowley's Chasm is highly recommended and resulted in a spectalular view.

Headed out this morning a little late around 8am after many problems plagued us. Had to cancel a trip to sahale due to waking up too late, and that the extra 2 miles added due to downed trees was not worth it and we would wait till a month or so. Forgot socks, and had to wait in front of target for 10 minutes until they opened to get some. Took our 110 lb dog scooby along (Rott/German shep/coonhound) and had fun on the trail, which is in okay condition - considering the trail that it is!

Some downed tress, and the ususal stream crossing was flowing nicely, and the footlog with the cuts in it for traction has been flipped over.

Basin is full of snow and debris, and snow only start once you reach Wirtz Basin. From there we headed back towards Headlee, keeping to the right. Lots of posthole opps with some huge holes and falls that could happen, but we were able to leave unscathed.

The route up headlee pass was all snow until the last 100 feet, where it is mud and heather on the steep slope. We all hated it, bush belays and dirt axe belays got us up to the pass. Meanwhile, Scooby cried and whimpered as he refused to get off the snow and over the moat to get up the remainder of the steep dirt and brush.

We waited and waited trying to urge him on but he did not want to. Thinking he might get hurt trying to get up we went back down after having lunch and glimpsing at the summit of Vesper. Increadibly beautiful day up there, and would have been cool on the summit - but for some reason it was not meant to be. Some good glissading on the way down though. Images to come soon to nwog.org scott@nwog.org

Pretty much the same conditions as the last report except there has been considerable effort on cleaning up the avalanche debris. The first section is completely cleared. The second section as of this report was about 1/3 cleared. Use extreme caution when crossing these areas. Many of the logs are surprisingly loose and it's very easy to get impaled by a sharp debris. The trail to the lake is completely snow covered.

Ok, this was my annual birthday hike and I just want to point out that I had the ideal to do this loop before MounTAIN Woman submitted her report so I’m not a copy-cat or anything. I left Seattle shortly after 6:00am with a stop in Northbend for gas. I told them it was my birthday and asked for a discount, but they wouldn’t do it. I reached the Iron Bear and Miller Peaks trailhead around 8:00am. Since they’re about 100 feet apart this makes a great loop trip.

I started off getting my foot wet right away in the first stream crossing. This was mostly because I was clutzy and impatient - not because the stream was deep. The trail toward Iron Bear Pass is in good shape except for one spot were the tread and a stream share the same space. Users have been beating in an ugly new trail to get around it. The trail is also quite brushy in spots.

The County Line Trail from the pass to Miller Peak is in less good shape. There are several old snags across the trail and in places where this motorized trail has been hardened with cinder blocks, the blocks have become exposed and stick several inches above the ground. Traffic is going around them causing more damage. At one point there is a sign telling ORVs to go no further because of the damage they had caused to meadows. The sign seamed rather old, but appears to have been heeded for I so no damage to the meadows. Perhaps they have recovered.

The County Line Trail passes beneath the summit of Miller Peak and shoots right on by. My Green Trails map showed a trail that looks like it heads up from the southwestern ridge. The trail surprised my by rounding the southwestern ridge and heading northeast on the other side of the peak. I hadn’t expected this and backtracked a bit to make sure I hadn’t missed the trail to the summit before continuing on and finding it. That will teach me to pay attention maps.

By the way, there is an inexplicable and impenetrable wall of snow across the trail below the east face of Miller – so I went around it. It should be easy for all except horses to get around. The Miller summit trail goes straight up gaining about 700 feet in .4 miles (if you believe the map). There’s more patchy snow and blow down on the way to the Miller summit.

I lunched on the summit: sourdough bread with chunky Skippy and strawberry-rhubarb jam, blue corn chips and a bolt of Taragüí maté cocido from my Zojirushi Tuffboy thermos. My Belsoy soy-based “great-tasting” chocolate pudding did not fair to well in the heat. It was basically a small plastic container of chocolate soy milk.

From Miller Peak down is about 3.4 miles with occasional blow-down and a lot of brush nearer the trailhead. More stream crossing were all easy, but I couldn’t help but notice on this multi-use trail most of them hadn’t been maintained for hikers – few foot logs or stepping stones where it would be easy to put them in.

As for the flowers, like MounTAIN Woman said. There are loads of wildflowers from the trailhead to the summit of Miller and all the way back down again. It's the perfect time to visit.

I saw no people (or goats) on the trail all day.

The weather on this day was perfect with just enough over-cast and mountain breezes to keep me from frying. I wouldn’t try this loop in another couple of weeks. If you do, take lots of water. The bugs weren’t much of a problem either. Though I tangled with a few mozzies it was definitely a sub-DEET day.

I stopped at Scott’s in Northbend for dinner. I told them it was my birthday and suggested I should get free tartar sauce with my JoJos – again no deal. It always worked when I was a kid. I guess I’m just not cute anymore.

Trail is clear and dry all the way to Lake Stuart. A small patch of snow just before the lake. Fishing is GREAT! Few bugs but still a bit cool for them. Can hike into the upper Horseshoe Basin but lots of snow and logs to cross. The upper basin is filled with snow and the lake is still frozen over.

Got to jct with Badlands #1576 [2500 feet over 3 miles in 2 hours]. Steep climb with some views to north across highway 2; looked like easier going past junction towards purported meadows and views. Saw a ""brown"" bear with cinnamon colored splotches [yearling?] about 40 metres away up the trail which ran away when I clapped and yelled.

I accessed the Enchantments via Aasgard Pass, there is still some snow at the base, watch out for creeks under the snow. Stay towards the left of the climb after the main waterfall. The top of the pass is snow free but the rest of the basin is snowbound which is not a problem at all if you bring long gaiters. Ice axe is a must in order to either glissade or arrest a potential fall near the many lake shores. Crampons are not necessary if you bing your ice axe. Top of little annapurna is snow free, same with enchantment peak. Prusik pass is snow free however the access is in snow. It snowed all night on the 30th and the weather was fairly cold on Sunday, better on Monday & forecasts mention low 20's on Tuesday...brrrrrr. Colchuck lake access is snow free & I counted 4 trees still obstructing the trail. Mosquitoes were nowhere to be seen during the entire trip. There is still some nice hard snow up Colchuck Peak, the snow at the beginning of the climb is thin a sparse. All in all a magnificent trip if you are willing to deal with the fact that the trail in the basin is under snow. Minimal route finding skill a must.

Headed down to Staircase on Friday with the lofty goal of dayhiking to Gladys Divide on Saturday. Spent the night at the campground in an absolute deluge, awoke to an overcast and drizzly morning, and thus decided to hoof it up to the much more accessible (and poorly named) Wagonwheel Lake. Perhaps a more appropriate name would be the Napolean trail--short, but relentless--as it gains 3200' in under 3 miles. The trail is in good shape and it does offer some diversity...maple (Vine and Bigleaf), fir (Douglas and Subalpine), cedar (Western and Alaskan), slide alder, and an abundence of hemlock...but I would consider it more of a conditioning trail than a prime destination. There are a few developed campsites at the lake, but it appears only a masochist would schlep up with a full pack to this rather nondescript little tarn. On a side note, I would recommend exploring the (apparently) little used Dry Creek trail that winds along the west shore of Lake Cushman. Great views of the lake and of Mount Rose, along with a lovely primitive campground that can be accessed by canoe/kayak or from the trail itself.

This isn't a ""trip report"" per se as I did not actually hike this trail, but a phone call to the Makah Tribal Council revealed some news of interest, both good and bad. The bad news is that the Makah trailhead, which has been officially closed but unofficially open, is slated to be closed completely sometime this month. The good news is that the closure is in order to construct the long-awaited private property bypass. The currently estimated completion date is in the October time frame.

This trail is the steep and nasty way up to Goat Peak. Most of the snow is now gone, except for a few patches below the junction with the American Ridge trail. One snow patch is still a little hazardous to cross. Other parts of the trail have slid out; tread work is needed pretty badly. In compensation for putting up with the mess, the views out over the American River valley and toward Fifes Peak are great! The Goat Creek trail from Bumping River offers a more mellow way to the summit.

Jay

The east end of American Ridge loses its snow early, and offers good early season hiking. I hiked up Goat Creek Trail to Goat Peak, and found the trail to be snow-free and in fine shape, except for some logs across the trail. There are not many views until the saddle at 5800', where a meadow strewn with lupine and phlox provides a scenic resting point. And you had better take a rest, because Goat Peak is still a long way up! Unfortunately, the summit was cold and foggy on the day I was there. On a good day, the view is incredible. From the trailhead in the Bumping River valley, it's about 3300 feet gain to the top.

Jay

Norse Peak snow on trail 4.0 mark [snowdrifts] easy to follow.The flowers and Baregrass are out of sight .Southface are clear,GREAT for goat viewing.There are trees over the upper part of the meadow.NE side of slopes are still snow cover.

Wow! This trail has been completely reworked, and what a terrific job they've done! Very easy, so don't hesitate to bring your folks or kids. The caves themselves are still covered with mounds of snow that don't look terribly safe (we climbed up them anyway, of course) but it's a lovely walk in the woods to a wonderful snowfield. My photos are on www.webofsteve.com.

Happy Hiking!

Mother nature snookered me a bit today as I tried to outsmart her. Rain on the west side? I'll go east, and heck I'll go for views! Turned out dry so a forest hike along a river would have been the best choice for photography, and even east the cloud deck socked in at 5500' which put me JUST into the clouds and no views! But I almost didn't hike anyhow after the amazing wildlife display I had just getting to the trailhead! I left home early....4:15AM...so I could be home mid-afternoon. With my planned trip taking me east of Chinook Pass down hwy 410 I had thoughts of elk in my sights throughout the Pleasant Valley. But the wildlife started early: 4:17AM I had a huge coyote along the road that heads downhill from my home. Just before the Crystal Mountain turnoff along hwy 410 a black bear yearling dodged across the roadway. And the elk...sure, I wasn't too surprised to see them east of Chinook Pass, but I saw them EVERYWHERE! The biggest surprise was just north of Enumclaw along my backroad short-cut around town, where I saw a cow elk and a very small calf come out of a farmers hay field and cross the road--it was just light enough at 4:45AM that I could watch them! Then, another cow and baby calf along hwy 410 just south of Greenwater. Once I headed down the Pleasant Valley east of Chinook Pass I was almost about to call it a day and just sit and watch them. Eight calves and 17 adult elk were seen in the 8-10 miles from Bear Gap to the Bumping River Rd. turnoff, and it finished off with two more cow elk with a very small calf smack in the trailhead parking area!! Alas, I somehow decided to go ahead at 6:10AM and hike anyhow.

The Goat Creek trail is the easiest approach to hike up Goat Peak on American Ridge as the 2700' gain to the ridge trail junction is done over four miles. There were blowdown the entire way up but they were scattered and all fairly easy to get over. The forest floor's carpet of vanilla leaf was outstanding! At 3700' the open rocky areas were covered with lupines and paintbrush in full bloom. From 3700'-4200' the forest was alive with the loud calls of hundreds of Evening Grosbeaks who were everywhere in the trees at this early hour--this was the largest concentration of evening grosbeaks I've ever witnessed! An unidentified owl flew off a dead snag in the same area and soared down a gully below me. And the beargrass...a good mile of the trail passes through a complete change in ecosystem where the silver and grand firs give way to alpine firs and mountain hemlocks, and through here the trail was lined with the beautiful white bombs of beargrass in full bloom! A few calypso orchids were still blooming, and once I broke out of the forest the last 1/8 mile before reading trail #958 these bare open slopes were a landmine of phlox, Columbia lewisia, larkspur, and penstemons. Here too where the views open up magically, so did magically the clouds drop on top of me. Suddenly I was socked in and in a heavy drizzle. Upon reaching American Ridge Trail #958 I decided against going up another 700' to the Goat Peak summit that could not be seen in this soup I was hiking in. But I did venture westward another mile along the steeply up/down American Ridge trail to a high point over 6100'. What a gorgeous ridge hike this is! Trees dotting the landscape that are full of character, and the flowers were excellent! Two more elk came up and over the ridge in the thick fog not 50' ahead of me like ghosts looking for a quick way to get from one valley to another.

