Trip Reports

The following report is an account of two separate trips to the east fork of Troublesome Creek. The first trip I made to the EFK was in July of 2000 when I made the trip down from the outlet of Blanca Lake to approximately 2300’ on the north side of the creek. Just recently Craig, Scrooge and myself made another assault on the EFK only this time from the bottom up. A route from the NFK road, up the main Troublesome channel, and then hooking right (if you will) up the EFK ending at approximately 2050’, again on the north side of the creek.

The three of us left the pavement around 8:30 and proceeded down an embankment to a splendid gravel path that took us up the west bank of Troublesome Creek (TC). I had pretty stringent time constraints for the day, so Scrooge let Craig and I go on ahead. After mere minutes we came to a right turn in the path that heads to a sturdy bridge across TC and to a similar gravel path on the east bank. Opting for a hike we hopped some barrier trees and found a couple way paths extending up the west bank. No worries here though, in only a few yards they both ended up in the same general area and we soon located the main trail extending up valley. What a great trail! With such little traffic I would have never thought that a low elevation, valley trail would be so free of brush and obstructions. Yet, it is and the traveling it was as easy as it gets.

The trail stayed clear and simple to follow until we were about 1.7 miles from the truck. Up to this point we encountered maybe a half dozen blowdowns to hop, but none were much of an issue. We encountered signs of old bridges and dozens of old (and some newer) saw cuts. At 1.7 miles we hit the remnants of an old avalanche wash where a large, dense stand of brush did it’s best to steal the trail. The tread gets faint in a hurry here, but after a few minutes of poking about we managed to find it and take it through to the other side. Once on the other side the trail never did regain its previous clarity, but was easy enough to follow. After about 10 more minutes of walking, flagging every 50 feet made the trail impossible to lose. At about 2 miles the trail leaves the upper banks of the river and drops down into a semi wet creek bed where it fades entirely – the rest of the way is x-country or a game of follow the flags to who-knows-where.

The flagging goes directly up the creek bed to the NNW, but to where I don’t know. We opted to cross the stream and head for TC. We followed a wooded island of sorts along the shores of TC. Where TC trends to the NE we stayed our course in a NNE direction, crossing a small feeder creek and then into open trees. Five minutes of walking led us to the confluence of the MFK and EFK, 1 hour and 10 minutes from the cars. We crossed on a few convenient rocks, made our way up a steep, 10’ embankment and started our way down the EFK.

From the MFK to the first avalanche fan shown on the map the going was surprisingly manageable in old growth with a light under cover of blueberry shrubs. We headed parallel but trended away from the EFK until we came to a significant creek (from the north) at the base of the avalanche fan (see June Photo Gallery). Crossed the creek and fought our way through 50’ of slide alder and nettles to a point where we could access the large rocks. Here we found an interesting turquoise pond where the trees ended and the rocks began. Circular and about 30’ in diameter, it was a curious sight – we dipped a finger in hopes it was warm, but no dice. We continued on, ascending the rocks for about 100’ and then traversed E to the next stand of trees. We continued for 1/4 mile in more open forest until we encountered a seemingly endless swath of slide alder. Our first real assault on the EFK drainage began. Yet, it lasted all of 15 minutes until we’d had enough and made a b-line for the raging creek below. Yet, before we made it to TC, we encountered a dry side channel. This thing was quite a hole punched through the dense under brush too. At least 50’ wide it was just what we needed to make the going quick and effortless. No brush, no trees, little elevation gain, man, this was sweet!

Proceeding up the channel, we followed it for a half mile or better (with the sporadic logjam to hop) to about 2050’ where it met the main channel of the EFK. Due to my time restrictions and an unwillingness to wade the creek or the dense brush along it shores we decided to call it quits 3.4 miles from where we started. Before we exited the drainage, we ascended the rock field above to about 2200’ to affirm our position with the surrounding relief. As I had hoped, I could gaze up valley to the approximate location where I had ended my 2000 EFK trip down form Blanca Lake. A wedding in Seattle and the wrath of my waiting girlfriend (if I was late) made the visual connection to last years stopping point good enough.

The trip out went a lot faster as we followed our exact entry route through the brush and trees. When we made it back to the trail I pulled about half the flags (every other one amounted to about 25). I left just enough so that Scrooge would be able to find his way out (only kidding!). I really will never understand why people need to hang trash from trees. In any event, this is really a great trail and an easy hike. Many views of the river and valley walls along the way – it makes for a good day trip any time of year.

The following is a slightly edited excerpt of an e-mail I sent Scrooge last July describing the EFK route coming down from Blanca Lake to roughly 2300’:

I headed down the outlet. Like you said, the north side is a cliff, so I stayed south. About 100 ft down the outlet there is a campsite, just on the other side is a very steep chute...basically where the journey begins or ends. I slid my way down the chute and continued down through open forest never more that 200 ft from the creek. Let me tell you, Troublesome Creek rivals the WF of the Foss as the most spectacular stream hike I've done. From where I turned around there are at least 6 falls over 40 ft, amazing. It does get very steep in places and there were a lot of rock outcroppings that made for some nice pseudo cliffs, but nothing an experienced hiker couldn't pick their way through. I knew there was a band of cliffs at 3000', so the further down I went the more I looked for a place to cross to the north. Potential crossings were few and far between, a couple that looked good from the trees turned out to be death traps once I got out on the rocks. You have to be careful crossing this thing, there are so many 10, 15, and 20 foot drops you have to give yourself plenty of run-out room in case of a slip. Finally, I found a place where the creek divided in two making the main channel more manageable. Even so, the water was thigh deep and required a lot of maneuvering to navigate. Once on the north side I continued my descent, avoided some cliffs by going north (at ~3000' here), and continued down through heavy brush to about 2700'. I'd say I crossed over at about 3100 -3200', no altimeter so I can't say for sure. Once at about 2700' I stopped for some food and noticed I had made good time down from the lake. So, down I went, but the further I went the worse the brush got...the going was slow but steady. At about 2400' I ran into the steam flowing S into Troublesome and followed it a bit to about 2300'. Here I took a nasty fall on a wet rock and put a very deep 1"" laceration on the palm of my right hand. My hand looked like it had been dipped in red paint and was dripping blood everywhere, so I scurried up into the trees and bandaged it up. I felt I might as well call it quits and head back up to the lake, but was glad to know that it was possible to avoid the major cliffs and other hazards at least down to 2300'. At the point I was forced to turn around I was headed back down to T creek to see if another crossing would help ease the brush situation, obviously I never found out. Anyway, the section I hiked is passable up or down without major difficulty with the exception of thick brush from 2300 - 3000'.

Wanted to check out the Kendall Katwalk for snow coverage and set out from Snoqualmie on PCT #2000 on a beautiful June day - freezing level @ 3,000 ft. with heavy wet snow. Trailhead itself is almost entirely free of snow, which is unusual in itself in recent history; two years ago I could barely see the top of the outhouse at this time of year. Trail itself is in good shape, with some blowdown - one large tree and one small. Scattered patches of snow from about 4,100 ft. on up, with heavy snow from about 4,500 ft.; lost the trail a couple of times. Turned back about ½ mile from the Katwalk (still on the west side of the ridge) due to heavy snow (8-10 inches of fresh on top of about 3-4 ft of old) and lack of time. My advice is to give it another week or two of warm weather.

Little Giant #1518 - The Glacier Peak Area I was looking for a view of the Napeequa Valley for later this summer so an early hike was in order. Rain was coming down steady but that's what rain gear is for. The crossing of the river in waders is the only way to go, no need to warm up after getting soaked by the cold water. Got to the trailhead at 7:00 water was high thigh and moving fast. The trail is clear till the rock fall at 4000' Who ever cleared the trail and brushed it is to be commended. looking at all of the cut trees this trail would have been a no-go and impassable last year though not as steep as I was expecting. Trail is in good condition until the rock fall face and very slippery with water and snow above. It gets narrow once you get to the tree line above. Made it to 5500' before the snow on the ground and from the sky above made me stop. I'll be back later when the snow is gone; post holing is no fun in the rain/snow mix Do not cross at the trailhead in the afternoon, water was waist + and really moving now, move up stream to cross. All in all a good test of rain gear and a good hike.

Please note that the camp areas associated with these trails are normally close until June 15th., however, this year they are closed for overnite camping until further notice. The Department of Natural Resources is changing the sanitary facilities from the fly-in porta potties used in the past to permanently installed outhouses. We hope to have the outhouses installed during the first three weeks of July. The camp areas closed are: Cutthroat Lakes, Beaver Plant, Upper and Lower Ashland Lakes, Twin Falls, and Boulder Lake. For more information contact Kathy Gunther, Natural Areas Steward, at 360-856-3500. Thank You. Stan Kurowski, Special Lands Coordinator, DNR, Northwest Region

From Lake Mason we carried on to our final destination...Lake Kulla Kulla. The hike to that point was not all that bad besides the mud. About a half mile past Lake Mason is the drop off down to lake Kulla Kulla. We started down what seemed like a semi decent trail. Soon we ended up practically cascading down a rock slide. There were no cairns or any sign of a trail. We finally reached the lake and realized that we were only at a small pond that was just above Kulla Kulla. So we were forced to improvize and head down further to the lake we knew was the right one. With no trail to follow we fell through deep snow, got stuck in high grown bushes, and swalloed in deep mud. Finally we made it. There was no sign of any trail or campsite. We searched and found somewhat of a clearing and made camp for about an hour or so. The way out wasn't all that bad considering we had somewhat of an idea on how to get out. Climbing back up the rocks was not easy at all. If it wasn't for my trusty hiking stick I would still be on that mountain side. If I would have invested in an expensive hiking pole from REI I know that it wouldnt have supported my weight and broke. Nature provides the best hiking sticks of any shape or size. The wood is strong, and can be found on any forest floor.

This was a fun hike even though it appeared we were there a little early yet.

The road to the trail head is quite muddy still and slick since, but most vehicles shouldn't have any problems getting to the trail head. The water crossing was still about 6-8 inches deep and flowing rather well.

The trail from the trailhead to Trout Lake is clear and the lake is very calm creating nice reflections of the scenery around it.

Past Trout Lake on the way to Copper Lake got a little more technical. There are two really good(or bad)spots with some downed trees crossing the switchbacks. They take some creativity, but you should be able to cross.

From the switchbacks there is some water coming down the trail which is comprised mostly of granite and wet roots at this point.

The snowlevel starts about a half mile from Copper Lake and is still quite deep in areas. So watch out for sinkholes. Copper Lake is still covered in snow and is melting at a good pace so it should be clearing up in the next couple of weeks.

Once at the trailhead, be sure to turn your vehicle around and face it towards the main road. Be sure to leave enough room for other cars to turn around. Once on the trail, you gently ascend to the Perry Creek Falls. The WTA was working on the trail when we were there, so it is very well maintained. The cloud cover was low so we were unable to see many of the mountain tops, but had great views of the waterfalls and the other side of the valley that we would be crossing up by the Perry Creek Falls. There is a nice spot to stop and rest at the Falls, with a few spots to camp on the flass [''] side, or just across the large log you have to cross to get to the other side. You then find yourself ascending many switchbacks, sometimes with low elevation gain and they seem to traverse forever. Follow the trail as you make your way towards the Mt Forgotten Meadows. We were actually attempting to summit Stillaguamish Peak, but missed the trail merge where you head towards it. It may be easier to see after the snow melt, but we continued on towards the meadows. You reach a false summit that then ascends a ridge with very large dropoffs and avalanche chutes. To the right is the Mt Forgotten Meadows, where during the summer months it is said to be gorgeous. Then you ascend the small peak that is located right in front of you before the traverse to Mt Forgotten and Stillaguamish Peak. We had no views, but hear it is quite a sight.

Stuart Lake 6/10 - 6/11/01

It rained hard and we didn't get to see Mt. Stuart. Sometimes it's best to get the negatives out and over with first.

This was our first trip to this beautiful area. Stuart lake is a high alpine jewel set in a basin of big rugged peaks. On this trail hiking is mostly in open old growth forest with sections of meadow and rockfall. The trail parallels Mountaineer creek most of the way up, crossing it on a bridge over rapids and a falls at about 1 1/2 miles. The grade steepens up to the junction with the Colchuck lake trail and then flattens out for a mile of alternating forest and meadows. Here are great views of Colchuck and Dragontail peaks (and Stuart too if it's not cloudy). About a mile from the lake the thunder of water is heard as the grade steepens again. A big falls is on the left, very impressive and not shown on the map. Thru forest up we go, crossing a few tiny snow patches and arriving at the north side of the lake about 6pm.