Once the drizzle started getting me more wet, I packed up and began my 5.5 mile stomp back to the trailhead. On the hike back I again took the time to enjoy the beargrass and evening grosbeaks, and I also spotted a stunningly beautiful yellow and black warbler and a pair of Western tanagers. Oh, there was never a snowpatch to see...it's all gone but I'm certain a little bit is still on the north side approach to Goat Peak for a bit yet. I didn't see a sole until just 15 minutes from the trailhead I passed one fella hiking in, and then right at the trailhead a group of 12 heading in that must have been a Mountaineers group or plant society group. I drove on home still in a daze from the massive wildlife drive I had to the trailhead and surely plan on an early 4:00AM start to come down here again just to see and photograph the elk that dot the landscape!

I started on this trail from Conrad Meadows trailhead (elev. 4000 feet). The weather was cool and partly cloudy. The trail up to 5400-foot level is in good shape with a few blowdown trees across the trail (but no problems). Snow was encountered above 5400 feet. It started out with a few snow patches. But, it then became solid and continuous at about 5700 feet. Routefinding became difficult at this point. I then turned around.

Sunday, June 30, 2:00 PM: I depart from the Blackpine trailhead, elevation 2900 feet, bound for Klonaqua Lakes. The weather is moist but the forecasts promise sun on Monday. The first 4 miles on Icicle and French creek trails are clear and easy hiking. The few rain sprinkles seem pleasant. The next 3 miles to the Klonaqua junction contains 30 blow-downs, thick brush sections and several places where the creeks flood the trail.

The outlet stream from Klonaqua crosses the French creek trail just before the junction. It is running quite high. I find no suitable dry crossing so I must ford it. Remove first boot and socks. Sock slips from my hand and lands in the current. Sock begins accelerating away. Snap decision: I want that sock. Jump into stream, fetch sock. No longer see a need to remove the other soaked boot, so I continue across the creek, reassemble my gear and continue.

The map says I have gained only 800 feet in 7.2 miles, but with ups and downs it seems longer. The main ascent begins. 1300 feet higher I lose the trail in snow at the 5000 foot sign. Based on advice posted by anonymous, I take the Bob Lake route to Upper Klonaqua. As I trudge up the snow the rain begins to fall. It no longer seems pleasant. I post-hole into a small creek so now both boots are about equally soaked. I find the saddle at 5400 feet. It is now 8pm, raining, I want to make camp and snow is everywhere. But hey, no bugs. Between the Klonaqua Lakes I find a large flat rock free of snow. I pitch my tent on the rock, bring everything inside, cook dinner and retire. The tent stakes can’t penetrate solid rock, so during the night the wind whips my tent around like a flag in the breeze.

In the morning the rain stops and later the sun comes out. I bring my gear out to dry. From my rock I see both lakes surrounded by snow, trees and polished rock cliffs. I roam for a few hours admiring the spectacular setting. A picturesque waterfall feeds the upper lake. A swollen stream roars from the upper lake to the lower lake. Apparently I have the three lakes to myself. You’ll have to imagine the beauty and solitude. I limit my exploring for safety reasons: Snow, cliffs, hiking alone...

At 1:00 I pack and return to the trailhead. I just can’t seem to make good time on this trail: I spent more than 5 hours getting back to my car.

From the trailhead to upper Klonaqua: 10 miles, +2500/-200 feet plus ups and downs. Bob Lake and Lower Klonaqua are 10% ice covered, Upper Klonaqua is 60% ice covered. Most of the snow is 3 feet deep. If you hike it at this time of year be prepared to camp on snow but you might find a dry spot. Beauty and no bugs.

Our plan to summit both South Peak, Ingalls and Fortune Mtn., making the trip a loop returning via trail #1394 below Esmeralda Peaks didn't quite work out as expected: we summited Ingalls in clouds and light snow to our delight, and then decided to gracefully accept our good fortune, but not return via Fortune Mtn! Instead we returned the same way.

Trail to Ingalls Pass is in good shape, with significant snow not starting until 5,800'. The turnoff to Long's Pass is hard to find, and many hiking parties were working their compasses and maps(as we were too) to find the way through snow to pass. Maybe we were flapping our gums too much to notice. Views from Ingall's Pass across basin to Ingalls and Mt. Stuart exceptional. To get to South Peak, we disregarded visiting Ingalls Lake, and took high traverse around basin to first major snow chute. We avoided crossing unstable snow on creek bed as well. The ""dogstooth"" spire talked about in 75 Scrambles is actually hidden on this traverse so we used large rock fronting it that actually looks like a ""tooth""(maybe a mollar and not a canine tooth!)Following a compass bearing also worked, and saddle becomes easy to spot, you will notice a needle spire, as you move up the chute to a high basin. Snow conditions excellent for kickstepping. We reached saddle in the clouds, dropped about 50' down and across a bit to first steep snow chute. Once you've gone up about 100', the way levels out with a gradual rise to summit(register there)It goes without saying an ice axe, experience using it, and thorough equipment, are essential as we found when the peak became socked in.

We returned to saddle via the rocks and partial snow SE. of saddle, as they looked inviting with less exposure downclimbing. While appearing that way, they turned out to be Class 3 with a couple of Class 4 moves. Also, the ice buildup around the rocks makes for difficult footing. Used the aze for chopping a few steps, which was a rarety for us.

We were pleasantly surprised to see some familiar names in register who summited the same day. How we missed the only other people summiting that day, on their way out, who we knew, was beyond us, unless they chose to make the trip a loop as we planned. Also, Fortune Mtn. and the entire ridge looked great coming up, so trying the loop next time is definately on the agenda.

Given the weather forecast for Sunday, and our desire for a snow-free hike, Jim and I selected an east side destination. Miller Peak, in the Teanaway River area, proved to be a good choice. Over coffee and scones, we decided to make the hike a loop trip, heading up Bear Creek and coming down Miller Creek, after taking a side trip to the top of Miller Peak. We left Issaquah under dark, cloudy skies and, less than 2 hours later, found ourselves at the Iron-Bear and Miller Creek Trailheads under much improved weather conditions.

The two of us headed up the Iron-Bear Trail, which travels along Bear Creek. The trail was nicely graded and in good shape, with lots of summer wildflowers in bloom. In the valley bottom, fragrant snowbrush dominated the landscape over a carpet of vanilla leaf. As we ascended toward Iron-Bear Pass, we saw columbine, paintbrush, penstemon, and shooting star, wood violet, and a few other varieties that I don’t know yet.

At the pass, we encountered a person with three pack goats. That was certainly a first for both Jim and me. Up to this point on the trail, there were a few blowdowns and plenty of small streams for water. Even the larger streams were not difficult to cross. From the pass, we turned onto County Line Trail, which traverses Teanaway Ridge. Beyond, the watering opportunities become scarce, as the trail crosses more open terrain. The open hillsides were alive with color. Bright yellow arrowleaf balsamroot was the dominant flower, interspersed with penstemon and lupine. Even the showy scarlet gilia made an appearance.

Approaching Miller Peak from this direction, you get a good early glimpse of the summit. Unfortunately, it appears to be a long way away. As we walked along the ridge, enjoying the views, I would continue to be teased with a view of the peak, but then next time I would see the peak, it would not appear to be any closer! That was a bit frustrating, as I was beginning to tire. Eventually, we reached the junction with the summit spur and the Miller Creek Trail. After taking a few bites of snack food to fuel up for the final push, we headed up the spur trail. In no time, we were on the summit. Stormy weather had started creeping across the crest by this time, and the Stuart range had been swallowed by clouds, but we got a good view of the The Temple and McClellan Peak. We had a nice rest on the summit, enjoying some summit treats.

It was all down hill to the car from this point. We headed back down the spur trail to the junction, and then headed down the Miller Creek Trail. There is only a negligible amount of snow on this trail. In addition to the flowers mentioned before, we also saw a few common harebell, along with many unidentified species. The trail has numerous blowdowns, mostly of the step-over variety. However, this trail, unlike the Iron-Bear Trail, has many duck-under blowdowns that would be difficult for horses to negotiate. This trail has plenty of water opportunities once in the forest. The stream crossings are not difficult.

We finally reached the trailhead after a two-hour foot-pounding descent, both glad to be back at the car. We knew coming east was the right decision when we encountered dark clouds and sprinkles shortly after cresting Snoqualmie Pass.

It was a wonderful loop hike. The scenery from Teanaway Ridge was nice, even with the low cloud ceiling. The wildflowers were also plentiful in color and variety. We were extra thankful that there were no motorbikes on the trail today, as these are shared use trails.

Trip statistics: 12 miles for the loop, 4100 feet elevation gain, 6.3 hours car to summit, and 2 hours summit to car.

The Mount Rainier National Park westside road parking area melted out two weeks ago, so went with a group of Mountaineers on an early season hike to Gobbler's Knob. The road is now snow-free all the way to Round Pass (and presumably on to Klapatche point). There were several large trees down on the road that were easy to navigate around (or over).

Once leaving the road at Round Pass (4000 ft), snow patches began to appear. A short way up from the pass was one small blowdown--the only one we encountered on the trail. At Lake George (4,320), there was deep but firm snow. The lake is about 2/3 fozen still. After some false starts, we picked up the trail again on a snow-free hillside west of the lake. After rising another few hundred feet, however, the snow was continuous and route finding became difficult on the steep tree-covered slope about 800 ft below the lookout. At that point, we called it a day and went to look for pie and ice cream.

Hello, This is my first posting. I began my hike from Snoqualmie with the thought of going up to Manning Park, but I learned that I was about two months early based on how much snow I encountered. After climbing under four blowdowns and coming to the first waterfall coming down from Kendall Peak I began to run into snow covering the trail. I was able to find the trail until I got to the second waterfall area and then it was lost under four feet of snow. I continued hiking and found the trail again as it crossed the talus field below Kendall Peak and just above the second waterfall. At this point most of the snow slopes were 30 degrees or less and in the talus area the trail was intermittently open. This did not last long as the slopes began to approach 40 to 45 degree slopes. After traveling about one mile in 4 hours and cutting in steps with my ice axe along with an unexpected shussh down one of the snow fields, I decided this portion of the PCT would have to wait for a bit. I pulled out my alcohol stove and had a pasta and tuna fish lunch tossed off with hot chocolate and then took some pictures of the trail. It is near where the sign ""Dismount and walk your horses."" The trail is under all of that snow. Hope to cover more territory in my next message. Later.

Rick Hunt--huntforgold

Assuming this is the Heather Lake Trail beyond Wenatchee Lake:

Road conditions to the trailhead are now fine, in contrast to a previous report that mentioned inaccessability due to blow-down. However, there is significant blow-down on the first 1.5 miles of of the trail. While spring-like vegetation growth levels at this altitude currently allow access around these blow-downs, in another few weeks it will be very difficult to get through the trail unless a chain saw gets through first.

Other than this, and a little mud, and a little overgrowth, the first 1.5 miles of trail are a delightful walk, including two river crossings over log bridges. After that, there is about a mile of fairly steep climbing that eventually levels off and leads to the lake. The lake shore is still covered in snow, obscuring the trail. Where it has melted, bog-like conditions prevail. Yet despite all this, and intermittent rain, and views of fog and clouds, it was another wonderful day in the woods!

A WTA crew worked the Bear Lake/Pinnacle Lake Trail on Sunday. We brushed and lopped, cleared drainage ditches, waterbars and culverts. We even un-earthed two ancient culverts near Bear Lake and put them back into service.

There is some patchy snow along the trail to Bear Lake and the turn-off to Pinnacle Lake is under snow. It appeared that much of the rest of the trail to Pinnacle was still burried.

I decided to visit Zion on this cloudy drizzly day to see the blooming Rhodies and I wasn't disappointed. Mt Zion is the northeastern most peak of the Olympic range. The trailhead is just east of Bon Jon Pass on Rd 2810. A forest road map is useful since a few turns were unmarked. The trail traverses relatively young forest that was obviously burned many years ago. Native pink Rhodies make up the primary understory plant most of the way. Rhodie blooms were just past their prime on the first 1/2 of the trail. They were right at their prime on the 2nd 1/2. There is even a large patch of blooming Rhodies in a clearing just west of the peak. No views today. I looks like the trees are beginning to encroaching on the potential view. 3.6 mi RT, 1300 ft.

This trip was kind of a letdown.

The road in to the trailhead is a 15 MPH road in most parts, except for the couple miles that are in the MBSNF; they are perfect.

The trail was in good shape, for an old logging road. The weather was OK, a little rain at the end. Not much scenery was visible, except for the trees. The falls were nice, but not worth the hike.

Encountered two groups of mountain bikers; one nice and the other not-so-nice. The second group just about ran us over coming down the trail and were going at full speed as they blew past, yelling as they went. Made me wish for a broom stick.

Hauled out two 15 gallon trash bags *full* of campsite waste from the sites just before the trail head. There were motorhomes parked there when we went in, I wish I had noted their license plates.

Dosewallips River Road is washed out 5 1/2 miles before the Dosewallips ranger station/Trailhead. Which is to say 4 miles before the Lake Constance TH. The trail (after 5.5 road miles) is in good shape to the Dose Forks campground with a few easly managed blow downs. Here the bridge is gated off and closed to public use and travel beyond. This is due to the missing High Dose bridge another 3/4 mile up the trail.

We hiked up the closed Westside Road to Round Pass and then to Lake George. The road is in good condition, except for a collapsing bridge over Fish Creek and a couple of fallen logs. We encountered no snow on the road itself. Early spring flowers, including bear grass, arnica, wild strawberry, yellow violet, Oregon anemone, bluebells and salmonberry are blooming along the road, which makes an easy hike in itself. There were glacier lilies blooming in the forest. Views were limited due to cloud cover in the morning.

Upon reaching Round Pass we took off on the gently climbing Gobbler's Knob trail. There is a lot of fallen debris and some sizable logs across the trail. We also hit snow patches at about 4000 feet with continuous snow at about 4300 feet. We reached the lake without too much difficulty. The campground and lakeshore is under about 3 feet of snow and the lake is just beginning to shed its icy covering.

We could see the Knob above and attempted to follow the trail, but only made it to the basin below the Knob. From there the way was very steep, snow-covered and slippery. Wait a week or two before attempting. The snow cover was pretty firm in the morning and only softened in open areas. Per usual with snow travel, watch for weakening snow bridges and ice patches. Having ski poles or walking sticks is also a good idea (or an ice axe if you have the training).

In the afternoon, from the Marine Memorial, we were able to get a glimpse of the Tahoma Glacier. It was also interesting to view the destructive path of the Tahoma mudslide down Tahoma creek. It was a good outing with an amiable group.

Another note: This area doesn't seem to be heavily used. We only saw a couple of people the whole day on the road and no one else on the Gobbler's Knob Trail.

The trail to Ollalie Lk. turnoff is in very good condition. Snow patches are encountered about 1/4 mile beyond this point and occasionally obscures the trail. Some difficulty finding the trail where it crosses the inlet creek to Ollalie. The trail clears up again in less than a 1/4 mile from this point.

Weather was in the low to mid 50's with occasional showers and low clouds. No bugs on this day.

Large patches of snow still on trail btwn Ollalie and Pratt but the trail is relativley easy to follow. Snow is melting out over scree fields and weak snow bridges are a hazard. A few blowdowns were encountered and some water on the trail too. Pratt Lake is snowfree. Recommend some route finding skills where the trail is still snow covered, gaiters and trekking poles.

Trail is in great shape, and you better get up there now before the closure on July 15th if you want to take the shortcut to the enchantments. (there's always Rat Creek though)

Headed out around 10am (way too late) as we planned on doing Dragontail, but left about 4 hours later than planned (nice nights sleep on inflatable mattress after a day of cragging).

Trail is in good condition except for some blowdowns along the way that do not impose to much of a threat for the novice hiker. No snow encountered until the lake, and that was only on the southern side.

Lake is gorgeous, and Aasgard Pass is melting out pretty fast. Colchuck Glacier looked good as well, with no creavasses that were visable fom the lower snowfield where we turned around. Weather was back and forth, with some sun poking through once in awhile. Gotta get back there soon before the closure so i can tag Dragontail and Colchuck. scott@nwog.org

When it is raining west of the Cascades, a trip to the beautiful Teanaway is worth the extra drive. Even in cloudy weather, there were great views of Stewart and the peaks of the Enchanments (Dragontail, Little Anapurna, etc.)

This is a nicely graded, easy 7-mile hike. At the saddle, a side-trip up to the top of Iron Peak is required to get the best views. It is also very easy.

The trail is in great shape. A couple of short muddy sections, a couple of small trees to step over and a little snow to cross.

Was surprised to find only one car at the Mt Jupiter trailhead but guessed that the low clouds kept everyone away. No long distance views because of the cloud cover and rain but the rhodies are in full bloom and are incredible! Not too many below 3000' but once above 3000' they literally line the trail the entire way. Lots of other flowers in the rocky areas after the wilderness boundry line at 5 miles. Can't wait to go again soon to see the flowers in full bloom and hopefully a view of something other than clouds. Road to trailhead is a bit bumpy but it looks like it's recently been graded. Trail is in excellent condition. With the vast views and the flower displays if this trail isn't on your list of ""must do"" than it should be.

This is a nice low elevation snow free hike on the east side of the Olympics. The trail starts on an easy wide path (old rail grade) through fairly boring 2nd growth forest. The top of Little Hump is reached at 1 mi. The trail drops a few hundred feet to the very flat 1 mi long interhump zone. 1/4 mile before Big Hump is the start of beautiful old growth forest. Fire scarred very old 5-8 foot Doug Fir dot the landscape. The trail soon starts climbing up switchbacks to the top of Big Hump. There are nice views down valley from a precipitous ledge 1/8 mile from the top of Big Hump. Beyond this point old growth stretches for miles. RT to view 7 mi and 1300 ft. Just a few mosquitos out. Trail in excellent condition.

Davis Peak is a great early season trip. It has a mostly southern exposure which melts out earlier than most trails which have significant elevation gain. It also provides great views of the whole area from the Cascade crest to Mt. Daniel and also the Teanaway area. Often the last part to the summit will still be snow covered when the trail to the ridge is bare. In that case some scrambling or mountaineering experience is needed to drop down into the basin, contour around it, and then climb on up to the old lookout sight. The ridge is a good hike itself but I was hoping we could get all the way to the top. This trip was with a group of 8 Mountaineers. The trail starts about 1.7 miles up the Cle Elum River road from Salmon La Sac. After my 17 miles bike/hike trip up Miller Peak the day before, I was a little leery about another 4000'+ of gain. We reached the trailhead by 9:45 and were on the trail soon after. That's a late start for Eastern Washington in the summer but this day was anything but warm and sunny. Still it was only gray and not raining. Much of the drive across the mountains was in the rain. The trail quickly crossed the Cle Elum river on a big bridge and began to climb. It had been several years since I last hiked up Davis and I had forgotten just what a nicely graded trail this is. I'm sure there are over 100 swichbacks. The trail begins in thick forest and it becomes more open as it climbs. As usual a full complement of 12 people signed up for this trip. One third of them were scared off by the lousy weather. It was nice to have a smaller group of only 8. As gray as it stayed all day we did not have any rain at all. The trail continuously grinds out the elevation though it is a very comfortable grade.

At higher elevations views begin to appear. Red Mountain is just to the south. It's north side still has lots of snow. Jolly Mountain and Sasse Ridge are just to the southeast. Cle Elum Lake is also to the south. The lake is as full as I've seen it in many years. We continued on to the ridge then waited for the rest of the party to arrive. There is still considerable snow on the ridge top and the north side. From here the lookout site was visible across from us around a big rising horseshoe shaped ridge. The lookout sat at the north and east end of the horseshoe. The night had been cold and the snow was quite hard. Without ice axes it did not look like a good idea to try going down the low spot on the ridge where the summer trail goes through. We scouted around and found a spot farther up the ridge where it was possible to cut steps down to a dirt section. I went down here and traversed back to where I picked up footprints in the snow coming down from the ridge. By the time I climbed back up to the ridge all of our group had arrived.

The leader gave us the OK to try for the summit. Six out of eight decided to go. I had done this once before on snow so I led the group down from the ridge. Once down to the footprints it was not too bad. We dropped down into the snow filled basin well below the summer trail. There was enough snow left to keep us from post holing. I spied the real trail above us just before it enters the trees and we climbed up to it. From there it was about half snow and half bare to the top. The first part was sketchy but soon clear footprints were visible. We had no trouble getting up to the lookout sight. Finally it was time for some lunch. The clouds made this the poorest view I've ever had from Davis. I could see the bottom of Mt. Stuart, the bottom of Mt. Daniel... well you get the picture. Still, it didn't rain so that was good compensation. I didn't want to leave the others back on the ridge for too long waiting for us. For that reason we headed straight back and did not go to the real summit. It was just too cold to leave the others sitting for so long. In the time it took to go to the lookout sight and back the snow had noticeably softened. The last climb back up to the ridge top was much easier. The trip down was no problem at all. I was pleasantly surprised that I still felt good after this trip and the Miller trip the day before. The totals were 11 miles and about 4200' gained.

We did this 10.7 mile loop on the west side of the Teanaway valley on a pleasant, cool and partly overcast Sunday and never saw anyone else. The hike begins from Beverly Creek on the Johnson-Medra trail and follows the creek for about 2-1/2 miles, then climbs at a rate of 1,000 ft/mile for a mile and a half to Medra Pass. Very nice and varied views there, including west into the Middle Fork Teanaway country and east towards Mt. Stuart/Ingalls. Continued south following trail 1225, the Koppen Mtn trail. I was surprised to read another very recent report of this trail as it looked like nobody else had been on it this year! It took a small amount of route finding, the trail pretty much disappears in places or just spreads out into a series of game trails but as long as you are careful to stay on the ridges and follow the right ridge lines (it cuts over one ridge about 1/2 down) it's fine. If you were doing this loop the other way it might be easy to accidentally bear left to Malcolm Peak since it looks like a trail in that direction may get more use. Once we hooked up with the Way Creek and Jungle Creek trail it was obvious these trails get more use and someone had recently cut a lot of deadfall, thanks. Some signs of motorcycles but utter solitude the whole way. A very nice loop.

our plan was to hike to melawkwa lake via the denny creek trail. trail very muddy between the I-90 overpass and the waterslide area of the creek. luckily WTA volunteers were on the trail building a gravel trail in the muddiest spots. WTA doing a great job. flowers are just starting to bloom, the waterfalls are raging full, rainy and overcast, great day to be on the trail, saw only two other people early on. Made it to snowshoe falls where we encountered the snow. It appears that the valley above the falls has about 4 feet of snow left, although the opposite ridge of swithcbacks towards melawkwa may be snow free. with the rain and lack of poles to hike in the snow we turned around. probably a few more weeks before the snow is gone. On our descent we started to see numerous groups of hikers.

This loop is a great stay in shape hike while winter snows remain in much of the Cascades.

Started at High Point and headed toward the Talus Caves Trail and up this trail to the junction with the connection to the Section Line Trail. Section Line going up to West Tiger 3 is steep - just below a class 2 scamble in some sections but very quiet. Once off the Talus Caves trail there are usually no other hikers, only the sound of birds in the forest. This day however, I met two parties on the trail, perhaps looking for a good workout like myself.

Section Line seems to follow a direct ridge to the summit of West Tiger 3 and passes through a ""burn area"" that is mostly free of underbrush.

I came down the West Tiger 3 trail. Views this day were poor due to a low cloud cover, but rains held off while I was hiking between 15:30 and 18:00 making a great day.

The trail is snow-free through to Upper Crystal Lake. The lake is completely open, with snow on the slopes around it. This is a nice hike. Our kids loved it. Check out the several impressive streams appearing right out of the hillside below the trail between the two lakes. That is a lot of water to be just flowing right out of the ground.

A pleasant but rainy hike to Lake 22. Snow on trail 250 yards before lake and two-thirds of the lake is still snow covered. A good deal of thick mud on the trail -- suggest you wear gaiters -- definetly no tennis shoes.

Having been defeated by too much snow and a twisted ankle the last time I attempted this hike, I decided to come back today and see if I could make it to the lake.