It was sunny and warm at the trailhead, and partly cloudy most of the way up but cooler and mostly cloudy here at the lake. There were 20 cars at the trailhead and we worried about finding a good campsite. They must all have gone to Colchuck because we had total solitude at Lake Stuart, no other parties at all. Only a few wildflowers were blooming at the lake but lots of early flowers on the trail up. Notably Calypso orchids. I usually see 1 or 2. a year , rarely more. This trail had over a hundred ! Also lupine, columbine, violets, trillium, arnica, nootka rose, and huckleberry. There were no trees down, mudholes, or any other obstacles to report. This trail is almost all good dirt tread , with a few rocky spots.

With full packs it took us almost 3 hours to hike the 4.5 miles and 1700 vert. ft. to the lake. After setting up camp and cooking dinner we explored a little bit before an early bedtime. Just at dusk a light rain began which became heavy by 10pm and lasted all night. In the morning the rain slackened as the temperature dropped and turned to very wet snow as we hiked out of the basin (it wasn't sticking). Once we dropped 500 ft. from the 5050 ft. lake basin it turned to light rain, and then mist , and was mostly sunny again at the trailhead. We didn't really want to leave this beautiful place, so hiked even more slowly going down than up. Lots of photos, breaks to talk to other hikers going up and just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

We arrived in Leavenworth with a great hunger which was satisfied at the Cafe Mozart, a very fine Austrian restaurant. We headed home from warm sunny Leavenworth and ran into heavy rain on Stevens pass and more rain all the way home to Seattle. On the way over we also had rain on the west side of the mountains. So our precipitation at Lake Stuart was much less than the west side of the Cascades and Puget sound basin received. It was a good trip and I will return, on a sunny day when Mt. Stuart is uncovered.

Robert Michelson, Richard & Alex.

Our group of 5 made it within spitting distance of the basin but was turned around by snow. One could have post-holed through, but without snowshoes we admitted defeat. Give the trail about 2 weeks before a snow-free attempt is made into the basin.

The trail was completely snow free. It was raining and there was a lot of water on the trail. So small creeks needed to be passed over. Other then that the trail was fine.

Looking for sunny weather on a rainy weekend turned out to be no problem! Taking W.O.W's (Washington Online Weather) advice, My wife and I drove to the Teanaway and day hiked to Navaho Pass. Warm and mostly sunny the entire day! Trail to the pass is in excellent shape and there is no snow on the trail. As always, views of the Stuart Range were beautiful.

it sure is amazing how much snow can melt in a month!last month at this time,half of the upper trail and the entire lake was covered and smothered.now,its just a few small patches.for those planning a trip here,you need to know there are now two routes.after the trail switchbacks through salal,you come to a fork.if you have half a brain,you will take the left fork that follows the creek and by-passes the boulder field.the right fork climbs the old eroded route,and forces you to boulder hop for a quarter mile!on the way down i saw a family with kids taking this route!its too slow and dangerous when wet. the rest of the trail is very muddy but well worth it.there is a spot at the outlet of the lake where you can stand eye level to the lake!the was fresh snow on the tree tops and on bandera and mt.defiance at about 4700 ft.i always bring one useless item on every hike.this time i brought a microphone!

We took Friday off from work and hauled our backpacks up the Tubal Cain trail, then followed the short Buckhorn Lake way trail to the campsite just above the lake. Both trails are generally in fine shape. There are a few small patches of snow in the woods around the lake and campsite, though none cover the trail. The following day, we ventured higher up the trail to Buckhorn Pass, then proceeded to the high knoll overlooking Marmot Pass from the north. Occasional patches of snow over the trail begin just below the first pass. Some are a bit steep and tricky, but should be melted out in a couple of weeks. On the final day, I briefly separated from my hiking partner to explore the Tull Canyon trail, with its old mining ruins and crashed airplane remnants. This trail is steep, but very much worth the trip. Progressively larger snow patches must be waded on the trail's final half mile, but again should be gone in a couple of weeks. The scenery was top-notch the entire weekend, despite occasionally moist and cool weather.

Now, for the REAL news of this hike: the Tubal Cain mine property, currently owned by Jerry Richert of Shelton, is for sale through John L. Scott Real Estate. Asking price: $3.5 million. These 218 acres of vulnerable private property lie in the heart of our Buckhorn Wilderness. Most of the property is undevelopable, but the owner appears to be trying to entice prospective buyers on a section just above Copper Creek (where the Tubal Cain trail crosses the creek, adjacent to several campsites). Approximately two dozen subalpine fir trees have been recently cut down here to enlarge a small meadowy area. Several have been stacked in this meadow, painted partially in day-glo orange. A number of ribbons hang from trees still standing on the periphery. One would assume that prospective buyers are being encouraged to build a backcountry vacation home here, which would be a travesty. Even as it stands now, the cut trees, paint, and ribbons are totally out of character for the area. According to Olympic Park Associates, the property has been appraised at a mere $60,100. It's obvious then, that Richert has little intent to sell his land to the public. At such an exorbitant price, only a selfish millionaire, completely disrespectful of wilderness values, would choose to build a home here. I intend to ask my representative in Congress to negotiate with Mr. Richert toward purchasing the property for addition to the National Forest -- at a reasonable price. I hope that readers of this report will consider doing the same.

The hike I did was along Kachess Lake, starting at the campground.

The first ""obstacle"" to overcome is bureaucratic. Despite the well-publicized intention of the forest service to stop the confusing mosaic of fees, to get to the trailhead you have to either pay a $4 parking fee (irrespective of your trail pass) at the campground entrance or park somewhere outside the campground and walk an additional 1/2 mile each way. There's space for about 2 cars just outside the campground.

This trail is at its best once snow is gone and the flowers bloom because there are lots of rocky walls perfect for rock gardens. Yesterday was a bit past prime time but still nice. The dominant flower is now paintbrush.

This trail is lovely just as forest. It's got some aspects of east side and west side forests, lowland and mid-mountain.

Once past the handicap-graded first 1/4 mile comes the ""most difficult"" sign. This trail is steep and 3-4 short pitches are better described as scramble rather than hike. I was amazed to see a woefully unprepared hiker, in all-cotton, sneakers and no pack.

Views out to the lake kept me looking away from the trail but then I kept remembering how narrow the trail and how and steep the drop. The trail is in as good shape as it gets but WTA might think about some work to cure the scramble portions.

Traversed the Enchantment Lakes over the weekend- started Sat AM from Stuart Lake trailhead, hiked to Colchuck Lk, up Aasgard Pass (nearly snow-free to ~7800') & down to a camp on Perfection Lake. Sun hiked out to Snow Creek trailhead. Water level on Upper Snow Lake is incredibly low- much lower than we've ever seen. The trail is generally in excellent condition the entire way, & of course the Enchantments plateau between Aasgard Pass and Lake Viviane is still mostly snow-covered. Except for some light snow flurries Sat night & Sun AM, the weather was perfect and we only saw a few other parties all weekend.

This trip was to ""Scout"" a overnite trip later this month that would start at the Ashland Lakes/Bald Mountain trailhead and end up coming out thru Cutthroat Lakes and the Walt Bailey Trail. It looks very do-able and the first part of the Bald Mountain traverse is actual quite interesting and a very seldom traveled trail. The trail as it runs east along the ridge is sometimes faint and and still under a little snow above 4000', but should not be difficult to follow. Came home to the bird books to identify ""Owl speak"", but none of the calls described in the books were all that close to the owls I heard. They were my only company on a wet and foggy day hike. I believe this trail would be a good choice for a day of solitude. There were no footprints in the snow past the 3 mile mark. Two suggestions, bring extra socks and maybe have someone do a waterproof hiking boot test on the the first 3 miles of this trail. If any boot passed the test I would be a ""buyer"".

Hiked up Bandera today, despite the gloomy skies. The dirt road to the trailhead is smooth and in good shape, any car will do fine. The bottom third of the trail(up to, and a little past the Mason Lk. trailhead)is a nice gradual stretch of trail. Soon things start heading up on a very rough and steep trail, all the way to the ridge. Though, you punch through the trees quickly. Very impressive watching the clouds engulf the entire valley! Once making the ridge, the trail starts and stops amongst large boulders. Keep your eye out, the trail always seems to pop back up. Trail along the ridge is snow free to the summit. Looks like there is a flat enough spot for a small tent or bivy. One hour and 45 minutes to the top, about the same to get back down. Saw only one other hiker on the Bandera portion of the trail, handful of others before the Mason Lk turnoff. Good hike.

To get out of the rain, our group of five headed east on Saturday. The weather in Leavenworth was warm and only partly cloudy as we headed up the Snow Creek Trail. The Trail was in great shape - no blowdown to speak of, and a few areas where rock slides once again tumbled across the trail.

Our goal was to establish a high camp in Tamarack Meadows at 7200 feet and then climb Mount Temple via the standard route. Jim had attempted Mt. Temple twice before, the most recent attempt was 17 years ago. He remembered a nice, but steep, climber's trail from Nada Lake up to the Meadows. We anticipated a fairly uneventful hike to camp. We were mistaken!

After basking in the sun at the edge of Nada Lake, fending off Camp Robbers and fat, aggressive Chipmunks, we shouldered our burdens and headed around the lake to the ""waterfalls"" to find the climber's path. Just beyond the camps, we saw a path heading up into a small tree stand near a talus field that turned out to be the climber's path Jim remembered - except where the gully ended, we were faced with a thin stream of water and an 80-foot rock face. We scrambled over fourth-class rock to gain the top of the granite outcrop above the waterfalls. From here, not finding an obvious path, we headed up the steep hillside, using roots and branches along the way. Dee, not finding this part too glamorous, vowed to find a different way back down.

We found a climber's path, well marked with cairns and boot tread shortly after topping out on the bench at 5,600 feet. Weary from ascending 5,200 vertical with overnight packs, we made camp at about 6,200 feet elevation on a great rock bench near a small stream.

Sunday morning we woke to blue skies, frozen water droplets on the tent flies, and an inch of snow on the ground. Not a very inspiring morning for a climb, but we headed out anyway to see how far we could get. Four of the five continued - Dee chose to head back and explore the possibilities of a better route down.

Although the weather alternated between sun and snow squalls, we ended up at the base of the summit tower. However, after leaving the snow and scrambling up 4th class rock to the ledge below the start of fifth class climbing, we were faced with a blank face (reported to be 5.3 rock), a manky quarter-inch bolt, and lingering doubts about whether this was the route. There was also ice in places, and Jim decided that we would come back under better weather conditions with rock shoes. We turned around a mere 100 feet from the summit.

The descent went remarkably well. Dee scoped out a route that avoided the unpleasant, steep, ""beauty bark over slabs"" that we ascended. It actually looked like the vestiges of a way trail. Jim, convinced there was an easier way past the 4th class rock, headed off down the waterfall area. It wasn't any easier. Dee, Mike and I rappeled over the 4th class section (two ropes), while Kevin chose to downclimb. We made it out in good time, with just one half hour to spare before Gustav's closed the kitchen.

STATS: 18 miles, 7400' gain.

It was a fantastic day in the methow.. I decided to pack up to the lookout with my little 2.5 year old boy on my back. We hit the trail @ about 10am and we were @ the top around 11:20am. The trail was in perfect condition with only a couple snow patches. Ran into a couple other crazed parents with children on backs.. Was lots of fun

this was my first hiking trip in many years; and the first time i ever went with a full pack. we headed up to lower lena lake on a saturday morning and spent the night in a campsite on the far side of the lake. the trail has many switchbacks, and most of the way does not pick up elevation too rapidly. it is pretty much just a steady climb. very nice and very beautiful. this trail is in great shape and the lake was extremely beautiful. there are fish in the lake and next time up i plan on doing some fishing. this hike was just the right amount of challenge for a new hiker such as myself. you need to stop in hoodsport at the ranger station and get a parking pass. i was aware of the need for one, but missed reading that they were not available at the trailhead. i would like to thank the helpful ranger that we met at the trailhead (sorry, didn't get his name) for his assistance in this regard.

The hike is basically three parts: the hike to the wilderness boundary, the switchbacks, and the hike to the lake. The first part was pleasurable following the river up to the wilderness boundary. The log bridges were fun to cross. There were some mud puddles and one tree across the trail. The hike up the switchbacks was strenuous; the 11-year old on the hike took frequent breaks. The trail leveled out to the lake and was covered by patchy snow making the last half mile difficult to follow. There was another tree across the trail as well.

We were the only campers up there so the boys got the opportunity to burn off the extra energy with snowball fights. Sunday morning we found the trees above us frosted with snow - a Kodak moment.

A late summer trip to the lake should be considered. There is big rock at the east end of the lake that should be great for laying in the sun.