The sign at the trailhead said that trail maintenance is being done on this hike from early May until late October. Although no crews were working today, I could tell where they had been working. At about 1 1/3 mile, the trail comes out into a rocky and open area and starts switch-backing up the hill. The crews had obviously moved a lot of rock off of the paths since I had last been there. It's much easier going in that area. However, they have yet to get to the upper and lower sections of the trail and these are plagued by some pretty hefty mud holes. If you do this hike, be sure to bring proper footwear (over the ankle hiking boots) and gators as well. If you're wearing the right stuff, the mud holes will make you chuckle instead of swear.

There is still snow on the trail at the upper end as you get within about 200 yards of the lake and there is still a significant amount of snow at the lake, although you can find a spot on the north side of the lake that is snow-free and a good place to have lunch and contemplate the waterfalls coming off of Mt. Pilchuck.

It is two weeks late and three weeks too early for this trail. The trail is mostly clear through the first 1.5 miles with a few snow patches. At 1.5 miles (3760 feet elevation), the trail is completely snow-covered. Travel beyond this point is extremely hazardous due to undercut snow. Drops of up to five feet are possible during post hole maneuvers. The trail to the ridge will probably be clear by mid to late July and the trail to Snow Lake by mid August. Bleeding heart, vanilla leaf, salmonberry, glacier lily and trillium are in bloom. A pika was heard. Sky was overcast with occasional drizzle and moderate temperatures.

This old, overgrown trail is a few miles west of Darrington on the north side of the highway. The road to the trailhead is rough, but easy enough for passenger cars as long as you zig-zag around all the annoying little potholes. Once at the trailhead, be careful. Nearest the sign that indicates the trailhead is a well worn path heading straight up the hillside. But there's a good reason that its well worn. Everybody going up it has to immediately turn around and come back down it, cuz it ain't the trail! The real trail begins about 20 yards further to the left of the big sign, hidden behind an embankment and marked by a tiny wooden sign that just says ""TRAIL"".

I got to the very small trailhead around 7am and there was no one there. Its a fairly steep grade most of the way and the trail is in poor condition, not getting much traffic and apparently no maintenance. It makes for a good ankle workout to scramble over mud holes, roots, loose rocks and overgrown bushes and small trees and as such is probably not a good one for a quaint family outing.

There is one fairly difficult creek crossing. The water is running high and fast right now, forcing the hiker to scramble onto a slippery, wet log to get halfway out over the creek and then jump down onto a similarly wet boulder and finish the crossing.

At about 3200 feet, the snow starts appearing and it becomes pervasive at 3500 feet. The very muddy, wet trail disappears at times into the deep snow and then emerges -- usually. I'm afraid I got up to a point where the snow was continuous and about 3 feet deep. I reached a meadow and could no longer find the trail anywhere. I had been following a set of footprints, but I followed then halfway out into the meadow and that must have been the point at which the owner of those tracks decided to go back. They made a little loop and headed back down the mountain. As I could no longer find a trail and the rain was beginning to pour, I opted to follow the tracks back down.

A trace of mud but that may be more due to the humidity than rain! At about 3 miles, some bear grass is blooming. It, the bear grass, and other blooms added a wonderful perfume to the basin. Instead of bearing left to the view of the Snoqualmie Valley, stay straight and there is bear grass, lupine, flox, paint brush and others. Really fine. Chilly at the bench. Did not feel like July is tomorrow.

And sneaking in a few other trail comments for those who need to know: Just some small patches of snow on the slopes of Mt Dana off Tioga Pass, some patches between Tenaya Lake and Clouds Rest but not from there to Half Dome and down to the Valley.

Keep on hiking

Hiked up to Straight Creek was planning an overnight trip only to realize oops... I forgot the STOVE! I thought she had it in her pack and she thought I had it in my pack. So we decided to make it a practice run. The trail has blown-down in numerous places. The largest being a tree around 4FT in diameter across the trail. With a little work it is easy to pass. This trail is open to bikes, horse and hikers but I can only see hikers being able to pass at this time ;), makes for a nice day. A few mud-holes here and there but nothing to bad. Saw a lot of Deer and was quite surprised around 10 to be exact. Also saw a herd of Elk on the drive up. Looks like this trail gets little use and was perfect for that quite day. Quite a bit of other trails in this area I wasn't aware of that I plan on exploring

Beautiful hike. a little snow in patches at the lakes, but not much snow. Bring extra clothes cause there are streams forming on the trail in many places, and you will get wet!

We started out with a wet Friday but found a campsite near the raging creek only a mile in. Next day found a campsite just before Cascade Falls, about 7 miles in. The trail was great up to that point, with easy hills and not too many people. We day hiked past Cascade Falls and had a difficult time with streams flooding the path. In addition, the path was really over-grown - but only for a very short part. Didn't encounter any rattlesnakes or mice.

ALPINE LOOKOUT

Twenty miles east of Stevens Pass high up on Nason ridge a Forest Service lookout cabin perches on Alpine Peak. At 6250 ft. it has a commanding 360 degree view, and is still in use for spotting fires. Today there was no view but the fun part was getting there.

Conditions looked promising at the trailhead: no rain, sun visible to the east, temperature in the low 50's and one car in the lot. We decided to carry all of our extra cloths anyway and that was a wise decision.

Some things that ""100 Hikes in the Glacier Peak Region"" 1988 edition doesn't tell about this trail: 1.) there is a great view from the trailhead, 2.) the lower trail is in fine old forest which passes thru a beautful silver burn area (1994) , 3.) there is an even better north facing view point at the junction on the ridge top at 1.5 miles, 4.) the upper forest on the ridge is open and interspered with meadows, 5.) the ridge top route has several up and downs which add 500 ft. to the vertical walked, 6.) the flowers are very good [and might be superb later] , 7.) the final mile is entirely open on a steep tree bare slope, and 8.) there is a pretty good outhouse at the trailhead. It does tell about the initial steepness and that's no lie, 1400 ft. in 1.5 miles to the ridge top junction with the first 1/2 mile being the steepest of all. But the rest of the route has easy to moderate grades on mostly smooth tread.

Trailhead is at 3900 ft. There was no snow up to the 1.5 mile junction, at 5300 ft. then 2 feet or more of snow obscuring the path for about 1/2 mile. Having lost the trail under the snow we used map, compass & altimeter to find it again. It stayed under snow until south facing terrain was reached, then bare dirt for about 3/4 mile with meadows and views, then snow again for about 1 1/4 miles as the trail follows the ridge line up from 5400 ft to 6100 ft and then down again to 5800 . The final mile to the lookout is bare. There are about a dozen trees down over the lower trail and a few more on top. None difficult to get over or around. I estimate 2-3 more weeks till most of the snow is melted.

We had good views out to the north & south under the cloud deck from the lower viewpoints. Lake Wenatchee , and Dirtyface Peak were very beautiful. But at the lookout we were in cloud and saw only grey. No mountain goats today. Solitude was almost perfect as we met only one other party all day. They were ahead of us and left a good trail in the snow.

The best flowers were glacier lilies and starry solomons seal. Also red paintbrush, penstemon, mertensia, phlox, lupine, columbia lily, jacobs ladder, lomatium, waterleaf, and phacelia.

We had dinner at the ""59 Diner"" on Hiway 2 at the junction to Lake Wenatchee state park. 50's music and food.

Stats. 10 miles, 2850 total elevation gain, 115 miles from my north Seattle home, including 5 miles on a good gravel road.

The low temperature was 38 with a max wind of 20 mph with gusts to 30, giving wind chill factor down about 20. Summer? ha !

About 1 3/4 miles on snow and 3 1/4 on earth. 3 1/2 hours up, 2 3/4 hours down + 2 lunch stops Snow line varying between 5400 and 5800 ft.

In summary, a superb ridgetop walk in the eastern Cascades.

Robert Michelson 6-29-02

We were hoping to get to Sheep Lake to camp but didn't even get close. We ran into snow probably about 2 miles up the trail. Decided to try to forge ahead & up to see if we could re-connect with the trail but we never did find it. We found an open, flat area and decided to pitch the tent and stay the night anyway. In the evening we hiked up to what we *think* was Nannie Peak, but we could be totally wrong on that. Had great views to Adams from up there. The next morning, re-traced our footprints back out, found the trail, and headed back to the car. All in all was a fun trip, not too cold at all, no wind, no rain, but disappointing that we didn't make it to Sheep Lake.

Water over the trail at seven or eight places along the way to the falls. Not a problem for adults who are careful, but may be difficult for children to traverse. Falls had a huge volume of water on this day due to a particularly rainy week. Bring rain gear and stay away from the edge! Couldn't even take pictures of the Falls because there was so much water. However, it was an amazing site and a pretty large reward for a minimal amount of hiking effort.

Thanks to Jim Kuresman for his 6/22/02 trip report that inspired us to check out Koppen Mtn. with four friends on this cloudy Saturday.

From Beverly CG, it’s a pleasant, mostly level walk for almost 3 miles on trail 1383 in nice older forest carpeted with flowering vanilla leaf, Queen’s cup, starflower, twisted stalk, false(?) Solomon’s seal, and Fendler’s waterleaf, interspersed with the less-numerous Oregon grape, columbine, faded trillium, and so forth. Even a couple of tiny calypso orchids. The four creek crossings were easy for those with walking sticks or long legs, though one of our party, possessing neither, got wet feet sliding in off the rocks.

The trail then leaves the creek and heads uphill through a splendid variety of wildflowers. Lots of scarlet gilia, also orange and yellow and scarlet paintbrush, several penstemmons, yarrow, lupine, balsamroot, silvercrown, ballhead waterleaf, larkspur, twinflower, and a few pussytoes, among others. One small patch of forget-me-nots. Not a riot of densely packed flowers, but a wonderful assortment that kept some of us reaching for the fieldguides. The switchbacks, though steady and long, are not steep and the tread was in great condition. No mud, no dust (thanks to heavy rain the previous night), and not a single blowdown to be crossed. We were glad for the broken clouds and cool (50-ish) temperature.

After a lunch stop at Medra Pass (great views north and east, solid clouds west and south), we strolled north along the ridgetop path (not a maintained trail, but an obvious way along and just to the left of the ridge top). If in any doubt about the route, go high and stay to the right, along the ridge itself. But don’t go down off the ridge to the right. We had no trouble with the short and very moderate scree slopes Kuresman mentions. Along the ridgetop were more kinds of wildflowers, most notably scalloped onion, which was quite common, and lots of columbia lewisia at the peak of its bloom. Also glacier lilies, saxifrage, stonecrop, barestem(?) desert parsley, wallflowers, buckwheat, and a lot of others beyond remembering.

By the time we reached the summit around 1:30 (it had been a leisurely ascent, what with all the flowers), the wind had picked up. We layered on more clothing (it was about 45 degrees), and then stayed on top for an hour enjoying the view. One other party arrived just as we were packing up to leave. That’s all the people we saw. No bugs at all, for which we were extremely grateful. The only snow was in insignificant patches near or on the ridge.

A very nice mellow walk, with just enough mileage and elevation gain to provide a sense of accomplishment along with the flowers and views.

Started at Larch Mountain trailhead and looped to Oneonta Trail back to parking lot. After getting past blow downs it is a fairly pleasant, casual hike until of course you once again reach the blow downs at the end of the loop.

Melting snow still on the trails in upper elevations makes for a wet trail.

If you want to see the 360 viewpoint at Sherrard Point don't go on a cloudy day!

First hike with all my children! Oldest son is 19, daughter is 16 & youngest son 9. Easy drive, good directions. Road to trailhead was ok, not too many potholes, ie. you don't need a SUV. We left trailhead @ 10:45, only 5-6 cars there. Very much a ""rain forest hike"". Lots of moss laden trees, spectacular 5-6' thru old growth trees that easily soar over 200'. The falls were truly Gods paintbrush in action! Was not sure what ""water on trail"" meant, now I know! We crossed at least 20-25 streams that do require some caution. My girl slipped & had wet clothes to deal with. My 9 yr. old really enjoyed figuring the route thru each stream, & it was fun to watch his confidence grow at each crossing. Some slippery log bridges, some spots on trail a little overgrown. No bugs!! Very good 1st hike to take younger kids on. Not a hard hike, but defintely more challenging than Cape Alava or Lake Valhalla hikes my older son & I went on for Boy Scout outings. Finished @ 4:45PM Enjoy, I certainly did!

Barry Torbert's August, 2001 trip report for North Twentymile lookout sums up the current conditions well (at least what I saw of them), though I do have one thing to add. Manning & Spring write that there is a campsite approximately two miles up this trail. My plan was to hike later in the day to this site, spend the night, then hop up to the lookout the following morning. If a campsite is actually there, it must be awfully well hidden. With a full pack, I made four or five switchbacks above where the trail finally departs Honeymoon Creek (last water), and began wondering if I'd missed it. I backtracked, went up what appeared to be decades-old tread left over from a subsequent re-route, snooped around, kicked a few rocks, put on my thinking cap, and still saw no sign of the campsite -- nor, for that matter, any piece of flat ground. There literally was no place to appropriately camp that I could find in Honeymoon's gulch, aside from a possible bivouac on slanted turf that would have squished some attractive spring vegetation. Due to the late hour, I eventually gave up, and disappointedly marched back down the mountain, opting to car-camp on the Chewuch River. This was the first time I'd entered the wilds with full provisions and failed to establish a camp since a trip on the Alaska panhandle seven years ago. I'll try it again sometime, perhaps via the South Fork Twentymile Meadows.

Gary and I had done a few easy mountain bike approaches for hikes. This time we wanted to try an approach with some real elevation gain. It turned out to be a whole lot harder than we guessed. The plan was to ride a gated road nearly over Iron Mountain and down into the Negro Creek valley. From there the trail up to the lookout site on Three Brothers is met. We sat at the lookout site a few years ago and dreamed up this crazy idea. The route starts near the northern end of the old Blewett Pass highway. The maps and reality do not match. We quickly passed a gated road not shown on the map with a sign allowing every conveyance known to man to proceed. Motorcycles, ORVs, snowmobiles, bikes, and hikers are allowed. The map showed the gate we wanted to be 2 1/2 miles from the Blewett turnoff. We went 4 miles and found nothing. We backtracked to the first gate and decided to start here even though we had no idea where this was on the map. It's one thing to get lost in the woods, it's another to not even know where you started from. This road started out fairly steep and loose. I was not having any fun at all. After doing more walking than riding it moderated a little. A few miles up we came to a ""Y"" where the right road was gated and the left not. The left looked like it was more heavily used. Our map showed a ""Y"" up several miles so we chose to go left. This proved to be both a mistake and a blessing. The left road continued to gain elevation as it contoured around a deep valley. I found biking to be aerobically 10 times more demanding than hiking. I can gain 4500' hiking without getting out of breath. Five minutes of steep biking had me panting. This was at a blistering 4 mph. Thankfully it was partly cloudy and windy. At least it wasn't painfully hot as well.

The road reached the end of the valley and contoured all the way around from the right side to the left. We saw a pass ahead and though our climbing was about done. No such luck. Instead we began a series of switchbacks. climbing towards the head of the valley. We were now doing more riding than pushing. Across the valley we saw another road parallel and above the road we biked. Hmm... It sure looked like it was going near the summit of a peak that looked like Iron Mountain. Oh well, back to our route. The road reached the ridge top and intersected a hiking trail. I have hiked just about every trail in the Teanaway area. Where the heck were we? The trail went steeply uphill in both directions and I had no desire to try to bike it. Instead we stashed the bikes and prepared for some hiking. We turned right on the trail and headed up. Very shortly a peak came into view that was very familiar. We had also seen it lower down on the road for a brief moment. It was now clear to me that we were looking at Miller Peak. The peak behind us was Iron Bear. Now we knew exactly where we were. Gary pulled out his map and in a few minutes figured everything out. 1/2 mile from pavement the main road goes straight and another road turns off to the left. Actually, The 90 degree gated right turn we started at is the straight ungated road on the map. The ""Y"" with a gate at 2 1/2 miles where we turned left is the road up Iron Mountain and into Negro Creek. The good news is that road is much steeper than the one we climbed and we did not go on it. I may well have died trying to get up it or crashed coming down. I'm glad we accidentally missed it.

Now that we knew where we were it was obvious that Miller rather than Three Brothers was the objective for the day. The trail is completely snow free except for a large snow patch just below Miller. This is enough to keep motorcycles from completing the loop for another week or two. We followed the County Line trail towards Miller along a grassy, flower filled slope. Balsam root, paintbrush, scarlet gillia, and larkspur to name a few. As we approached Miller we headed up to the ridge top on steep but easy terrain. By now my legs were fairly sore from the biking section. It seems that we used some new muscles for biking. Interestingly, when hiking steeply uphill our legs felt better. After a nice ridge walk we came to the final steep climb to the summit. There is still some snow here but it was easy to avoid. At long last we reached the summit. By now the sun was completely out and the winds were getting very strong. It was nearly July in Eastern Washington with the mid day sun blaring down and we were still cold. We crouched down behind the summit rocks and bundled up. From here it was easy to see the whole route we had planned on. It was now painfully obvious that it was more than we could have accomplished in one day. The Three Brothers route would require biking up 2400' then down 1200'. Then you just need to hike up 3100' and down. Follow that with a bike climb back up that 1200' and a steep ride back to the cars. The route we stumbled into proved to be much more realistic for a couple of rookie bikers. From Miller it was an easy hike back down to the bikes.

The last section was the one we were a little nervous about. We didn't have any experience riding down a steep rocky road. At this point we had no choice but to go for it. The ride down turned out to be lots of fun. It was a whole lot faster as well. In 48 minutes we rode the full 6 1/2 miles back to the car. I guess it's an adventure when you don't know where you started or where you will end up. This trip worked out very well. Now for the totals: 13 miles biked with 2400' gained. 4 miles hiked with 1200' gained. All totaled that's 17 miles and 3600' gained. Not a bad day's work. Hopefully I'll have the energy to post a few photos soon at http://www.kuresman.com. Look under Trips-2002.

We left the trailhead at 1000 ft hiking up 2900 ft to the 3900 ft elevation. We set up camp at Fred Bugner's Camp. This site is large enough for three to four two man tents, tight but works as there is little else in the area. We hiked up in the evening to the 4900 ft level and ran into snow. Trail hard to follow at this point. Trail in good shape for this time of year. Some nettles in the first mile.

Flowers from the parking lot all the way up on this hike! Lupine, yarrow, queen's cup, columbine, paintbrush, tiger lily, etc. down low and shooting star, balsamroot, glacier lily higher up. Lots of others too...

The trail up to Little Eightmile is in fine shape, a little mud but no big deal. After the turnoff there's some brushiness and blowdowns. Lost the trail at one point just above a flat area and below a large rock (maybe halfway up the hill); fortunately I was familar enough with the trail to re-locate it (and on the way back down was able to see where I missed the switchback due to blowdown + confused hikers).

There are a few patches of snow still at Lake Caroline, and some longer stretches between there and Little Caroline. Nothing too serious though -- there is enough trail and bootprints showing to not get lost. Above Little Caroline the trail is in great shape, with a couple of snow patches and a little bit of meltwater in the trail. I stopped about halfway between the little lake and Windy Pass. From what I could see, the pass may still be socked-in. But I didn't round the corner far enough to see the trail route itself.

Weather on the east side was good this weekend. Scattered clouds Saturday, a little drizzle/sleet/snow Sunday morning, and patchy clouds by lunchtime. A wonderful cool breeze all weekend. No bugs.

Iron Peak was a perfect afternoon jaunt for a late arrival into the Teanaway drainage, about 7 miles round trip. Views almost the whole way back across the valley. No snow to speak of until we got to the pass and went over into the basin at the head of Beverly Creek, which is 60% percent snow covered. Looks like this basin would make really nice camping. we just wandered the basin a little and looped back up to the pass via the Iron Peak ridge. Great views towards Mt. Stuart. Saw one string of horses and maybe 8 other people on the trail.

We began our hike in the late morning, happy to be in the sun after a soggy Friday. The trail is a fairly easy backpack, perfect for early season, getting-in-shape hikers. The trail is snow-free and logged out, although there was a recent tree down that posed only a minor obstacle. Even after the rainy day before, the trail was mostly dry.

We followed the trail along the river for about 4 miles where we set up camp. There were many attractive campsites along the way. We encountered less than a dozen people on the trail. After setting up camp, we dropped our packs and hiked further up the trail to a gorgeous view of the valley and mountain range. Wildflowers were in in bloom and abundant.

We heard mice scurrying around our tent at night. There were warnings posted about rattlesnakes, but we did not see any. However, on our hike out on Sunday, we encountered a wolverine just a few feet off the trail! He ignored our presence and meandered away while we watched.

We started from Haney Meadow to the Old Ellensburg Trail. From there we connected with the Howard Creek Trail, which becomes the Naneum Creek Trail, making a loop back to Haney Meadow. The trails took us through clear cuts and flowered meadows. We spent the night at Naneum Camp, which is a beautiful spot, but obviously hadn't been used in years. There was a heard of elk greeting us at the campsite. A calf, apparently curious, came up close to check us out. This was not a physically challenging hike, but we enjoyed the vistas, especially from Naneum Rim. There were a few blow-downs, but all easily negotiated.The cool, breezy weather kept most of the mosquitos away.

Welcome to DeFacto Wilderness. Normally this little lake on the fringes of the Boulder River Wilderness is easily accessible. Thanks to three- count them-three- including one enormous one-Avalanches- the access road is closed! Take this as an opportunity to enjoy Kelcema sans crowds- I had the entire lake to myself- on a Saturday no less. The avalanche debris is easy enough to get around- the big one requires a little picking and choosing- the road is a pleasure to walk- lots of views. Still plenty of snow from 3,000' on- just follow the outlet creek to the lake from the trailhead. Gorgeous old growth around the lake-giant cedars of the red and yellow varieties.

Things were looking awfully murky on the west slopes of the Cascades Saturday, but the weather was extremely pleasent in the Teanaway area.

Trail 1369 follows Stafford Creek to Navaho Pass, which gives views of Teanaway country to the south and the eastern portion of the Stuart Range to the north. It climbs 3000 feet over the course of six miles. To access the trail, take the WA 970 exit off of I-90. In about seven miles hang a left on Teanaway Road, following this to pavement's end at 29 Pines in 13 miles. At the junction take the right, and then at the next major junction keep right. The Stafford Creek trailhead is well signed.

For someone who is not used to hiking east of the passes, the forest around this trail resembles something that looks more like Arizona than Washington. The trees are shorter, and the underbrush much thinner. The rocks were all of a reddish hue. All in all, very nice.

The climb is moderate. The biggest problem are the occassional blowdowns, but those are easily passable. There are also two notable fords, but if you take your time you'll be fine.

Important notes first: As of 06/29/2002, Esmeralda Basin Trail #1394 is snow-free (except for a couple of small patches) from trailhead to junction with Trail #1226.2 (""County Line Trail"" toward Lake Ann, at ~2.9 mi. from trailhead, 5,900' elevation). Fairly solid snow fields from this point almost all the way to low point in saddle at Fortune Creek Pass. Broad snowfields remain on the near-side slopes on the approach to the saddle, but there is a broad snow-free ""bald spot"" at top and far-side slopes of the saddle. Also, hikers we met on their way down from their attempt to reach Lake Ann reported that they turned back due to snow conditions on trail #1226.2.

Led a group of hikers from a Seattle Mountaineers group on this beautiful trip in highly changeable weather. Flowers are out; I'm pretty sketchy at flower ID, but others on the trip identified pink (Jeffrey's?) shootingstar, yellow columbine, phlox, and yellow glacier lily, among others. Lots more getting ready to bloom, too, judging from new growth.

Fewer, but much trickier stream crossings than typical for this time of year. In previous years I've counted 20+ ""stream crossings"" (one-way!), if you include all the 1-2"" deep places where you typically would hop across a few stepping stones or even just walk through. This time, though, streams had much more water than usual, and we spent a fair bit of time looking for appropriate crossings. In at least three or four cases we went uphill or downhill a few dozen yards to find safer footing (in one case, walking across a large log stretched across a stream).

As part of a map and compass exercise, we verified that there is a trail revision at ~1.2 mi. from the trailhead (~4,900' elev.) that is not shown on either the Green Trails (Mount Stuart, WA - No. 209, revised 1997) or USGS maps. Look for a sharp, hairpin turn up toward switchbacks (not shown on the maps); if you mistakenly ignore the branches laid across the trail in front of you and continue straight (as shown on the maps) you'll end up in overgrown vegetation. The newer switchbacks quickly rejoin the main trail somewhere before reaching the side trail marked by a wooden sign on a tree (at ~1.8 mi. from trailhead, 5,350') that leads down into basin. Perhaps a project for navigation enthusiasts would be to re-map the new trail section.