Threats of thunderstorms drove us east again. Only two hours to the Stafford Creek TH in always sunny Teanaway valley. This trail is a nice creekside forest ramble, never steep, gaining about 500' per mile. At four miles is a signed junction with Standup Creek trail. At five plus miles a grassy flat. Catnap, not recovered from the martain death flu, picked this spot to settle in. We continued, arriving at the pass, six miles, for great views of Little Annapurna and McClellan. The sun shone, the snow flew, the wind blew, sometimes all at once. We followed the County Line trail east to about 6350' where Mt Stuart came into sight, even the top! This is where a path takes off on the ridge towards Navaho Peak. It's faint at first, then becomes obvious and steep. There is one flat snowpatch on top. Incredible looks at the Stuart Range, and all the local mountains. Plenty of flowers; phlox, shooting stars, paintbrush, bluebells, and alpine roses. We woke up Catnap via walkietalkie, and she met us at the pass. All in all, a very casual day with great friends. Plenty of side trips and pictures. Stats: 14 miles R/T, 4150' gain, 4:00 up and 3:10 down.

It was definitely worth driving a few extra miles to get east of the crest and find some sunshine! The trail is in great shape, mostly snow free with only small patches here and there the last mile. There were no bugs to speak of, but they were undoubtedly discouraged by the occasional snow squall.

The first part of the Sunrise mine trail has a lot of exposed tree roots which are slippery when wet and the last log crossing has recently been replaced by a log that tapers down to about 8 inches - also slippery when wet. Everything else about the trail is pretty good.

You run into snow in the basin below Hedlee pass and then it's mostly snow from there. Good step kicking snow up to the pass - a little firm, so don't forget your ice axe. Some thin spots in the snow as you're traversing the scree basin and then more great step kicking from the lake outlet to the summit of Vesper.

The Eastside trail pretty much parallels Highway 123 on its north-south route through the eastern side of Mt. Rainier National Park. You'd never know it, however, as the highway is on the other side of the Ohanapecosh River and Chinook Creek and is never visible or audible from the trail. The trail itself is well-maintained and snow-free, an excellent early season bid with some nice side trips like Grove of the Patriarchs and Silver Falls. We hiked from the Ohanapecosh Ranger Station, where you can park your car and acquire permits, 9 miles north to Deer Creek Camp, where we were picked up by a friend after working our way along a half-mile climb back up to the highway. Be advised that due to a wilderness restoration project, there are currently only two available campsites at Deer Creek - you may want to call the Ranger Station about reservations.

The lake is entirely snow free, and the avalanche snow, which is usually present on the southwest side of the lake this time of year, is completely gone. The waterfalls are still great though. Flowers are barely starting to come out.

Trail is in excellent condition all the way to the lake. Use caution on foot logs across streams in meadow below lake. Only a little snow on the trail below the lake, which will be gone in less than a week. The lake is clear of snow and ice; fish are jumping. The meadow and all camp sites are almost completely snow-free. Trail to upper basin is still snow covered, but it should melt quickly. Still lots of snow above 5200 feet. We saw one black bear west of the lake, above the meadow.

Reached the end of the North Fork Teanaway River Road and found an overflowing parking lot, a big group of scouts, and lots of overnighters getting set to hit the trail. Yuck. Once on the trail, however, I was able to hike in solitude much of the way. I meant to hike to Lake Ingalls, but I missed the turn off going up and again coming down. I don’t know why I was so blind and baffled, but watch carefully for the trail. Maybe it was where I crossed some snow patches. (Don’t forget sunglasses – I did. Ouch.) At the pass, I followed an easy scramble and some footprints across a big snowfield on the side of the peaks to the west (towards Lake Ingalls). Saw some telmark skiers Mt. Stuart views were awesome.

Hiked as far as Fortune Creek/Cookie Pass. Snow-free except for a few easily crossed patches just before the pass. Lots of glacier lillies, especially farther up, along with pasqueflower and wallflower. Shooting star getting started; should be lots in a week or two.

A couple of deadfalls in last mile or so; no problem for hikers, but might generate some horse detours when the horse parties start becoming numerous.

Did a brief reconnoiter up toward Lake Ann. The shallow basin at about 6050' elevation still pretty generally snow-covered, though snow not too deep.

The weather forecasters had a point about the low snow levels - we had a couple of fairly vigorous snow flurries.

Got an early start and was on the trail at 6:00 am sharp. Weather was mixed but looking like it might clear up nicely. Was hoping it would for good views from Bootjack Mountains which was the destination.

Within minutes it was completely socked in, foggy and raining. The lower portion of the trail is brushing in a bit so I got pretty soaked within the frist ten minutes. The brush clears out as you start up the ridge and the long series of fairly steep switchback. It's mostly a hump through the forest until you hit the ridgeline and break out of the trees.

There was some snow, including some large patches though these will most likely be gone in a week or two. A few largish snow fields but not steep and nothing even close to requiring an ice ax. Good thing as i forgot mine - oops.

The final 1000 feet on the ridge crest was worth the switchbacks and the clouds cleared enough for at least some nice views of the local terrain if not more distant horizons. There are a few rock outcroppings on the ridge. I went up and over but you can easily go around these. An easy rock scramble for the last 75 feet or so and I was on top at 6789. My thermometer said 54 but the wind and falling snow sure felt colder than that.

Had a snack on top and headed back on down. A good day hike.

This seems to be a spring for Teanaway hikes. Today JK and I tried out the Jungle Creek - Way Creek loop (6.8 miles, with road walk). I had never been up the Jungle Creek Road. It's quite narrow and steep in spots, but not an impediment even to sedans. We parked at the Way Creek TH and then walked down the road, losing 600 feet to find the Jungle Creek Trail.

Along the roadside, we found a wide selection of beautiful flowers, lupine, serviceberry, cutleaf luina, columbine, senecio, forget-me-nots and Oregon Grape.

The Jungle Creek trail climbs up through a narrow valley, crossing and criss-crossing the tiny creek. Since it is a motorcycle trail, it swoops and curves its way up the forested valley climbing higher and higher until beginning switchbacks. On the way, I spotted some wild clematis blooming with delicate violet bells, a fragile vine-like plant.

The trail eventually makes its way to a narrow ridgeline and junction with the Way Creek Trail. Here you are faced with a choice, follow the ridge or drop down into Johnson Creek (this route takes you out to the North Fork Teanaway Road. We chose the Way Creek Trail.

Views are the best on the traverse from the junction to the next junction with the trail over Malcolm Mountain (#1225). The views consist of primarily Mt. Stewart, Iron Peak, Esmeralda and Ingalls, Mt. Hawkins, Bean Creek Basin, etc. We could not see Mt. Rainier due to cloudcover.

No motorcycles are allowed on Malcolm Mountain, so if you want to escape the noise you might head in that direction. Near the junction we found a vibrant rock garden filled with Lewisia columbiana and smooth douglsia, a bright fuchsia pink rock flower.

Way Creek Trail traverses the ridge awhile and then begins to slowly drop ending in on an old road. The road is rough and steep in places, plunging down in steps to little benches shaded by huge Ponderosa pines and covered with grassy gardens.

This loop was extraordinary in the amount of plants I was able to discover and identify, some 45 varieties including: Davidson penstemon, False Solomon's Seal, arnica, larkspur, mertensia, rock cress, balsam arrowroot, cutleaf luina, paintbrush, sticky currant, red-flowering currant, wallflower, buckwheat, calypso orchid, meadowrue, Bracted lousewort, Western groundsel, claytonia, violets, trillium and desert parsley.

The weather was cloudy and cool which made for great hiking. We didn't get overheated, but do carry lots of water; none is available past the last creek crossing. We did not encounter any motorcycles this day, although it was plain they do come this way occasionally.

The trail is clear of snow until approaching the third crossing of Denny Creek at 3550 feet. Snow patches beyond that point. The trail is completely snow covered for 1/2 mile just below Hemlock Pass at 4350. No evidence of any large trees across the trail. Melakwa Lake is completely snow-covered, but less than a foot of snow remains in the lake basin.

With the predicted cloudy weather I thought it would be a good day to photograph waterfalls, so I followed in the steps of Alan Bauer's recent report along the East Side Trail in Mount Rainier, with a short side trip along the first part of the Owyhigh Lakes Trail.

I started at Deer Creek on Highway 123, just south of the northern-most tunnel. There is a pullout on the east side of the road about a half mile south of the Deer Creek crossing. A trail leads down to Deer Creek Falls from the opposite side of the road.

It's a half mile to the East Side Trail, passing views of Deer Creek Falls on the way. The path set by Alan's report leads in all directions, basically making a big cross. I decided to do the longer southern part first along the East Side Trail while I had the energy. It follows the Chinook River through a beautiful old forest.

There are 2 waterfalls along this route -- Stafford Falls and a waterfall at the crossing of the Ohanapecosh River. You cross a small waterfall on a bridge in about a mile, but that's not Stafford Falls. Continue a little farther until you see a side trail leading toward the river. This short path will take you to Stafford Falls, a classic punchbowl waterfall. There were a few blowdowns on this side trail, but nothing major.

In another mile, the main trail crosses the Ohanapechosh River at the top of a double waterfall. There aren't really any good views of the fall, but the view up river from the bridge was well worth the walk.

Returning the 2 miles north to Deer Creek, I branched west on the Owyhigh Lakes Trail. In about a mile, the trail crosses Kotsuck Creek. There is a series of waterfalls here, and only one viewable from the trail. The largest is a double fall just upstream and around a bend. A quick hike off trail will yield a good view. I also decided to hike downstream off trail take a look and found a nice little waterfall there as well. Lots of moss and boulders, good for photos. (I didn't realize until I returned home that this was the Boundary Creek crossing, not the falls listed on the map. Something to go back for!)

After returning the mile back to the East Side Trail, I headed north for about a half mile to the last waterfall in Alan's report. This one is a rager, tumbing from a great height on Eastside Creek. Unfortunately, the East Side Trail only offers a distant view, and I couldn't find another path anywhere near the falls. There was one major blowdown north of the falls I stumbled across while looking for a better trail.

All in all, a very good day of waterfall hunting, and the trails are in excellent shape. The grand total is 8 waterfalls (counting the smaller ones) in 9 miles. That statistic rivals even the best the Columbia River Gorge has to offer, and it's a bit closer.

I did a quick snow level check while in the area as well. Cayuse Pass is pretty much snow free. There is some snow on the side of the road south of the pass, but just briefly. Along Stevens Canyon Road, the snow starts at ""The Bench"". Louise Lake is only about 25% frozen, but the Reflection Lakes are still at least 90% frozen.

Ashland Lakes trail is muddy after the first half mile. There's obviously been a lot of trail work done here, but with all of the standing water, you just can't escape the mud. Any piece of wood (logs, planks, roots, etc.) is very slippery.

After skirting past Beaver Plant and Ashland Lakes, we headed up for Bald Mountain. By the way, to reach Bald Mountain, head for the upper Ashland Lakes at the first junction. About a quarter mile or so a second signed junction not shown on the map leads to Bald Mountain. About a half mile past this second junction, the trail was in much better condition. Strange for something hardly used. Obviously, very few people come this far. We were admittedly a little disappointed with the view (peekaboo through the trees) though the forest was beautiful. The trail was drier with a few snow patches and much easier to navigate than lower down.

This is a MUST DO early hike! The flowers are amazing- many iris and so many cannot list! Interseting trail in all- odd rocks, etc. From the top can see a long way! This makes a great stop on the way to the coast. We camped at the trailhead campground. It is a ""carry in"" type but fine. We combined it with the Cannon Beach sand castle contest which was worth attending!

Directions: Head out Hwy 410, turn on to Hwy 165 and head towards the Carbon Glacier entrance of Mt Rainier Nat'l Park, as you go through Wilkeson take the left on your way out of town, follow the paved road until it splits, take a right and head up the gravel road, follow the road past the summer camp and take a left before you get to a gate, follow this gravel road down through a valley go up the other side, wind around this big hill staying straight, the road will split and take the right spur,Cedar Lake will be in the basin on the left side of the road, continue to roads end and park. Trail leads off into the brush.

Trail Notes: June 8, 2001, 7:30pm -4:30pm, 7+ miles roundtrip, 4000+ vertical gain. Trail is in good shape.

Coundly and Summit Lakes are well worth a afternoon or weekend visit. We opted for a day hike.

We followed the road above Cedar Lake to it's end, and there we found a trail leading off into the brush (there is not a trailhead or any signs marking the trail). So we followed the trail and 'by-golly' it went all the way to Summit Lake (yehaw). The trail is in great shape, meandering through the forest. The trail is relatively easy hiking until you near a ridge above Coundly Lake. It looked like there was a trail that split off and went down to Coundly Lake, but we opted to push on to Summit lake (in looking back we should have taken this trail, just so we would know where it came out at). 

The trail follows the Rooster Comb which winds along the ridge. Sometimes the trail was 6 inches wide on a rocky ledge with a substantial drop off. There was still snow on the ridge and there are a few chutes we had to kick in foot holes to make it up. There is one grueling (seeming endless section) that is practically straight up and covered with exposed roots (this is were we began to sweat). But other than that the trail was quite a delight. After climbing the ridge behind Summit Lake the trail disappeared under 3 feet of snow. We just kept heading south looking for the rocky cliffs that surround Summit Lake. We peered through the trees and to our disappointment-Summit lake was nearly completely frozen. We stopped for a break and seen some 8 inch trout along the shoreline.