Special note #1: this location has especially unpredictable weather. Don't assume that this popular trail on the east side of the Cascades ensures a warm, sunny hike. On several different years at roughly the same time of year (late June, early July) I have seen or heard of weather conditions ranging from dry and hot (high 80s, perhaps low 90s), to near-whiteout with sideways-blowing hail. Word to the wise: be prepared for the possibility of winter storm conditions at any time of year. We lingered for only about 5 minutes at the intended lunch spot (saddle at Fortune Creek Pass) due to high winds (almost, but not quite, enough to knock you over) and threat of incoming storm (which luckily did not materialize). We retreated back down the trail to a spot sheltered from the wind and had our lunch sitting on some logs with a spectacular view of the snow-covered Esmeralda Peaks and various unnamed peaks across the basin.

Special note #2: rejoice that there is now a new, constructed one-seat unisex toilet at Esmeralda trailhead (i.e., similar to the separate men's and women's facilities at the Beverly Campground); formerly, there was only a poorly-maintained and highly overused honey-bucket at the Esmeralda TH. Neither of these locations has piped potable water, though; bring your own from home or be prepared to filter or boil water from nearby streams.

The trail is mostly clear with only a few snow patches through 3550 feet elevation near Snowshoe Falls (2.3 miles). From this point, the trail is completely snow-covered. The snow is undercut and drops of three to four feet are possible. Achtung! Sehr gefaehrlich ist es nach diesem punkt. Two eight-inch logs are across the trail; one a quarter way up the switchbacks between Keekwulee and Snowshoe Falls and the other halfway up. Canadian dogwood, yellow violet, Solomon's seal, vanilla leaf, trillium and heather were all in bloom. There was also a liberal display of bleeding hearts. The sky was mostly overcast with moderate temperatures. A WTA work crew was busy at work.

The old stream-side trail was pleasently cool and dry this hot day. Patchy snow begins in the woods just below Mason Lake. No snow on the boulder field. Several feet of snow where trail traverses north side of the west ridge of Defiance. No snow in the steep meadow below the summit. The flowers are already out up there. Take some ski/trekking poles for a couple more weeks.

Just got back from a little skirmish over in Teanaway country.

When it's pouring in Seattle it's a good bet that the MFK Snoqualmie is socked in and wet, so we changed plans and headed east. We left the De Roux Creek trailhead under overcast skies and set off on a moderate pace up the trail. A few muddy spots here and there and a bit of horse dung, but other than that the trail is clear of obstructions to about 4800 ft - where the snow starts.

After reaching snow, we paralleled the creek for a bit before crossing it on a convenient snow bridge. From here we sidehilled it up and to the NW until reaching about 5800 ft. Here the view right over your head is not of the true summit. To gain the true summit we angled left a bit, over the ridge line obvious on the quad, and then ascended NW across snow and talus to the summit of Esmeralda. Very few views this day, as the cloud cover intensified during our summit stay. We took a more direct route down to De Roux creek on the descent, crossing it at about 5150 ft. From here Mike and Beave were looking to do Koppen Mountain, but since I had already been up that one, I chose to explore up the ridge line to Point 6260 which from Esmeralda Peak is the red colored hulk SE of Big Boulder Creek.

From De Roux Creek the ascent is straight forward and only a minor cornice remains at the top. The ridge is an easy walk along grassy slopes. Near the top there were 3 or 4 ""stacks"" about 6 ft high, that could have all been the high point I was looking for. As I walked along I climbed up each one of them just to make sure. Finally, I reached the end of the ridge where once again it began to drop off. I sat atop the last stack, crunched a cliff bar, and waited for a view of Koppen, Beave, and Mike. It never came, in fact, the clouds thickened and the rain became too heavy for my liking, so I left the way I had come. For the return I decided to walk the ridge as far as I could. I hurried my way along thinking that Mike and Beave were probably getting close to being off Koppen, until I came to Point 5631. Good views into the adjoining valley from here, but I didn't stay long. I descended the high point north directly down to the creek. Just before reaching the creek I picked up our foot steps from on the way in and also found Mike and Beave's steps leading toward Koppen. Once I picked up the main trail again I soon realized two things. 1) Mike and Beave were still somewhere on Koppen, no big deal. 2) I was unfortunate enough to get ""Freshiez"" all the way back to the truck. More often than not, ""Freshiez"" are a good thing when skiing or snowboarding, when hiking on horse trails they are a very bad thing. About a mile before the trailhead I passed 15 horses, so you can just imagine how many ""Freshiez"" I came across! For the day I walked roughly 9 miles and gained 4500 ft.

We left the trail head @ 4pm friday 6/28. It was already was drizzling, but not quite raining. We made our goal of 5 mile Island camp around 7:30. The trail was a little mucky, but the clay provided a good base and you don't really sink down. Gaiters would have been nice. At about 3.5 miles in, we encountered an elk herd, and a little further in, another small herd. It was raining by then and people were leaving in droves. We hiked up to the ranger station the next morning and the trail was fairly similar, only no people. There are a few small streams that have no bridges, but are easily crossed. Saw some deer up at the ranger station and a couple of rabbits. The hike out was uneventful, other then a lot of people headed up now that the rain had cleared for the most part. Some elk decided to walk on the trail and made it a little more mucky than usual. A great three days even with the rain. I plan to come back with my 6 y.o. and do an overnight at Tom Creek camp.

This was my first hike into the Enchantments and I was very excited to see what it was like. This trip did not disappoint.

My friend and I hit the trail about 11:00 am. We had hoped for nicer weather on the east side, but the clouds were only a little less ominous than when we had set out in the morning from the Puget Sound area. It was cool, but not cold--perfect weather for hiking.

The trail starts out in lovely, fragrant forest alongside. After about 1/2 mile, the river appears on the right and stays with you. This river and all of the other rivers in the area are very full this year. After about 2 miles, you cross on a really cool bridge over the water and start switch-backing up the hill.

At 2 1/2 miles, the trail comes to a Y and you can choose to go to Stuart or Colchuck Lake. We were into doing a little huffing and puffing work, so we chose to go to Colchuck Lake. The map said that it was 1.6 miles away with 1600 feet of gain. Get ready to go into low gear!

Up to this point, the trail had been pretty nice, but after this is got very steep and rocky with lots of roots in the trail. We labored very carefully up the hill and finally got to the lake. The trail becomes difficult to follow once you reach the outskirts of the lake, because of all of the side trails that have been made to little camping sites. It took us a few false starts to finally find the real trail again and get to a place where we could sit down, have lunch, and look at the lake. The lake is a beautiful green color and the mountains rise above it splendidly. We heard snow running down the avalanche shoot on one of the mountains. But the cloud level was pretty low and it was raining steadily soon so we didn't stay long.

This was a beautiful hike and I would definitely come back to Colchuck Lake and camp overnight when the weather was more amenable. The bug presence was negligible given the weather.

The plan to avoid the rain which fell all over Seattle and the western Cascades worked fairly well today. We had light drizzle during the day and only wore raingear for the last several miles. Both peaks were climbed today on a route which involved trails for much of the hiking. Take I-90 east to Exit 85 which is at Cle Elum. Then take SR 970 east to the Teanaway River Road. Take this north to FS Road 9737 which is the North Fork of the Teanaway Road. Go for about 9 miles past the point where the pavement ends. This will place you at the De Roux Campground and the start of the hike. From the De Roux Campground at 3,800' elevation we took Trail #1392 to about 5,200' where we crossed De Roux Creek to traverse NNW off-trail toward the summit. Esmerelda has several summits but the register is located at the highest summit, Pt. 6765. Our descent was via an avalanche slope which experienced a once/40 year slide this past winter. Many, many large cedars were whacked down to the creek and onto the other side. This provided our means of crossing the creek on the trunks strewn about. We then traversed over toward the pass beneath Koppen located at ~5,050'. We misjudged the distance and connected with the ridge NW of the pass at about 5,400'. The downclimb to the pass was without difficulty. Once at the pass there is a well-defined trail which will take you to the top of Koppen at 6,031' about 1 mile from the pass. We took Trail #1392A down from the pass to connect with Trail #1392. Both trails are quite ""horsey"" and I was glad for the wet soil as there was no dust. The horsepeople have helped maintain the trail though with cutting many of the blowdown trees. Left the car at 0830 and returned at 1530.

Medra Pass from Beverly Campground is one of the nicest early season hikes in the Teanaway river area. The trail is now in good condition. Logs have been removed and all snow has melted. The views are spectacular from the pass. Unfortunately, motorcycles are allowed on the trail, so be prepared to have your tranquility disturbed.

I looped from Medra Pass to Johnson Creek Trail using the Koppen Mountain Trail. This trail is little used and hard to follow, but the scenery is great. Around Malcolm Mountain, the trail becomes more obvious.

The Johnson Creek trail has also been maintained and is in good shape. Views are few on this trail, but the lush forest is nice to hike though.

Jay

The trail is clear until 1/4 mile before Talapus Lake, where snow patches cover the trail. Leaving Talapus Lake, the trail is clear until it rounds the ridge at 3510 feet elevation and follows the Olallie Creek drainage. From this point, the trail is mostly snow-covered until the junction with the Olallie Lake spur trail. From this point, the trail is covered with patches of snow to Olallie Lake. Both Talapus and Olallie Lakes are ice-free. Most of the campsites at Talapus are snow-free and there are a few snow-free campsites at Olallie. A few trees are fallen across the trail between Talapus and Olallie Lakes. Canadian dogwood, dewberry and skunk cabbage were seen. Sky was overcast with light drizzle at times and moderate temperatures.

TRAIL HAD JUST BEEN CLEARED. SOME SNOW STILL EXISTS. TRAIL WAS EASY TO ACCESS WITH 2 YO IN PACK AND 8 YO ON FOOT. WIFE WITH LITTLE EXP. REALLY ENJOYED HIKE. CAVES ARE NOT VISIBLE YET, BUT WATER FALL AND VIEWS ARE WORTH THE EFFORT. IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN THERE IN A FEW YEARS, YOU WILL SEE WHERE SOME OF YOUR FEE MONEY GOES. THEY REALLY HAD TO WORK TO GET THIS ONE CLEARED, AND THE TRAIL HAS BEEN RE-WORKED AND IS MORE ""FAMILY"" FRIENDLY.

Trail was in excellent condition, until snow at the last +/- quarter mile. Camping would have been difficult. There was about a foot of muddy snow surrounding the lake and the campsites.

Beautiful, but glad we weren't planning on camping there.

The Boulder Deroux trail is in good shape for about a mile past the Deroux spur junction. Then heavy snow covers the trail, making it impossible to follow. There's a difficult creek crossing, too. Horsey traffic from Camp Yahoo has churned up the lower portion of the trail a bit.

Before the trail hits the snowline, it passes near some scenic cascades, a worthy destination for a shorter hike. There are views over the Teanaway valley toward Iron Peak.

Jay

Took my daughter on a favorite hike to see just how bad the snow conditions were. Trail to Talapus is in excellent shape with some minor snow just before the lake (snow patches at Wilderness Boundary). Lake itself is melted out and camp sites are snow free.

Continued on toward Olallie Lake, switch backs up ridge from Talapus are snow free, but once off these swithcbacks, there is significant snow. Continued for about 1/4 mile then decided to turn around. There were two hikers/climbers ahead that were having route finding problems and the snow conditions, while not bad sent us back to Talapus. My guess is that this area and trail to Olallie will be snow free in two weeks, if we have more warm weather.

The often steep trail is in good shape until around 2800', then deteriorates into a rutted, slippery climbers track. I'd recommend ski poles or some other walking stick for the descent on this section. Snow is presently continuous from about 3400'. There has been some significant avalanche activity this winter or spring coming down from the cliffs above the trail from this point; many broken trees are to be seen. I turned around at about 4100', after climbing above most of the trees, because of limited visibility, not having been on this trail before. Bugs were out and active as far up as the snow line, despite the persistent drizzle.

There is no sign on Hwy. 101 to tell you when to turn, but your efforts will be well worth it. The National Forest trail is in excellent shape and has been worked on a lot in recent months. Once the trail enters ONP you realize very quickly that this trail wants to disappear. (Maybe ONP want it to disappear too) ALthough the trail crew went through earlier this year it is need of lots of improvements. However, the old growth forest is one of the most magnificent I've ever seen. Camp sites are far and few between and careful planning is a good idea. We hiked as far as Flapjack and found the biggest problem to be mud on the trail. The bridges are old and will need to be replaced or repaired soon. The signs are old. An attempt to remove the moss from an old wood sign erased some of the letters; the wood fell off. Lots of elk and deer tracks. The river level is low considering the snow pack and fishing was excellent! We did find out why it's called a rain forest on the way out, as were completely soaked despite rain gear. Salmon berries and blue berries are plentiful.

Trip to Galcier Basin was a nice walk though lots of blow-down (that was cleaned up on our return trip>Thanks!) Up the interglacier was nice snow conditions with steps easily kicked in.Up to Shurman had you go around a couple of big crevasses but a nice trail is in place. Shurman was windy yet warm and melting out quickly.Our climb started at midnight with high clouds that had us take note. You cross several small crevasses out of shurman and up and over the flats. The corridor is a smooth yet steep road in sections.When the route splits, we went right and another group went left. The wind was really blowing now, ~40-45mph and clouds were lowering. We radioed for weather info but could not get a report for what was happening on the other side. We called it at ~13,800 ft with the notion that He who makes it back to the car, wins! The other group was totally in whiteout though within minutes, we could hear them. They too,turned around.We had a nice decent with the weather following us down the mountain and continued wind. We left Shurman on the 27th, with even more wind on the curtis ridge (gusts to~70mph) and were happy to be heading home. The glissades were slow with soft snow, though it still beats walking:) She is an incredibly beautiful mountain though on those days,she wasn't accepting visitors. We will try again soon:)

A beautiful day hike to the ridge, and on to glacier island. We ascended along the Kautz Creek trail, and went down along the Puyallup Creek. The igneous andesite cliffs were spectacular! We encountered snow on the way up and on the way down, in the predictable spots which recieve less sunlight. We lost the trail at times but because we had a map and plenty of daylight, comfortably proceeded in the general directions, knowing we would meet up again with the trail, which we did. Dont take silly risks. BRING AN AXE! Carry crampons, just in case. There were a few short sections on the ridge where you have to walk on steep hard snow, on which a fall would send you sliding. Dont forget your filter like I did! I had to drink two litres of glacial melt! It tasted better than the water in Seattle and I feel fine today, but my fingers and bowels are crossed for perhaps the inevitable!

I followed the Stafford Creek Trail #1359 up to Navaho Pass. The trail was in good condition, only a couple blow-downs, and no snow on the trail except for one 20 foot patch you could walk around anyway. The biting flies got relatively heavy between 5000 and 6000 feet. It was close to 90 degrees. I camped close to the pass.

The next day, from the pass, I followed the faint trail up to Navaho peak. The last 500 feet or so had a number of sections of (soft) snow. I could do kick steps in the snow even with my running shoes, but I was glad to have my hiking poles. The peak was beautiful with clear views to Adams.

Came back down and at 5000 feet changed my course to head over the Standup Creek Trail #1369. This section of the trail between Stafford Creek and Standup Creek has not been heavily travelled. Heading west towards the ridge, there was a lot of water and mud on the trail, and many sections of trail had turned into small creeks. Hit more snow and had to keep searching for the trail. Where it got steep heading up the ridge, my poles were required on the snow. Lost the trail just before the final rise to the ridge and climbed up the rocks on the north side instead. I would not recommend doing this, the rocks were too slippery, and besides, I saw the (snow-free) trail I had missed before as soon as I got a little higher. So keep looking for the trail if you're at that point -- it is there!

The west side of the ridge was problematic, as the first 1/4 mile or so was completely snow covered. I had to do a lot of scouting to find the trail (and lose it, and find it again, etc.). Once I got down close to the intersection w/ Bean Creek Trail #1391.1 it became totally snow free. I camped close to the intersection.

Heading down Standup Creek Trail, the trail was in pretty good condition. Somewhat overgrown, but very few blow-downs, and the (many) fords were all pretty easy. Many had log-jams that made for easy crossings, others I needed to wade but the water was below my calves, despite the rain from the night before. Mosquitos got worse at the trail head and on the road.

Wow. No wonder Mt. Townsend is such a popular hike. Wildflower heaven, view extravaganza. There were plenty of people on the trail to the summit; the day (26th)was extraordinarily sunny and warm. We were really overwhelmed by the view and flora. Cascades, the Sound, Seattle--it seemed the whole world was laid out like a map. Now--I mean right this very minute--is the time to enjoy those wildflowers--the variety is inspiring and they smell wonderful. The rhodies that grace the first mile or so of the trail and also the FS road are absolutely beautiful--they are just now brimming with buds and blooms.

3 miles or so of switchbacks and then our packs felt lighter once we passed the juncture for the Silver Lake/Mt. Townsend summit (.4 miles from the summit) and we hung a left to Silver Lake. From this point on we had the trail to ourselves, and we crossed over the ridge and floated down the mild switchbacks, across the ""river"" and up a few more meandering switchbacks to the lake. At the head of the lake there was a nice spot to camp, but the week-old remnants of a horse camp with some trash (just plain evil not to pack out trash on a horse!)and the aroma of horse-dung drew flies and drove us off, so we headed around the north side of the lake (there are two trails exposed right now--we took the upper to the camp-site) and found a perfect spot nestled in the trees with a view of the lake. Patches of snow melting fast...curious hummingbirds and many others out in abundance...spent two nights and had an easy hike out with the wind at our backs. Life is good!

A new Mt. Pilchuck Registry with a few laminated photos as well as a little verse, has been placed in the Lookout atop the summit today (6-26-02), for those venturing up there - provided by McPilchuck - just enjoy. On a wildlife note: there is a yearling bear right beneath the ladder that from reports has been there for the past week - took some great photos of him. The trail still has lots of snow but is fairly free of it until one reached the snow slopes, the North face winter route which we - son Kenny, Glen Lee and myself came down is still OK and glissading as well, but not really recommended anymore this season...brush replacing the snow.

--------------

Ken J. (McPilchuck)

-- in the granite high-wild alpine land -- www.AlpineQuest.com

Sunny weather drove us up to emjoy the views on this trail. Trail, considering all the avalanche activity of the winter, is in pretty good shape. Before the trail gets to Perry Creek Falls, there are maybe 5 avalanche chutes, with a significant amount of hard snow covered by debris. It's going to be a while before they melt out. The problem, however, is crossing the stream in each of them that is quickly undermining snow on either side. On one, we were able still to cross over on a snow bridge, but that won't last long. Expect a few wet feet too! Crossing Perry Creek at the big log was OK on the way up, but by late afternoon, the creek was higher, so we had to ford. My boots are still wet as I write this... After crossing, do not miss the switchback to the right as the trail enters the forest; it's easy to miss... Otherwise, the trail switchbacks up with occasional snow patches, then begins the traverse west. We ran into significant snow at 4100', and decided to head up to the saddle on a rising right traverse. We topped out just a little up the flanks of Stillaguamish. For all this off trail stuff, ice axes are a definate must. From the saddle, we climbed right to the small knob south of Forgotten about 5100'. Views were great of Glacier, Baker, and more local peaks. Coming down, we thought to make a more direct connection with the trail by taking a straight descent from the saddle to the region of the switchbacks. Dont' try this - because we ran into some steep drop-offs and streams that feed down from the saddle. We now know why they put that big switchback into the trail design... Anyways, we made it home safely, after enjoying Mexican food in Granite Falls. By the way, bugs are beginning to appear...

Trail was 95% snow free! Last 1/4 mile had snow that presented no problem for us. Perfect day for a beautiful hike! Just enough snow in the lake basin to make a nice lake much nicer. Bugs weren't too bad either. It really is summer! Well it was yesterday anyway!

Trail is snow-free - except for a solid, boot-blasted jaunt across the last avalanche chute crossing - until you're on the ridge (above 4600 ft). There you face King Kong-sized snow patches. The snow up here is soft and deep - every of my attempts to step onto the snow resulted in post-holing all the way to terra firma, sinking beyond my knees even along the edges of the patch. The trail switchbacks in and out of the snow patch along its eastern edge before finally deciding to cross the patch at its center where it appeared to be over 4 feet deep. My advice - try passing below the snowpatch. The ranger report dated 23 June stated that you can make it to the summit if you kept to the rocks - the views I had of the summit confirmed that. Except for snooze-able lairs of beargrass there were only drippings of wildflowers: paintbrush, bunchberry, lupine, and others. Few insects bothered me while I was on the trail - but while bush-whacking CCW around the snowpatch (the wrong direction, it turns out) the insects were extreme.

Alas Snoqualmie Lake once again. My usual overnight opener each year. Imagine my suprise to find the lake 99% frozen, no trout for dinner this year. Trail is good shape and fairly easy to follow some snow on upper stretches of trail. Windy and very cool in the evening. Bugs alot of flys but of very little bother. Stopped at Lipsy Lake on the way out. Well worth the side track.

Wow did nature unleash a fury last winter. The road is closed at mile post 21 due to hundreds of trees that clog the road. Avalanches took out large swaths of trees from several drainages on both sides of the Cascade River. But we walked to the trailhead, and headed up to Sahale anyway. The trail also has considerable blowdowns and some avalanche damage. There is lots of snow at the pass, and an ice axe is recommended. (t's gonna take some time to clear out all the debris.

We managed to slog our way up to the summit of Sahale, saw a sea of peaks, got sunburned, and didn't fall off anything. Quite a day in the mountains!

p.s. The Cascade River Road is predicted to open July 20.

For years people have been telling me that I should go to Hell. As a matter of fact, some have been quite emphatic about it. And still others have told me more than once. So last week, I figured it’s about time I went there to see what all the hubbub was about.

Driving the Columbia River Gorge is always a treat. ( NOTE: drive this entire trip in the daylight hours – the scenery is fantastic). We continued along Hwy 84/30 up the plateau and through the Umatilla National Forest to the town of La Grande, and on to Enterprise. The road to Enterprise from LaGrande is pretty. It crosses the meandering Grande Ronde River several times, and rolls and twists along the gentle contours of an almost fairytale topography.

At Hells Canyon, we chose to tour Hat Point, a popular vista viewpoint high above the canyon and the Snake River. The 22 mile long gravel road from the burgh of Imnaha to Hat Point is a good road, narrow in places with a sheer dropoff on the outside edge. There’s no room for error here; no guardrail, either (that’s half the fun!). The road then levels and traverses the Summit - through expansive meadows now at their flowering height. Larkspur, big headed clover (I’ve never seen so many), lupine (blue, white and yellow!), paintbrush, yellow bell, glacier lilly, narrow-leaved desert parsley.

Continue through the 7,000-acre Summit forest fire of 1989. Ghostly silver snags make a pretty contrast against the bright green flowering meadows and bubbling creeks. The fire ripped the edges of Hat Point, but thankfully left the best of Hat Point. The views from the edge of Hat Point down into the Canyon are stupendous. Because we were there on a weekday, we had the whole place to ourselves. It was so silent we could hear the rapids of the Snake nearly a vertical mile below. The folds of the gentle canyon walls are now iridescently green with springtime flora in contrast with the brownish-red basalt. The Seven Devils range of Idaho rise beyond the canyon rise to the east; the Wallowas to the SW. Mountain goats were all over the place. We had intended to backpack along the Snake, but spent so much time enjoying this silent and beautiful place, we ended up pitching a late camp along Lightening Creek in one of the many, many large meadows on the Summit. Too hot for the canyon; we spent our time exploring up high.

The return trip took us back along the Columbia. We crossed into Washington at Hood River to turn back a bit on the Washington side to take a tour of the Klickitat River on Highway 142 at Lyle. 142 hooks up with 97 in Goldendale. These two are probably the most scenic roads I have seen in Washington. I’m not kidding. 142 travels above and along the Klickitat River and it’s canyons, 97 goes through the sometimes treed, sometimes bald hills of the Yakima Indian Reservation, and is 100% free of highway clutter, highway buildings and signage.