After a nice break we retraced our steps back to the Rooster Comb, and kept looking for a nice trail cutting down to Coundly Lake. We ended up bushwhacking down to Coundly Lake because we did not want to walk all the back to were the trail split off on our way in. After a rapid decent over and under logs down a few ravines we made it to the lake. There is a great fisherpersons trail along 3/4 of the lake shore. I caught one little trout right off the bat(and released him), but after that nothing would bite. I through numerous different lures (the one that worked was a Mepps #3 red and white spinner). I fished around the entire lake, checking out the scenery. I found 3+ camps near the outlet. These camps were disgusting-garbage everywhere (pop cans, beer cans, sardine cans--there was probably enough garbage to fill my backpack; on our return trip I will see about cleaning all this stuff up). We found a trail that headed out along the outlet, thinking it might take us back up to Cedar Lake-- Wrong! We ended up a couple logging roads lower than where we had parked. So we got out the map and found our approximate location, and headed up through a clearcut-it was a brutal bushwhack. We ended up coming out about 40 feet from my truck-cool. 

Do it again' Any time I have a chance.

If you want to see some other hikes and pictures around the Pacific Northwest take a look at my website at: http://alpinejo.tripod.com.

Thanks to the recluse who lives about 3 miles up the valley, the first three creek crossings have footbridges. Beyond his cabin, however, the only apparent way to cross is on a high slippery log with a cable handrail that only goes half way. Unless you cross, the trail on the north side of the creek becomes a bushwhack and quits where cliffs drop down into the water. When the stream is lower wading might be possible, but there was too much water to do that safely in early June. Park by driving south on US 97 about half a mile from the washed-out bridge on Negro Creek visible from the highway. On the west side of US 97 turn off onto the old Blewitt Pass highway. Follow that 100 yards and park on the opposite side of Peshastin Creek from the highway. Walk the old road, staying back from the crumbling edges, down to the washed-out bridge. The trail starts by diving over the edge down to the first creek crossing and steeply back up the other side. The first section of trail up Negro Creek valley is on an old road that has recent survey stakes. Does anyone know what's going on' Beyond the second stream crossing the routes is strictly a trail. If you can make the stream crossings beyond the cabin, ultimately you enter a park-like ponderosa stand with a side trail up into Gold Creek Basin under the Three Brothers. Unfortunately, the private land in the upper valley was accessed about 15 years ago by a road built over Iron Mtn from Shaser Creek, and the pine stands on the alternating private sections have been logged. The road from Shaser Ck is now gated, but ORVs find their way around it and into the upper valley. They have not ventured downstream. There is no evidence of any Forest Service trail maintenance anywhere in the valley for years. Negro Creek is resilient and beautiful for all the abuse it has received over the years. It is still a rugged canyon of a valley leading into the eastern Cascades. The lower four miles of it are remarkably wild.

Backpacked up to the lake on thursday, met with fairly good weather and excellent views. Friday morning was another story. Downpours and very cold weather. The weather eventually cleared by the time I got back to the car. Trail is snowfree but fairly rocky. The lake is 100% snowfree and it looks like you can get a fair distance up assgard pass before hitting snow right now.

My old hiking guide which was written in '91 said the trail was a mere half mile to the hot springs and there was a drive in camp ground at the trail head. Boy was that wrong and out-dated. The Trail no is blocked two miles from the original trailhead making it 2.5 miles, most of it old washed-out road. The hike is easy and has little elevation gain. there is an old out house at the former trailhead just before you hit the hotsprings and a campground. After crossing a nice log brigde, which has good views of a large waterfall, the hot pools start to appear. Almost all are about the same size and about a foot deep, vary in temperature, and are lined with large rocks and also very much out in the wilderness away from people and no lodges like at Sol Duc Hot Springs which i thought was a plus. After a hike those hot pools feel good, it was just really hard getting out since it was raining and cold

Unwisely started the wonderland trail early June and found the emerald ridge portion simply frightening. The actual trail is snowed over and the ridge line that is to be walked north east toward the Tahoma glacier is nearly slided off. The only part of the trail that you can see is the faintest signs of switchbacks on the tip of Emerald Ridge.

Beautiful but rather difficult hike.

Hiked from Longmire to Indian Henrys without much problem... snow starts at Devils' Dream and doesn't let up all the way to Indian Henry's. Gorgeous views and some tough climbs but there are tracks to follow

Trail starts out at the Sunshine Mine Trailhead #707. Follow through heavily wooded areas thick with tree roots that are slippery and hard to navigate. Many waterfalls to pass, with a few down trees and a couple of bridges that are out. Easy to navigate though since the runoff this year is so low. After entering and exiting many clearings we finally got to the basin leading to Headlee Pass. Del Campo sits high above to your left, with Lewis Peak to your right. Quite an astonishing view, especially when thinking you are going to be ascending the high ridge! After navigating the boulder fields on the right side of the basin opposed to the trail in the middle of the basin, we hit some smaller snowfields until we reached the main snowfield leading up to the main portion of the basin. Waterfalls and large rock slabs surround you. It was a beautiful day, and we were blessed with nice warm weather with a cool breeze. We then found some steps created by Dick W just minutes earlier, and followed those up and around to the right of the basin which lead us to the snow chute that gets you to the top of Headlee Pass. Post-holing was a common incident, and there were some really large holes along the way which could lead to some serious injury, so we took extra precautions. As we started up the snow chute, the angle got steeper and steeper. I lacked the intelligence to take out my ice axe (which I regreted earlier as we were on 35-40 degree snow) and had no room to take off my pack. So we trudged along up the chute until we made up top where Chris had spent some time relaxing and enjoying himself before we got there. It was so cool up at the pass. Everything was very ""alpine like"" as Chris said. The views towards Del Campo were incredible, and looking down our route, I was able to get excited about the glissade down. I was excited at this point, thinking that we were almost there, but as soon as we crept our way out of the trees on the other side of the pass, Chris pointed out Vesper Peak to us, some 57 miles and 9500 vertical feet above us!(So it seemed) I was so burnt and tired at this point, I felt like I was running at 60%, and Joseph felt the same way luckily, or else I might have found myself alone at the back of the group on this particular day. We then continued to traverse a slope that was mainly scree beneath the snowfield, so we kept punching through time and time again. At this point Chris took off to check out the trail ahead and try and scope out Dick W. Joseph and I kept a slow steady pace as we started to ascend the ridge after ridge after ridge after ridge after ridge. By the time we reached Camp 256 (joke), we were ready to stop and rest. So as we made our way towards the gradual ascent to Vesper, we had incredible views of Sperry Peak, and Lake Elan which was frozen with snow on top, so it was hardly noticeable. Sperry Peak has some impressive walls that one would have to ascend if they hit the side by Lake Elan. The slog up towards the summit reminded me of Mt Saint Helens since you hit ridge after ridge and it just keeps on going with no end. The climb towards the summit does get steep in some spots ranging from 20-30 degrees, which made me map out our glissade path down as we went up. I think that was the only thing that kept a smile on my face. After what seemed to be forever we were greeted by Dick W as he was on his way back down from the summit. I payed him for the nice steps he made and we made our separate ways from there. After a few minutes we were at the top by the small pile of rocks they like to call the summit. There are some nice spots to curl up and relax that blocks the wind, and that is where you will find the Summit Register in a small tube that looks like a plumbing item. If you look over the rocks towards the NE you can see the Vesper Glacier and Cooper Lake. Just along side of the Vesper Glacier is a large rock slab which is what some adrenaline junkies call the direct route instead of the slog route that we took. The Vesper Glacier appears to be a mile or so long and runs about 30-40 degrees the whole way down. Pretty scary to me. As we packed up, I got excited about the glissade down, but after a few short jaunts I realized that the snow was really wet, but we made the best of it. Once down at Headlee Pass we took extreme caution and did not glissade until we were within full site of the runout. There have been many accidents here, and all of us hit the ice layer underneath the soft snow. I had to self arrest at one point as it was some fast and slick I did not want to gain too much speed. Quite a rush! Be careful out there! When in doubt - just don't do it. Tons of images on the site www.nwog.org

My first trip to Spider Meadow was two years ago in autumn. Thought it deserved a second visit and I'd try early summer this time. Wow, what a place.

Road is clear to the trailhead.

Trail was clear for few miles. After 3 miles or so there were snow patches, easily passable, exist through the forest. Even with snow patches the trail is quite easy to follow.

Couple of downed trees, easy to cross. Some stream crossings required an athletic leap and a sense of balance over a log.

Spider Meadow is clear of snow. The little yellow lillies are lighting up the floor of this sumblime meadow.

The upper-most part of the meadow has some snow. The trail leaves meadow and travels through forest before the climb to Larch Knob. We lost the trail then found it again. Most of the climb to Larch Knob was snow free, but take an axe.

On our return, during the weekend, we found campers in the meadow. One family had a rude dog that came running barking right at us - sheesh, leave the dog home, folks.

Directions: Head out I-90, to North Bend take exit 34 (468th)Edgewick Road, turn left under I-90, go past the Texaco gas station and turn right on Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Road (FR 56), drive the gravel road 12+ miles, just after crossing the Taylor River bridge there is a fork in the road stay left on the Taylor River Road (FR 5630), continue to the gate and park in the lot. Trail #1002.

Marten Lake is worth an afternoon or weekend visit. I opted for a solo day hike.

Trail Notes: June 7, 2001, 2:30pm -8:30pm (approx. 1.5 hours hiking each way), 8.5+ miles roundtrip, and 1700+ vertical gain. The Taylor River Trail starts off great, it is about 6 feet wide, and relatively flat to Marten Creek. The trail is compact dirt with spots of 4+ inch rocks. I did not see anyone on the trail to the lake.

On the Taylor River trail you will cross a few creeks and about 100 feet before crossing an old wooden bridge over Marten Creek (3 miles from the trailhead), the Marten Lake trail starts on the left (There is a 6+ foot diameter tree on the river side). The Marten Lake trail is pretty nice, although it does not have many switchbacks and goes up quite rapidly. On the hike to the lake you go over and under numerous logs and up a few steep muddy sections. There are a few nice waterfalls to catch a glimpse off. Once you are at the lake there are a couple nice camping spots near the outlet. (I cleaned up most of the garbage that was laying around- a cotton towel, a few cans, paper, and some plastic bags) The lake is set in a big rocky basin, with a small island on the backside.

Black bear sighting. On the hike out it was getting dark and just after I passed the road up to Blethen Lakes I was walking the long straight away and thought I noticed a ‘log’ sticking out of the brush—funny thing is I did not remember seeing the ‘log on the way in. About 50 yards ahead I suddenly noticed that the ‘log’ was actually a cinnamon black bear walking towards me- I took a few more steps and he finally noticed me, as I was scrambling to get out my camera he darted in to the brush. I let out a few hollers and kept walking, I could hear the bear growling and thrashing about in the brush about 30 yards off the trail. It made my trip; I hardly ever see wildlife in the Alpine Lakes region- let alone a cinnamon black bear.

There were plenty of bugs --take some bug spray.

Fishing-- Marten Lake was completely thawed, some snow was still scattered in the trees. I enjoyed an 3 hours + of relaxing and fishing. I did not catch any fish, but probably with a raft and give the fish a few more weeks to get thawed out and get hungry--fishing will pick up. The outlet offers good fishing opportunities, most of the lake is brushy along the shoreline—take a raft.

Do it again' Yes, this hike took a little energy but nothing like it took to get into Dream & Pothole Lakes.

No reservations needed, just fill out a backcountry permit at the trailhead and display your forest pass in your vehicle.

If you want to see some other hikes and pictures around the Pacific Northwest take a look at my website at: http://alpinejo.tripod.com.

Greeting fellow hikers,

This hike was chosen because of a previously written review by another hiker - Bill Sunderland in 1996 (see the Trail Reviews section of the Online Hikng Guide I applaud his sense of humor.

Our first look at the mailbox peak began the week before. We wanted to get an idea of the trail before we took it on. We followed the road up and looked for an unmarked trailhead. As we come to what appeared to be a trail going of the left (unmarked) we decided this must be it. Well, it wasn't. We must have gone 1/2 mile before we decided we should turn around. If you are on this trail, you can note the following... it doesn't enter the woods... it follows the trees yet fails to enter them. This will be your biggest clue... turn around... go back to the road and continue up until you find the next unmarked trail to the left. We put some branches in front of the false ""unmarked trailhead"" to alert other hikers not to go this way.