On to MRNP for a day, then back home.

This trip by far surpasses many others I have taken over the years.

I went to Cramer and Otter Lakes north of White Pass-lots of snow still but melting fast today-the log I crossed on in the morning had water running over the top of it by afternoon. Snow on the trail behind Dog Lake, Clear Creek is unfordable but a couple of different logs are available upstream from the ford and a new deadfall downstream holds some promise, too, though I didn't use it. The 'climb' portion of the trail, only about 400-500 feet or so in about a mile is snowfree but once up on the 'plateau,' the trail is completely under snow all the way with a very few open spots. Caught a few fish, but the water is still cold-fish were fairly active in Cramer and almost totally inactive in Otter. Saw some elk, unfortunately I damn near stepped on a cow and its calf on the bank of Otter as they lay in the snow beneath the trees to escape the sun. Saw two otters in Cramer-saw one in Shellrock about 10 days ago-but none in Otter Lake. The mosquitoes are starting to emerge-this could be a banner year which is hard to believe since they never seem to have a year in which there are few of them. Lots of deadfalls, water in the trail.

I drove up to Hyak exit off I-90, turned right, went straight thru the stop sign (after stopping), halfway thru the parking lot, turned left and was on a road which eventually turned into FS 9030. Whew. The road is driveable all the way to the PCT at 4,200 ft. If you ever wanted to hike south on the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass, this would be the place to start. You would save 1,100 ft and 4 1/2 miles of ski slopes and clearcuts. I tried to head south to get to Mirror Lake, but at about 3/4 of a mile in I came to an extensive area of snow with no visible footprints. I scouted around for the trail, but with no map and having never been there before, I turned back. Another factor was the plague of biting flies that left little bloody holes in my body. When I got back to the car, I applied some of the forgotten bug spray to my arms and legs. The memory of the stinging sensation when the spray hit the bites will be with me for a while. There was an inviting little wet meadow visible in the other direction, back towards the pass. I blundered and post-holed my way down to it without too much trouble, and was rewarded with the peaceful sounds of gently running water and scampering wildlife. With my back to the clearcuts, it felt like wilderness. Good enough.

The trail is in great shape and mostly snowfree as far as Snowshoe Falls (there is some snow on the trail here and there, but it's easily negotiated). Beyond there, the trail is mostly under snow.

Following tracks in the snow on the way up, we missed the flattened log where the trail recrosses the creek (there is considerable snow on either side, though the log is accessible). Further along, we encountered hikers coming down valley who had seen the trail gradually ascending on the other side and were trying to find a creek crossing to rejoin it.

After casting about for a crossing without success, we continued up valley. Care must be taken here as the footprints cross talus fields where the snow is undercut in places by snowmelt. We did find a snow bridge across the creek near the head of the valley, though I don't know how much longer it will last at these temperatures.

Where we rejoined it, the trail had treacherously undercut snowpatches and vigorously flowing water in places where it switchbacks up the side of the valley from the creek. Soon the trail disappeared entirely under snow, so we headed straight for the pass. From the pass, the view of Kaleetan and Chair Peaks was tempting, but with no sign of trail or footprints, so decided to call it a day.

We were looking for a long-ish day hike with moderate elevation gain, and Granite Lakes seemed to fit the bill, being about 11 miles round trip with 2300 feet of elevation gain.

The trail is an old logger's road, so was very easy to follow. The water level in Granite Creek was very high, so the falls and rapids were fabulous. There were a few wildflowers out - some spreading phlox and paintbrush, but not much else. The first 2.5 miles (or so) to Granite Creek is mostly in forest, but after the creek, the trail is largely uncovered.

The rest of the hike would have been uneventful, except for a small snafu. The trail description in ""100 Hikes"" says the trail to the lakes is at the second junction after crossing Granite Creek, which was supported by the topo map. The description also said that second junction was a good spot for camping. The first junction we came to was an old logging road. Duly noted, we headed onward. The trail off the second junction was blocked by a 3- or 4-ft. high berm, but it was definitely a trail, leading off of what was definitely a junction. The trail seemed to be descending, as noted in the description, and there was a fire ring, so we thought we'd found the right trail. After a half-mile or so of climbing over many berms and crossing several small streams, we decided we had gone far enough to reach the lakes. Since the lakes were nowhere in sight, we guessed (correctly) that we had turned off the main road too soon. We headed back to the junction and continued up the road. In another half-mile or so, we did indeed come to a third intersection. It was unmarked (as they all were), but did have a picnic table just off the road. THIS was the junction where the trail heads down to the lakes.

We never did see the paths leading off the trail to the lower lake, as described in the book, although we could catch glimpses of the lower lake (and snow) through the trees. We continued on the trail, which eventually made its way to the upper lake, with a minimal amount of bushwhacking in the last 50-100 feet.

There were two other hikers at the lake who were nice enough to share their tree with us - the only one at the upper lake with lots of shade that was easily accessible. The upper lake was completely thawed out, and beautiful - a great spot to cool down and have some lunch.

The first mile and a half of Icicle Trail was nice and dry. Then French Creek Trail brought quite a few blowdowns and places where creeks had flooded the trail. This was not a problem. However, there was one part of the trail that crossed French Creek (which was pretty high and wide...more like a small river) without a bridge. Here, the only option was to walk/shimmy across a wet log.

Reaching the turnoff to the Klonaquas, the ascent almost immediately brought us unavoidable patches of snow. We soon lost the trail, but made it pretty easily to nearby Bob Lake with little more than damp boots. The lake itself was semi-frozen, but there were enough dry spots around to pitch a tent.

Although we should have camped there for the night, we made the mistake of deciding to go on to Lower Klonaqua Lake because it was ""little more than half a mile away."" We bushwacked, slipped, and slid quite a bit and it wasn't until two hours later that we found a dry place to stay the night at the end of the lake. Again, this lake was frozen, but melting around the edges.

We dayhiked the following day to Upper Klonaqua Lake, having to make our own trail through melting snow that often broke beneath us. Sometimes, we would fall up to four or five feet and had to cross more than a couple creeks. Yet we were rewarded for our exhausting (and somewhat dangerous) hike with the sight of two beautiful waterfalls at the end of Upper Klonaqua Lake.

Busted up Si on a fine sunny afternoon. A fair amount of other hikers but not crowded by any means. Alot of gnats on the summit and haystack. Awsome view of Mt. Rainier. Friendly people. Scads of salmon berries in the first half mile.

Snow level is at about 3200 feet. When we were there, the snow on the NE side of the mountain was a sheet of ice and the trail completely covered. Lacking ice axe, route finding skills, and another human to get help (""we"" being me and my dog), I thought it best to turn around and plan on coming back later. But it was amazingly beautiful up until that point, and the 2 miles we were able to do was almost worth the 2 hour drive. Also, found a great little campground - Buck Creek. Campsites are spaced far apart, great canyon, and $10 a night. Good base for doing dayhikes.

To get there: Drive I-5 to Arlington Darington exit (hwy 532). Go to Darrington and take a left at the end of town (still hwy 532). Immediately after crossing the Sauk River Bridge make a right onto Suiattle River Road. Go 20 miles on mostly paved road and turn Left on a very will signed road. A steep, rocky, fun road takes you to the trailhead after 6 miles.

First backpack trip of the season with the kids and dog, so we re-read our copy of Pacific Northwest Hiking and picked Domke Lake. You have to take the Lady of the Lake up to Lucerne and taking the dog aboard is no problem, you just have to pay about $22 for a pet ticket and (much to our pooch's chagrin) the pet must use a cage they provide for the duration of the trip. Once landed in Lucerne, you follow the road up to the Domke Lake trailhead and you're on your way. My 8 year old takes exception to Dan Nelson and Ron Judd's assessment of this trails difficulty, however. They rate it a ""2"" and she insists they change it to a ""3"". Granted, she was packing her own stuff this time. The trail climbs pretty steadily for the whole 3.5 miles it takes to reach the lake and the first set of campsites at Domke Camp. Excellent spots, one right on the lake! Beautiful lake perfect for swimming and laying about. Further down the trail past Domke Camp about another .5 miles is Stewart Camp with several more sites that have even more solitude. There are lots of mosquitoes out at dawn and dusk, carry lots of bug spray! Our family hiking unit gives this backpack a thumbs up!

Lake Blethen is located in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River watershed. The lake is little used and only for the adventuresome, as the access route is rough and hard to follow. The distance to the lake is about 5 miles with 2000' elevation gain.

To get there, drive up the Middle Fork road to the Taylor River trailhead, and park. Elevation 1200'. Walk across the gated bridge and follow the road about 1/3 mile to the unsigned junction of the old Taylor River Road(now just a trail) and the Quartz Creek Road, which bends to the left. The Quartz Creek road is initially wide and easy to walk on as it gradually climbs west through two forested basins. After crossing a slight divide, the road enters the Quartz creek drainage and begins to climb more steeply. The snowmelt-filled Quartz Creek roars loudly below in a steep ravine, but the creek cannot be seen.

A half mile further along, the rocky,steep road passes an overgrown road taking off to the left; this side road goes down to a mine, which I did not investigate. Soon past this spot. Quartz Creek road ascends the steep hillside in two switchbacks; here are found nice views up the valley and down toward towering Mt. Garfield.

At about 2400' the road levels out and begins a long climbing traverse on the sunny north side of the valley. Soon a series of dirt berms are encountered that block all further vehicle traffic; beyond here, the road becomes much more overgrown. Continue on past a side- road climbing steeply to the right. The reason for the berms quickly becomes obvious as two spectacular collapsed bridges are encountered in short order. The logs used to cross the two ravines will not appeal to acrophobic types.

Past the washed-out bridges, the road remains relatively easy-going but a bit brushy. About a mile later, a scenic waterfall is reached, featuring a good view of Mt. Gardfield. This spot makes a good stopping point for pooped parties as the hiking gets considerably worse beyond.

If determined to get to Lake Blethen, continue on up the now continuously brushy road, which soon reaches another waterfall and a difficult obstacle. The creek here has cut a steep ravine in the road, requiring a somewhat hazardous traverse to get around. A rope of dubious integrity is strung across the ravine and offers a little security on the slippery rocks.

Beyond the ravine, nothing more quite so exciting is encountered, just more brush and mud. After 3/4 of a mile, the old road peters out in an open brushy area at an elevation of 3000'. Look for the faint continuation of the trail in this confusing spot by heading in a downhill traverse toward the valley floor where Lake Blethen's outlet creek runs. Once near the creek the barely existant ""trail"" enters old growth forest and follows the north bank of the creek all the way up to Lake Blethen. Some snow still remains in the forest, confusing the route.

The lake is located in a scenic bowl below the towering peak of Bessemer Mountain. Considerable snow remains around the lake shore, and on the surrounding peaks. All in all, it's a nice low-key getaway spot.

Jay

Did a recon trip on the PCT from Stampede Pass north in advance of a week-long trip - the trail is clear at the trailhead @3700 ft. (mostly) but turns to complete snow at about 3900 ft. after the series of switchbacks up the hill. You can find the trail with a map and compass if you can figure out which road you are supposed to cross next and the PCT is mostly clear in the exposed areas but 3 to 4 ft. deep in snow as soon as you go into the forest. Went in to approx. the Stirrup Lake junction, cooked a pot of seafood risotto, and went back out. From the appearance of the trail, we were among the first if not the first through this section this year; several elk and bear tracks in the snow, though. Plan to go through to Snoqualmie next week. Be sure to bring map and compass if you hike this!

Hiked Mount Higgins on 6/24/02. It was all that is was advertised...STRENUOUS and Fantastic Views. Trail has snow..6'in spots from Dicks Creek up. We hiked about 100 yards above Dicks Creek and lost trail. Hiked up to a ridge line above a small frozen over pond. Got a fantastic view of the Stilly Valley. Since we lost the trail..we did not even find myrtle lake or the old Higgins lookout site. Forest Service could spend a little time and make this a even better hike by clearing about 8 windfalls across trail.. A great hike I hope to go up later this summer when the snow is gone.

Road clear to Olallie Meadow. PCT about 50% clear of snow for first mile. Then becomes mostly coverd by 3-4 ft of snow. Summit ridge of Silver Peak free of snow with flowers in bloom. Some route finding required. Take trekking poles and/or ice axe.