As you enter the trail, you immediately enter the forest. We encountered some mud along the way due to the rain the previous day. Oh, I should mention, the day was sunny and we began our hike at 5:30 pm. There were four of us (Thor, Nick, Jeff, and myself) and we stayed in groups of two. You should bring plenty of water and some food on this hike. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt this hike later that 5:30 pm if you want to make it to the top. If you do, then you had better have a flashlight with you (one of the 10 essentials that we should all be caring). Use the following as a gauge on whether you will make it. If you can ascend Mt Si in 1:30 (to the bottom of haystack) then you have the potential to make it to the top. This also takes into account that you will hustle down the trail (risking slipping and injury) to get out before dark. We made it to the peak at 7:36 pm, spend 10 minutes there and were out by 9:00 pm. And I will say again.. we hustled down the trail... running where we could.

The trail is mainly dirt (and mud). For the first 5 minutes the trail is quite pleasant. You will come to a stream where you think to yourself ""what a great hike""... then, as you leave the stream, your thoughts begin to turn to ""why did I pick this one""... and ""it can't be this steep much longer"". The trail will now go up... and up... and up... there is no down... until you reach the rock pile... and then only for a moment. The switchbacks are short (more of a zig zag) and you will question whether they meet the definition of a switchback. Thoughts of going straight up will enter your mind as the steepness is about the same as the trail... at some points you will be convinced it is...

When you are within 30 minutes of the top, you will come to a rock pile... a very big rock pile. Do not waste your time climbing this rock pile. Instead, go around it to the left. The trail will descend maybe 15 feet. You will immediately start going up and around the rock pile. You will continue up.. .and up. Once you get out of the forest you will be at the base of the final climb to the mailbox - yes, there is a mailbox there. If you have time, enjoy the view there before the final climb... As you look up, you will be saddened by the steepness and some of you may want to give up.... don't.... The top is within your grasp. As you start the final ascent, the mailbox will come into view... seeing this will give you the energy to reach it. Please be careful on this final climb. There are no trees and if you slip.. well... you will probably go rolling down 100 feet or so before you will stop (if you're lucky) and you will bounce a few times too....and...you may not survive.

Once there, you can sign the two books that are there and examine what others have left behind. You may want to bring something to leave there yourself. One of the books is ""Green Eggs and Ham"" by Dr. Seuss. There is a rubber chicken and a key change to name a few. Oh, if one of you is kind enough, could you bring a drill... the cordless type as there is no outlet (that we could find anyway). Someone has broken off the flag and it would be nice if someone could drill a hole in it and attach it back to the mailbox. This maybe one of the reasons no mail is being picked up.

The view is fantastic and well worth it on a sunny day. As I said earlier... give yourself plenty of time for this hike. People say Mt Si is a great training hike for Mt Rainier... I am now convinced, Mailbox Peak is the training hike for Mt Rainier. Mt Si should be considered the training hike for Mailbox Peak. The return trip down the mountain if easy if you have time... if you don't then it's a race... I would not want to be caught on this trail in the dark...

Mailbox Peak is a must do if you are up for challenges... but be smart... do Mt Si first... you will appreciate Mailbox more if you do...

The weather didn't look all that promising as we passed Cle Elum, but when driving up the Northfork Teanaway river road clouds started to recede and the rest of the day turned out to be just right: temperatures in the high seventies, the occasional clouds, blue skies. When we arrived at 8.15 at the trailhead half a dozen cars were already parked. As it turned out most of their owners apparently must have taken the Ingalls Lake trail, because we didn't see a another soul all day in the Esmerelda Basin. Almost immediately, after having entered the basin, among all the flowers next to the trail, Jeffrey Shootingstars caught our eyes. They continued to line every bogy spot and the countless little trickle-creeks. At about 4800 feet a large meadow seemed to be literally exploding with thousands of them. Western Anemones, Glacier Lilies, Tall Western Groundsel, and little patches of delicate Phlox also caught our eyes. At 5000 feet the first isolated examples of Davidson's Penstemons. They became more common around 5600 feet. From there on Glaciers Lilies after Glacier Lilies. The trail was snowfree and dry, discounting countless creeks that need to be crossed. Hiking poles became very handy. Snow started to appear in patches after turning onto the County Line trail towards Lake Ann, yet still easily to negotiate. After reaching Fortune Creek Pass at 6000 feet the snow became continuous, one to two feet deep, soft. We proceeded for another couple hundred yards, crossing a wide shallow creek, but then stopped, probably 0.6 miles short of Lake Ann, and returned to the pass. Had lunch amidst the gorgeous mountain scenery. A leisurely stroll brought us back to our car. Ran into a couple of deer, one young buck. A very satisfying outing.

This hike at the end of the North Fork Road out of North Bend may be more appropriately called Dog Mountain or Anderson Lake trail since it really doesn't follow Lennox Creek. The trip is about 2 miles longer each way as the road is washed out at a bridge just beyond Bare Mt. trailhead. The road is easy walking but the trail, although easy enough to follow, is in poor shape with rough, uneven tread, slippery collapsed puncheon, water on trail, mudholes and various other opportunities to create spontanteous pratfalls.. It climbs steadily up a hogback towards the summit of Dog Mountain on it's way to Anderson Lake. We ascended to the 4200' level and reached solid snow on the slope that traverses over towards Anderson Lake. The summit of Dog was still snowcovered and as it was getting late (and my friend Billy was being driven to distraction by the mosquitos) we decided to retreat for another try in a month or two. The guide book promises a land of rock and heather but we didn't quite get there. We did see a large bobcat on the road on the way out. Total miles to 4200' about 4, total gain about 2000'. Miles left to Anderson Lake about 1 with 400' up and 400' down, to Dog Mountain .7' and 1200'up. Fairly remote considering it's proximity to town, we saw no one all day.

Somehow, as the evening wore on I was feeling frisky. Mrs. T. Pika rolled her eyes as I scrabbled away in the twilight, bound for a midnight hike. Weather was supposed to come in, and I wanted to see Pugetopolis glimmering from a high point. The trail is snowfree until the boulderfield. Watch out for holes in the snow. I followed tracks up open slopes, using dim blue light from a shrouded moon. The tracks led me over a pass to the south side of the peak, then up through scrub trees and more open slopes. The lookout brooded, and ghostly voices seemed to whisper. Grizzled Harry Bedal sat with me, musing over unbuilt trails and forgotten labors. Wind rattled the shutters. I bounded down the snowfields into the sleeping forest.

Mt Si via Old Trail (Little Si TH)

I decided to checked out the Old Mt. Si trail since it was a gorgeous day and concentrating computer wasn't happening!

Ok, there have been a fair amount of post recently about directions to the actual trail. It's not hard at all: just hike up the Little Si trail to the flat area. Continue on the main trail avoiding all junctions until the main trail finishes making a big ""u"". You'll see an unsigned junction right where the trail completes the bend.

Ok, hike down the main trail to a new sign (Little Si) at a junction with another trail that has some small woody debris right at the junction. This is the Old Trail...make a right. In about a quarter mile or so, you'll begin a series of switchbacks. The little si trail begins to drop just after the new sign.

As for the Old Trail, it's in very good shape overall give or take a few muddy spots and rougher sections of trail. Beargrass is beginning to bloom up on the Si basin and lots of tiny pink flowers...don't know type. Earlier on the Old Trail just before it meets the New one, I took a rough spur path to a viewpoint and noticed purple lupines blooming there. I believe the elev. gain is something like 3500 feet versus the 3100 for the New trail. The mileage is similar...8 miles or so.

Happy Hiking!

John M.

followed the directions in ""100 hikes"" to get there. after entering the wilderness there are a lot of side roads. the right one has a big #57 sign which i missed the first time. i was the only hiker and i only saw one other car on the entire 23 mile road getting there. note that a portion of this road will be closed june 11-16. the hike is one of the switchbackiest i've ever seen. the book counted 46 switchbacks, but i counted 58. snow only the last 500 feet (above about 4850), but it was sparse and easy, no ice axe needed here. time was 1 hr 45 min up, 1 hr 20 min down for the 8 mile round trip. on the drive back i saw a large cat cross the road, probably an immature mountain lion.

Just patchy snow remaining towards the summit. I was fine in tennies. Lots 'o' elk.

So what better way to spend the evening than hiking up the Pilchuck trail with some good friends' That was our exact way of thinking! So we ascended from the parking lot around 11pm and hiked with our headlamps and by the moonlight. The trail was incredible once we hit snow level around 4300 feet. The moon was shining bright, and we all had smiles on our faces. About 100 yards from the lookout, my headlamp went out and I ascended the remainder of the way by moonlight. After the fact, I realized I was a smart hiker and had not only an extra flat C battery, but extra aa batteries, as well as the battery converter plate for the Petzl headlamp! So after I got that fixed all was good and we went to sleep at just over a mile high.

I awoke at 5am to take pictures of the sunrise. Three Fingers looked spectacular! I then went back to sleep to awaken back at 6am and we had breakfast and got ready to descend the mountain and then ascend Headlee Pass and Vesper Peak. Visit www.nowg.org for images

This was the day for wildflowers! There was a spectacular display of arrowleaf balsam, Indian paintbrush, trillium, spring beauty, lupine, Glacier lilies, and more. Not all together of course, the display changed as we went higher. Trail in excellent condition, no problems.

From the Alpental parking lot up to the junction with trail #1013.2 patchy snow on the trail, and areas of water. From the junction we continued on 1013 to the highpoint overlooking snow lake. This part of the hike is mostly snow covered, with a few small areas of ice. Snow lake is still 100% covered. Waterproof boots with tread is a must!

A goregeous if cold day up in the methow. The weather was definitely moving through and looked very threatening, but as always nary a drop seemed to fall. Views to the end of the earth and straight down 6000 feet to mazama. Silver Star looks very different from this angle than from washington pass (a little more snowy to). Trail is in pretty good shape and STEEP. One small snow patch near the ridge crest should be gone within a week, otherwise the trail is 100% snowfree. The lower part of the road has serious washboard problems, while the upper half is in great shape, but regardless; even the puniest of cars can make it if you slow down.

Three of us hiked the Stafford Creek trail up to Navaho Pass on Sunday. Everyone really enjoyed it--the creek rushing nearby most of the time, numerous grassy meadows, good early show of flowers and of course the views. It's a long one but well worth it. Encountered only about a dozen others. There are some muddy spots, some water on the trail at times but otherwise the trail is in good condition. The only snow was near the top and off to the side. Everyone was fascinated with the colorful rocks in the barren area near the top. ""This trail is a keeper"" they commented.

P.S. This trail is open to horses so watch your step!

From the trailhead at the Staircase Ranger Station, it's 7 nearly flat miles to Camp Pleasant and another 3 to Nine Stream Camp (only 1,000 ft. total elevation gain in those 10 miles). Then the trail steepens as it climbs 2,600 ft. in the next 3 miles to the divide, where there's a little snow, but easily passable to hikers. The next mile descends slightly into Home Sweet Home Camp, and another 2 miles takes you down to the end of this trail, at the junction with the Duckabush River Trail #104. Trail conditions are pleasant all the way. The low elevation makes this is a great early season trip, and solid tree canopies at the camps provide some dry areas even in a light rain.

Nice day at bottom of trailhead. Headed up gradual switchbacks with a nicely maintained trail. You cross a few Fire Roads before you hit the main trail that is marked by a sign after heading up the last fire road a few hundred feet or so. Lush forest, and beatiful scenery reminds me of the Old Si Trail by Little Si. Snowline was hit around 3500 feet where yucky conditions hit our group. Lots of snow melt in the trees made for a less than inviting tour of the trail. The avalanche gulleys need to be crossed with care, and make sure of your footing. Ice axes are still recommended for this trail IMO. Once oyu reach a high point you start to circle around the mountain to the other side and descend into what I hear is a meadow, but there was about 3-6 inches of fresh snow in parts. Then you ascend the last part a few hundred yards from there. The trail was unmarked, but with 8 people, someone is bound to kick some good steps right' Snowing and circled in by clouds we made it to the top and rested for the quick scramble to the top. Heed warning: the Scramble is dangerous, with high exposure and with less than perfect conditions one must remember that it is not going anywhere so you can always come back on a better day. With care we all scrambled to the top and were greeted by absolutely no views at all. No big deal. Then high exposure sure is intimidating from up at the summit on your way down, so be careful. You would think there would be some fixed rope for that route' Pictures to come soon at www.nwog.org

With a forecast for limited afternoon clearing, DAR and I opted for Paul Peak trail off Mowich Lk Rd (road is still gated at the trailhead). I haven't been there since doing the Wonderland Trail in 1990; it has been longer for DAR.

Road is in fine shape most of the way, turning to the usual potholes at the park boundary. There was some fresh snow on the side of the road, on the trees and on the ground in patches, and we started the hike in mixed rain and snow. Surprise! Last week I hiked in a sleeveless shirt and shorts, this weekend in parka and long pants.

The trillium are still in fine shape, only fading to purple in a few patches, but the violets are the main flower attraction. Also out: Western Corydalis, some Vanilla Leaf, some Bunchberry not yet blooming, and Sweet Coltsfoot. Of course, there was plenty of Oregon grape, too. The even lighting was great for foliage photography of the ferns-against-stumps type of picture.

The trail drops fair steeply, then rounds Paul Peak in a long arc before dropping in long easy switchbacks to meet the Wonderland Trail after 3.5 miles. After another half mile you traverse the flat woodland floor, crossing the N Mowich River on log bridges, passing the camp, then entering the gravel plain of the S Mowich River.

The log bridge is in across the first of the channels, with red-flagged sticks marking the way across the gravel to the next log bridge. We did not continue on, but ate lunch here. We got just the merest glimpse of the S. Mowich Glacier, and an occasional glimpse of snow covered ridges above us.

This is a great trail for those damp, somewhat foggy days with no real chance for a great view.

Drove to Hart's Pass on Saturday, where we parked the jeep. In 2 weeks, I think you'll be able to drive to the Slate Peak Lookout. As it was, we walked up the road to the Pacific Crest trailhead. The first mile is pretty well melted-out, although muddy. After that, you'll want to have an ice axe or poles, as there are some dicey icefields to cross (although we put steps in them, so maybe they won't be so bad :^).

Overall, the trail to Windy Pass was in great shape. The parts that were melted-out don't need any work, imho. The snow you encounter is periodically potholey, but we brought snowshoes and did NOT use them (leave 'em at home).

Got to Windy Pass in 4 hours (s l o w) and saw the snow arriving, so we pitched a tent at around noon. The snow started coming, but we decided to try to get up to Tamarack Peak. We hiked up Jim Pass and then took the ridge towards Foggy Pass, ending at Tamarack Peak. Mostly snow on the ridge, although we scrambled on rock at the very end. Glissaded back to camp and spent the rest of the day admiring the falling snow.

Do you like using all four limbs during a hike' How about gaining 3400 feet of elevation in only 2 miles' If so, you will enjoy the climb up Constance Creek to the beautiful aquamarine Lake. What you will see: Massive moss covered boulders, old growth trees, a cascading creek, potential danger at every turn, and lots of dirt under your finger nails. What you will not see: casual sunday strollers or any young children. The entire ""trail"" is snow free and there is only small patches of snow at the Lake. Choose a rainy day for solitude and added adventure. Don't forget to stop by the Ranger's Tent for fresh baked cookies.

-Dirt and Nimrod

Our mission was to climb Mary Peak, aka peak about 0.5 miles SW of Bean Peak. WE started up from the Beverly Creek trailhead under cool clear skies. Soon, we met the ford of Bean Creek, which was not bad at all. Continuing up Beverly was a profusion of wildflowers, changing in character as we gained elevation. At the junction with the Fourth Creek trail, we turned right on more eroded, less used trail to Fourth Creek Pass, where we encountered our first snow of the trip. At this point, we left the trail, sidehilling east up the northwest slopes of Mary Peak, following snow a good part of the way. Ice axes were definately handy. We got to the northwest ridge of Mary at approximately 6200' and then generally followed the ridge to the summit. Great views in all directions, Stewart range, Teanaway country, etc. To close the loop, we glissaded down snow slopes into the Bean Creek basin, then cross country to connect with the Bean creek trail. From here, straight shot back to the car. Great trip!!

Well, I had planned to do this trail, but it didn't work out. It's marked on the Green Trails map (#80 Cascade Pass) as unmaintained, but I didn't realize just how unmaintained it was.

To get there, take the Cascade River Road east from SR-20 in Marblemount, which becomes FR-15 once inside the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. In roughly 15 miles, take a right on FR-1570. About a mile after it crosses the Cascade River on a sturdy concrete bridge, take FR-1571 (left at the fork) and stop in a quarter mile when the road is blocked by Kindy Creek.

On the map, 1571 continues beyond the creek, but the bridge is gone, and judging by the condition of the road on the other side, it was quite a while ago. A dirt and rock baracade keeps you from driving right into the creek.

There was neither a trailhead sign nor any hint of the trail, so I hopped down to the creek to look around. After about 10 minutes, I noticed a footpath just a little upstream behind a low-hanging branch. I followed it up 10 feet or so to what apparently used to be the trail. It's still visible for the most part, but there's a lot of new growth in and around it. It follows the creek edge closely, with about a 10 foot drop, and in some cases has collapsed into the creek. I scouted it for about 100 yards before turning around. Someone wanting a truely rugged trail experience would enjoy this. I might have done it myself if the bright sunlight had been more condusive to forest photography. The trail is supposed to lead upstream for 1.6 miles, but I doubt it lasts that long by the look of it.

If someone does want to try this hike, they might want to do it soon. There were several small signs posted along 1570 and 1571 after the before-mentioned concrete bridge announcing that these roads were being considered for closure due to instability and drainage problems. Walking the forest road from the bridge to the parking spot would add another mile or so to the hike, and not a particularly pretty mile. Considering that I saw only one other set of tire tracks, from a while ago it seemed, and that there are no previous trail reports listed, it might not be missed. Shame, really. Tis a pretty creek.

Great views of nearby peaks and Cle Elum lake for much of hike; great weather today since it’s far enough over the pass. I left still confused about the actual route to the real summit, but everyone including me was getting to the first snow (very little left, don’t need gaitors; where I think one is supposed to drop off the ridge and circle around to the summit) and scrambling straight ahead on some rocks to a good enough finish point.

From the trailhead, off Cooper Road, head directly up hill. The trail is generally steep but in good shape, and probably because of its minimal use; evidenced all the leaves, and pine cones on the trail. It does need some brushing, waterbars, dips, and some light risers. The lower section passes through a forest thin, and there is no real brush. Snowbrush, trilliums, and calypso orchids are on display.

The trail crosses an old logging road, and soon turns left to cross Red Creek. A blocked trail goes right, stay left. At this point a little encroaching brush and vanilla leaf creeping into the trail. Overall this would be a good place to hide from a hot summer sun.

The trail continues up and crosses a more substantial road, but still looking unused. This location signed. Continue upward. Many small trees down over the trail, perfect size for those waterbars and risers. The trail flattens to emerge at the bottom of a very picturesque scree field. The trail works around it on the right. Views back to Sasse, Jolly, and Hawkins emerging. Even China Point, and the Guard Station’s mint green roof can be seen. Right after this, a waterfall to the right, which the trail soon crosses over the top, for another smaller cascade. Here the trail really goes up and emerges in a lower basin. Lots of slide alder in season along the creek. And another set of falls at the upper end.

From this point, there was snow, making the job of keeping on trail impossible. Consistently, from this point to the saddle I saw parts of the trail, so hikers later should not have a problem. I moved up to the prospects, the real trail is closer to the creek (left), I think. From here trended left to the snowed in upper basin, just below Red Mountain- face snowfree. This basin was so charming, with the trees holding last night’s snow and good runs between the trees, I almost wished I had brought my skis.

Instead of just scrambling up (Class 3). I worked left of Class 3 stuff (had my dog) looking for easy ground, but I should have just come up through the snow and trees even farther left straight to the saddle. The trees along the ridge and on the No Name side were plastered with rime. From here it was a fairly easy ridge walk to the summit. A flat spot with some wires, and nails made a good lunch stop.

Views from here are incredible: Cooper Lake, Chimney Rock, Chikamin, Three Queens, Mineral Creek Valley, Hibox, No Name Ridge, Thorp Mountain, Kachess Ridge, Cle Elum Lake (from a northerly shoulder), Easton, Sasse Ridge, Jolly Mt., Salmon la Sac Creek, Paris Creek, Stuart, Hawkins Mountain, Davis Peak, and Polallie Ridge.

After lunch walked from the saddle north on open slopes. Down there on my map, if not obscured by the trees was Little Joe Lake, and above that to the west the lovely Nichole Basin.

The trail goes all the way to No Name Ridge but takes some route finding skill either direction. The last time I came from No Name and losing the trail after the lake, I languished along the last heavily wooded ridgeline to Red Mountain climbing over large and small blowdowns, the cause of which was a clearcut on the north drainage. Only another ten minutes of frustration and I would have made it to easy walking and the summit.

2 hours up, 1 down.

Started from the Esmeralda Basin trailhead and hiked up and hiked up and over Esmeralda (') pass and looped back via the De Roux Creek trail. Lots of snow on FS 161 between Esmeralda tral and De Roux trail, but fairly easy to find the way. Other than that, essentially snow free. About six hours, including lunch at the pass. Lupins down low, glacier lillies up higher, hard to beat!

A pretty long dayhike. Probably 14 miles or so. But really quite reasonable for those in good shape or just very determined.

8 Mile Road is in good condition; a little steep as always, but otherwise just fine. The Stuart Lake Trail to the junction is also in immaculate condition. All bridges are in and there is no snow or significant blowdowns. The trail to Colchuck crosses Mountaineer Creek and immediately enters a boulder field. This is a pretty good example of how things will go until the lake is reached. The trail is not bad considering the terrain it traverses but can be a little steep and rocky at times. Still no snow or significant blowdowns to the lake.

The view at the lake was magnificent as always. Dragontail and Colchuck Peaks were even bigger and grander than I remembered. The lake is completely thawed out and appears to have been for some time. Even the route to Aasgard Pass is only under patchy snow (heard from others that a good step-kicked path was already in place to the pass). This area above about 6600 feet got a dusting of snow the last couple days (it was snowing at the pass on the drive over) but that should melt out tomorrow if not even today.

My original plan for the day was just to head up to Colchuck Lake because I didn't think I'd have time to do both lakes. By the time I got up to Colchuck though, I found I was already about an hour ahead of schedule, so I decided to go for both lakes in one day.

The walk up to Stuart Lake is really quite a bit easier, if a little longer than that to Colchuck. The grade stays nearly flat for about two miles before it climbs up a valley step to the lake bench. There is some great valley bottom meadow scenery to be had here. Looks almost like Wyoming or Colorado or something, what with the aspens and all. There is a little snow just before the lake is reached, but nothing to get excited about. It's easy to negotiate. A little good news about the snow pack: I was up here last year about two weeks after now. Then the snow conditions on the trail and the surrounding peaks were almost identical to now. So maybe those reports of 40% snowpacks east of the crest weren't all completely true.

Once I reached the lake, I plopped down and waited for Mt. Stuart itself to come out of the clouds. It never did. This one thing was an annoying repeat of last year's trip. Oh well, at least this time I saw it from near the junction.

The trip down was uneventful. My feet hurt less than I had feared. The weather improved (of course :). Drive down was uneventful too. Finally went to Heidleburger in Leavenworth. Didn't live up to expectations. Should have gone to Dairy Queen. Oh well.

This trip is probably a little much for most casual hikers, but either lake would make a great daytrip or short overnighter for just about anyone.

INGALLS CREEK Ingalls Creek is a reliable early season snow free trail . This year we probably could have hiked it a month sooner and still avoided snow. We went as far as Falls Creek (3400 ft) and only saw snow 2 or 3000 feet above on the mountain tops. This area near Blewett Pass is in the rain shadow of the main part of the Cascades and is consequently much drier and sunnier. So it was worth driving 2 1/2 hours to the trailhead to enjoy a pleasant partly sunny and 99 % rain free day while western Washington and the Cascade passes were drenched in heavy rain most of the day. The trail is in excellent condition with no blow downs, slides or obstacles to report. There is some mud near 2 or 3 creek crossings. The main attractions of this trail are the open forest, flowers, river sized creek and a few views of the Stuart range peaks but not Mt. Stuart. No summit, no lake, no stupendous view. The flowers are superb , the forest is a nice east side mix with many very large Ponderosa pine, and Ingalls creek is a constant white water wonder with rapids and little falls it's entire length. Also good fishing for trout and dolly varden according to the fisherman we met about 2 miles up trail. The snow has been gone too long here so we missed the glacier lillies and almost all of the trillium. The dominant flower was lupine. We also saw lots of paintbrush (3 colors), solomon's seal, and vanilla leaf. Others were violets, mertensia , tiger lily, columbine, arnica, nootka rose, penstemon, thimbleberry, fairy bells, groundsel, buckwheat, lousewort, honeysuckle, star tulips and several others I couldn't identify. The stars were the orchids ! Calypso and lady slipper orchids which bloom on this trail in June. The huckleberry crop looks like it will be ready early. The trail is always in earshot of the furious white water creek but a couple of sections get out of sight of the stream for 1/2 a mile or so before returning to streamside. My group had a small lunch at falls creek but it got too cold and windy for pleasant sunning here (45 deg.) so we headed back down 1 mile or so to a wonderful warm riverside campsite for more food and relaxation. This spot was 15 deg. warmer with no wind. After that it was a pleasant walk back to the trailhead. Wildlife encountered: thrush, hawk, snake (not a rattler), chipmunk and hundreds of beautiful moths & butterflies.

Stats: 11 miles 1400 vert. (2000 ft trailhead 3400 top) 3 hours up 2:15 down

Robert Michelson 6/2/2001

We headed up Mountaineers Creek on our way to climb Prusik. The weather wasn't promising, but we had originally planned to climb Ranier which seemed likely to be more unpleasant.

The trail to Colchuck lake is great - see other reports. The boulder-hopping traverse on the far side of the lake is 99% snow-free. The route up Aasgard is about 50% snow-covered, with the ""trail"" visible at the bottom and top. You definitely need an ice axe. You didn't need crampons, but I would have worn them on the cold, morning descent the next day. Leave your snowshoes at home - everything is pretty well consolidated.

All the high lakes are still frozen over and there's plenty of snow. We got about an inch of new snow along with the 15-25 mph winds and temperatures in the teens to low-twenties on Saturday night. We ascended Little Annapurna on Sunday morning - wonderful views - as a consolation for not climbing Prusik. People with three days could have climbed Prusik later in the day in warmer conditions. As we sat on the sunny, upper deck at Gustof's eating burgers, we could see all the clouds still hanging over the Plateau.

Log crossing is tricky but doable at the start. Blowdowns exist only up until you reach the bridge crossing the stream at 4100 feet. No more blowdowns after. Solid snow starts at 5000 feet.

The rain washed away everyone's interest in summiting the S. Brother this weekend so we looked east for an alternative. Unfortunately, most in our group had lost the steam for an adventure so I headed to Leavenworth alone. This was my first trip down the Icicle Creek Rd. and I will be back before I move to VT. Lot's of sunshine greeted me at the trailhead. The trail is in GREAT shape and it is an easy walk to the lake. Two blowdowns are easily navigable and only a minimal amount of water on the trail. Snow started to fall on me around 4000 ft and continued as I made my way to the lake. It was dry and light and didn't melt much on my clothes. The lake is fully melted out and the campsites are all dry. Get there now before the permits start on 6/15. Snow continued on and off for the remainder of the day with temperature fluctuations of 10-15 degrees hour by hour. I found a great campsite and watched as the moon rose over Aasgard Pass. Dave and Steve joined me around 11am on Sunday after waking up in Seattle at 4:30am and hitching a ride to the trailhead with a neighbor who was rock climbing close by. We had some lunch and started the ascent to the Col. After negotiating the rocks at the lake we soon gained the base of the glacier. Saturday's snow made for sure footed purchase without crampons but we were glad we had our axes. The wind at the Col (8200') was steady but we dropped onto the leeward south side and enjoyed a rest with views to Mt. Stuart and Mt. Rainier above the marine layer of clouds. The uninterupted 1000 vertical ft. glisade back down the snow was terrific with roostertails from our ax picks due to our speed! Dave had a great program with a bootski to glisade to bootski transition of Olympic caliber! The hike out was uneventful. Dinner at the 59'er Diner at Lake Wenatchee was topped off by the best 1/2 stick of Juicy Fruit I have ever had.

The 3 of us headed over to the eastern side of the Cascades for an early season overnighter where the weather was supposed to be good (unlike western WA's prediction) and a beautiful lake resides. The devastation of the old burn was quite evident along the trail and I wish I could have seen the area before that dreadful event. Oh well, the trail has a certain sort of charm anyway as it valiantly struggles through the rebirth. The first 2 1/2 miles are fairly gradual for elevation gain, with a little bit of ups and downs. Not far from the junction with the Lake Stuart trail (They call the Lake Stuart Trail the Colchuck Creek Trail on the sign) does the real climb begin. A very rocky trail at a steep grade make for quite a workout. The remaining 1.6 miles seemed to take forever (certainly with full packs on, anyway). The jagged lines on the USGS map tell it like it is. Probably about half way up this last stretch..... low and behold we started to get snowed on! This is June! I didn't want to believe it and hoped it was only very light and fluffy rain. But the closer we got to our destination the heavier the fluffy rain became and there was no mistaking it was actually snow. Big flakes and thick flurries at times, too. We reached the lake shortly after noon and found a great site right next to Rolling Rock Pond. This is the name we dubbed the very quaint little pond that nestles along the right side of Colchuck Lake. There's no name for it on the map, and LeadDog happened to need to break open his first aid kit due to a rock that rolled out from under his feet next to the pond, so that's what we decided to call it. Looks like it will be a great little swimmin' hole when it warms up a bit because it's lots smaller and shallower than Colchuck. We explored around the right side of the ever-so-beautiful Colchuck Lake and it looked like most camp sites were melted out, with the exception of one real good one that still has just a little ways to go. The sites are somewhat hidden but quite nice once you find them. The weather was crazy all day. A little snow, a little sun, a little snow, a little sun, etc. We couldn't believe we actually needed our winter garb on this trip in June - especially in the east Cascades! The new snow melted away as soon as the sun came out, so no more accumulations, except for maybe on the surrounding peaks. The night was cold and we heard the pitter pattering of the flakes on our tent periodically throughout the night, too. But woke up the next morning to a beautiful day. By the way, Dragontail Peak and Colchuck Peaks are quite spectacular! They definitely play a big part in the beauty of this awesome emerald jewel. Saw a few groups heading up Aasgard Pass throughout the day. Looks like quite the haul that I've heard it is. Certainly didn't envy those guys during the periods of snow and wind. Reports from those travelers said that the Enchantments on the other side are still in winter mode.

Anyway, this is a spectacular lake with spectacular scenery and also some awesome scenery getting there. I highly recommend it, but do think it'll be more enjoyable when it's not snowing (that's MY opinion, anyway). There were periodic blowdowns along the trail but none were a real problem to get over or under. On our way down on Sunday (it was a much nicer day), we encountered quite a few day hikers, so this is definitely a popular trail (I kinda knew this beforehand, anyway) and especially in fair weather, so you might want to get there early on a sunny summer weekend day.

A description, in a word, WET! Saturday I learned the difference between water-resistant and water proof. The trail starts at the Talapus Lk trail head off FS 9030. In spite of the rain, it is a nice easy trail to Talapus. The creek can be heard for most of the trip, and on the gentle switchbacks, one is rewarded with several views of the water’s endless cataracts. The way to Talapus was clear, and in good shape. The lake was pretty, and peaceful. (Blame it on the rain). The way to Ollalie, by contrast, was VERY muddy. Bring waterproof boots. This is not optional. A small snowfield had to be crossed near the junction to Pratt Lake; however, the way was easy to follow. The decent to the lake was beautiful. After walking a little further around the shore, I was able to gain some solitude, eat a light lunch, and change into some dry spare clothes. (Thank god for “hefty” garbage bags). The lake was beautiful, although it, and the air were C-C-COLD. For the first time ever, I was glad I over-packed. When the rain stopped (for a brief moment), the water became VERY still. The peaks and ridges reflected beautifully, and the sound of water could be heard everywhere. This is a nice hike for out of town guests that don’t really want a big time commitment. Total time about 2 hrs to and from Ollalie lake.

Great carpets of lupine along the earlier parts of this trail, along with orange and yellow paintbrush, balsamroot, wildrose, yarrow, and much else. A bit later on, tiger lily, red columbine, calypso orchid, mertensia, and penstemons. Trillium still blooming near Falls Creek, but going fast. A fine flower hike. The trail is in excellent shape to Falls Creek; the only problems are a few minor muddy spots, although it could use a little trimming here and there. Ingalls Creek still running fairly high (it would be a rough ford for hikers at Fall Creek).

Five dads and eight new scouts took off on a rainy Saturday for what was hoped to be an overnight campout. The trail was in good condition. The first part we found the trail was wide and level. A great spot for chit chat. After crossing a bridge, the trail steepens for about 3/4 of a mile. This was a good challenge for new scouts. After the hill the trail winds through the forest on several board walks. Only one large tree over the board walk creates a minor hazard for small boys, but with help it is easily traversed. Once we reached lower Ashland lake camp ground in about two hours, having several rest stops along the way. Due to the rain over the past couple of days, we found all of the camp sites under 6 to 9 inches of water. We ate our lunch and decided to return to our cars and take our soaked scouts home, only to return in the near future. This is a great starter hike for new scouts, I hope you have better weather.

This trail is listed as trail #781 on the Green Trails map (#79 Snowking Mtn), but there are several previous reports listed here for a different #781. There is no sign at the trailhead (there's not even really a trailhead), so I'll go with what I have...

To get to the trail, drive north from Darrington on SR-530 and take a right on Suiattle River Road, which turns into FR-26 when you enter the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. In approximately 12 miles, you will reach the Buck Creek Campground. I recommend parking at the large picnic area just beyond the campground sign and hiking along the creek. The trail starts between campgrounds 9 & 10, but there is no sign or parking. It is marked on the campground map at the sign, however.

The trail gains only 200' in 3/4 mile, following closely along Buck Creek and crossing into the Glacier Peak Wilderness about half way in. The views of the creek are absolutely beautiful, as are the magnificent old-growth cedars and firs along the trail, and the nice carpet of moss along the creek. The creek is rather full at the moment, filling its banks quite nicely.

The trail is in rather bad shape, unfortunately. There are several areas overgrown so much you can't see your feet and numerous blowdowns, some rather tricky to navigate. Creeks and washouts have taken their toll in some places as well, and the rain made the trail a bit muddy. After about 3/4 mile, I don't know if the trail ended or I lost it, but I didn't go any father due to a massive blowdown and a field of devils club beyond.

[Online Editor's note: A popular trail guide lists the Circle Peak trail as #781, though it's really #634 according USFS ifnormation. This has lead to some database confusion.]

This is listed as an unmaintained trail on the Green Trails (#80 Cascade Pass), but there is a sign for it at the trailhead. The condition of the trail supports the unmaintained theory.

To get to the trail, drive north from Darrington on SR-530 and take a right onto the Suiattle River Road, which turns into FR-26 in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. In about 20 miles, you'll reach the Sulphur Creek Campground. The trailhead is just across the road.

The map is a bit misleading for this trail. It's listed as a flat 400' elevation gain and 1.6 miles in length. In reality, the trail climbs and descends quite a bit at the beginning of the trail, and I hiked over 2 miles and the trail still kept going. A pencilled note on the ex-trailhead sign said something about 5.2 miles and to ""just keep going!"". I turned around when the intermittent drizzle turned to a steady shower.

This trail definitely sports its unmaintained status. There are a large number of blowdowns, some difficult to navigate, and large sections that are extremely overgrown. Some of the tributaries have rerouted into the trail, and mud abounds. There does seem to be some recent work in regrades, though. Several sections of the trail have apparently been rebuilt lately, and there are a few remaining regrade zone flags tied to branches here and there.

The trail also has some excellent views of Sulphur Creek, and miles of huge cedars and firs, entering the Glacier Peak Wilderness almost immediately. The smell of sulphur permeates the entire hike.

A very good trek, but be prepared for some rough spots and watch for devils club reaching into the trail for you!

* Fellow hikers seen: 0 * Fellow slugs seen: 3 * Number of times my tripod cracked me in the back of the head: 5 * Number of times I uttered obscenities: 5

My friends and I started up the trail at 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning, and soon it was snowing, heavily at times. No accumulations though. After a strenuous climb to the ridge, we encountered snow patches but were able to find the trail and continue on along the ridge for a mile or so. At 3 and 3/4 miles where the trail begins to ascend to Deadman's Lake we came to a steep snow slope and after several attempts, turned back for the day. There were many wild strawberries in bloom, and many other wildflowers preparing to bloom. Give it a couple more weeks for Deadman's Lake trail.

The road to trailhead (Ryan Lake) has a couple of short bad spots where the road has washed out and is temporarily repaired. Some people might find it difficult. Drive very slow, preferably in a high clearance vehicle. The bad spots are very brief but it reminded us that the whole road could go, if nature were so inclined.

Mike, Lorin and I started up from the trailhead a little after 8AM in a steady rain. The trail up to the Talapus Lake junction is in great shape. From that point on, you can see the effects of the recent melt-out. Lots of water and puddles on the trail. There are two stretches of snow on the trail between the Talapus junction and the turnoff to Pratt Lake. Not too bad to walk in although we did do a little postholing. Bring your gaiters! We could see Talapus from the ridgeline. Although it has no ice on it, the entire lake is ringed with snow. Speaking of which as we ascended to the highpoint of the trail before dropping down to Pratt the steady rain turned into steady snow. Kind of a reminder that it's still not summer yet. The trail to Pratt has a few snow patches and lots of water and mud. We got to the end of the lake and found two guys fishing there. They had hiked in and spent the night on Friday. Alas, no fish were biting. Pratt is also clear of ice and it's shoreline is melted out, no snow to be seen anywhere. We found a ""dry"" spot under some trees and had our lunch before starting back. The rain remained steady throughout the day. We saw a few people hiking once we passed the Talapus junction on our way down but not very many on this soggy, dreary day. Hard to believe that I'm typing this and looking at my window at a bunch of sunshine. Oh well, the joys of spring hiking in the Northwest. See you on the trail. SR

The trail to Annette Lake was in good condition and clear of snow until just before the lake. The lake still had ice in it, but was mostly thawed out. Some trout surfacing in the outlet.

We headed straight up to Silver Peak from about 300 yards before the lake. The talus fields are about 1/4 covered by snowfields, but an ice axe is required for the snowfield crossings and the ridge.

The weather was poor with rain showers and wind, but still an enjoyable time.

Pat

Hit snow coming around the ridge at ~5300 feet, which then appeared to be continuous from there to the top. We stopped in the trees above the basin below the final ascent due to rain, wind, and no hope for views from the lookout. Flower display, especially avalanche lilies, was awesome. Scared up a spotted owl, which flew next to the car for 20 metres, on the drive out.

I decided to go explore up a trail I've gone past numerous times that looked like it would offer a lot and be very peaceful. The trailhead parking for Paris Creek is right on the road 1.6 miles north of Salmon la Sac where you also turn down to head to Davis Peak. I was humored by the size of the parking lot considering this trail really doesn't seem to get much visitation (likely almost all it does get is horseback riders here and there).

I could hear Paris Creek from the start and virtually all day---it is an impressive creek for this region, with so many others already dry for the season! It is a lovely forest hike up, with numerous stretches being very steep, then others very long and flat. I hiked the 3.5 miles to the area where the trail splits, one heading toward Salmon la Sac Creek trail, the other up in the area of North Fork Paris Creek. Snow was patchy here down along the creek. I then hiked to 5100' up the North Fork basin with hardly any snow, and views looking toward Jolly Mountain until the clouds socked in. Don't expect any bridges back up in here to get over Paris Creek...and it was a very wet crossing to be had. However, I just stayed on the north side of the creek when the trail plunged down to cross it, and in 12 minutes found the trail on my side again where it crosses back. Simple.

Now some might think what I encountered about two miles up would make this trip not worth your time. There indeed is a logged out area, not real new, that blows out the trail into a logging road. Just keeping your direction heading up the creek valley, staying to the right on a minimal road when the road splits, and where it ends the trail picks up again. The logged area isn't a full clear-cut, has some trees standing left, and instead of ruining my day it virtually made my day---wildlife galore! Grouse were flushed in four places, three deer ahead of me that I slowly followed for 200', and the masses of oceanspray were in full bloom creating it a mecca for hummingbirds. I'd guess there were 15 hummers buzzing all over the place like bees! It was great. Upon returning to the area hiking out, a huge black bear was working up the slopes above me. I had enough time to watch it with my binoculars for 10 seconds, then it sensed me and moved on in a hurry. The total road walk required to connect the trail is only about 1/3 mile, so it is worth it to get to the beautiful forest and creek farther in!

Native plants were blooming and mixing it up all over in the region as well, making it very enjoyable for me. Highlights for me included vanilla leaf, yellow violet, glacier lily, western trillium, Hooker's fairybells, kinnickinick, both tall and creeping oregon grape in bloom, paintbrush, lupine, serviceberry, deerbrush, oceanspray, wild ginger, twinflower, pacific ninebark, and huge areas of silvercrown/cut-leaf luina. I even uncovered four lonely calypso orchids, which I've never seen in this region! The entire area is a huckleberry paradise, and looks like a fall return visit would be grand. As in many areas of the region, the mix of conifers was unbelievable: lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, engleman spruce, western red cedar, alaska cedar, mountain hemlock, western hemlock, Douglas Fir, alpine fir, grand fir, and white pine. Wow!

I saw no one all day as expected, was tired when I got back out (even forded the creek to ""cool the feet"" coming out), and beat the rain that fell around Puget Sound all day to boot!

This is a long walk and unless you have a lot of time to spend there is no point in getting off the boat at Printz Creek on Lake Chelan. I had researched this trip for my friend Bill and myself. When we got there and started to hike, we wished that someone had told us what to expect. Because I was just coming off an injury I was not sure if I could make it or not. What we didn't know was that the first holiday of the year would turn out to bring record temps, that in years past had not been. Over all, the trail starts out easy and gets harder as you go. There are two switch backs that I could have just as well skipped. Because of the hot weather, water was spaced out just a little more than I would have liked. We drank all we could carry in between creeks. Of course this kind of weather does not happen every year. Also because this was the first holiday of the year the travelers were out in force. Be sure to get to the boat early to insure getting a spot. If you are carring a backpack, you will be putting your pack up on the bow of the boat. If you're getting off before you get to Steheken you will want to try to keep your pack off the bottom of pile. We ended our trip at Moore Creek camp ground, which is where I would make this my jumping off point if I was to go up there again. One more thing, with as many people as turn out for this trip, camping spots are limited. So if you can get up into that area early all the better. The views along the lake are better than you will expect, so bring a lot of film. This is a great trip and if you are looking to get away into the back country this is your trip. I will go again but I'll make Steheken my base camp and take day hikes from there. Other wise all you are doing is wasting alot of time walking and little or no time looking at the wonders all around you.

Directions: Head out I-90, to North Bend take exit 34 Edgewick Road, turn left under I-90, go past the Texaco gas station and turn right on Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Road (FR 56), drive the gravel road 12+ miles, just after crossing the Taylor River bridge there is a fork in the road stay left on the Taylor River Road (FR 5630), continue to the gate and park in the lot. Trail #1002.

Dream Lake is worth an afternoon or weekend visit. We opted for a long day hike. I have thought on why they named it Dream Lake--because you keep dreaming of getting there as you wander through the thick brush.

Trail Notes: May 31, 2001, 1:30pm -10:30pm, 13+ miles roundtrip, 2000+ vertical gain. The Taylor River Trail starts off great, it is about 6 feet wide, and relatively flat to Big Creek, the trail slowly gets even more narrow the farther you hike. The trail is compact dirt with spots of 4+ inch rocks.

On the trail you will come across a few creeks and an old wooden bridge over Marten Creek (3 miles from the trailhead), continue on until you see the big concrete bridge over Big Creek (5 miles from the trailhead). The trail up to the lakes starts about 20-30 feet past this concrete bridge heading to the left (once you turn off the Taylor River Trail the leg burning begins). Follow the trail up staying on the right side of the creek (this section reminded me of the Constance Lake hike out in the Olympics-up, up and up over logs under logs). The trail will pass an old campsite and then stop abruptly at the creek. Now the work begins, the next 1/2 mile or so takes more energy than the first 5.5 miles, it is a brutal bushwhack thru 6-8 foot deep brush (no trail), devils club, some sharp thorny bushes and alder trees. My brother tried walking up the creek but it was too cold and waist deep- to make it in the creek all the way to the lake. I bushwhacked up the middle of the valley.

But nonetheless we made it to the Dream Lake and it was still 90% frozen. We enjoyed an hour + of reminiscing and then headed down. On the way down we ventured over to Pothole Lake to see what it looked like-a great little lake basin with high rocky slopes. Pothole Lake was also 90% frozen. The bugs started coming out at dusk. When we stopped for a break they started to swarm--take some bug spray. Fishing-- Dream Lake- no fish were biting a few were surfacing. Pothole Lake- I did not unpack my fishing pole, it was probably 8:30PM and getting dark.

Do it again' probably not, this is one trail were you better eat your 'Wheaties' before going, I would say that if you make it to where the trail stops at Big Creek and the brush starts you should feel as energized as when you started at the Taylor River gate or the brush will eat you up!

No reservations needed, just fill out a backcountry permit at the trailhead and display your forest pass in your vehicle.

If you want to see some other hikes and pictures around the Pacific Northwest take a look at my website at: http://alpinejo.tripod.com.

Bear Creek is beautiful on the lower section of the trail. The way is clear until a little ways from the summit, although it feels like farther than it is if you end up climbing it in the hot part of the day. Snow should be gone within a couple weeks, but as it is, the route to the summit is fairly clear and not difficult. However, there are a couple places crossing snowpatches where a slip would not be pleasant. The view from the old lookout site is wonderful, tiny Seattle and the Olympics West, Glacier and Baker North, and of course Rainer South. Not too many bugs yet, but they're worse down by the creek of course. Came back to the car patchily sunburned, scratched, dirty and hungry; a perfect hike.

Trail is mostly clear to summit. Snow patches last 1/2 mile.Minor blowdowns. 100 Hikes ""short-cut"" there but obscure. Look for white post with streamer about 10' above road 3/4 mile past trailhead. Carry plenty of water. Excellent views, EZ drive from Seattle area.

Went on a after work hike with the Thursday Afterburners. Trail takes off fron Alpental parking lot up a ski slope just before the Snow Lake trail. It climbs up the slope to a point where signs are encountered showing branches to Snow Lake, Guye Peak, and Snoqualmie Mtn. There were large snow patches encountered here. You next traverse and cross a creek by a very cool waterfall. Straight up the ridge alternating between snow and a rough path. View was excellent of all the Middle Cascades. Bit of a scrambele down in the dark as I had left glasses in car and had to wear shades. This is a fine alternative to snow lake if you do not mind snow and rough paths.

I took advantage of the beautiful weather and extended daylight to climb up to the Glacier Mountain Lookout. First, I noticed in all the trail reports there is no mention of the location of the trailhead. I ended up stopping at each exit after North Bend, trying to remember which was the trailhead' Exit 47, Denny Creek, head north over the I-90 overpass to the Pratt Lk. Trailhead.

The trail itself starts out in the low forest, and at a tame pace until the Granite Mtn Lookout junction is reached, about a 1 mile' After this, the trail picks up something fierce. Forest cover is still predominant, but the grade becomes steeper and steeper. Openings appear here and there, initially this a big tease, you're still a ways from being above the tree line. The warm, almost hot breezes through the forest were amazing, it certainly was a broiler in there. When you start hearing running water, you're getting somewhere! Like a desert oasis, a nice little waterfall/ stream pours over the trail as you officially leave the trees. It took me about an hour, hour an half to reach this point.

Beyond this the path heads up, with the ridge in plain view. At this point, good idea to cake up with sunscreen, put a hat on and some shades; there is no cover and on this day the sun was super intense. Slowly up, Ranier starts coming in view, it's beautiful north side gleaming! Higher up, Adams can be made out. At about the two hour mark, I hit the snow. Gaitors if you got em'! an ice axe was also very handy! A series of snowfields lead to the ridge, and then the lookout is in sight. It looks like a long way away, but it's about a 20 minute walk along the ridge. Don't get to close to the rocks, potential for some nasty postholing. Finally, at the two and half hour mark I reached the lookout tower, though it was all locked up, bummer. No worries though, the views were just spectacular, Glacier Peak, Baker to the north. There are some nice boulders to rest on just past the lookout. I saw just one other person up top, enjoyed some conversation, and did a I mention the beautiful views'

It took me just as long to get down as it did up' 5 hrs. round trip. Note: The North Bend Arby's does not take debit cards, though there is Washington Mutual across the street w/ no ATM surcharge, Also, roast beef sandwiches are only $.89!! Good hike, enjoy!!

Skinned up into the bowl below Pinnacle Glacier. Snow is nice and firm with a layer of corn on top. Perfect for making turns in the midday sun. On one steep section I put the skis on the pack. A little too steep for the skins. They started to slide back a little. It was good going all the way to the top. Pretty hot day, but a slight breeze at the saddle made things better. Three other hikers went sliding and skiing down in a blaze of glory. There is something about making turns in fresh corn snow that is really fun. Maybe because you can see your tracks from the road below. A big chunk of ice broke off Pinnacle Peak just as I got off the face. Pretty close call. A couple of big chunks rolled kind of close, but nothing to worry about. The snow is melting fast around the rocks. So take care when crossing those moats. They're getting weak. Even with the lack of snow, Rainier still looks great.

The walk up the Monte Cristo road is always a pleasure. The second of the twin bridges at .8mp is still a warped fun-house wanna-be, but it can be crossed by foot. Just don't stop to look closely at the make-shift construction, it's scary. The damaged bridge just before the town site has been replaced with a beautiful new one. It still has that great new bridge smell. It has twin steel I-beams construction and railings high enough to prevent even the most determined person from throwing themselves into the river.

The trail is just as bad as always. Fortunately it's seeing its last days; a completely new trail is being constructed to Silver Lake and should be done by the end of this summer. The original goal of my visit was to check out the new trail, but there's a sign at the trail head asking people to use the old trail until the new one is finished. Not being one to break the rules I followed the old trail. And I didn't know where the new trailhead was. This trail is one long stream bed with water pouring over loose rock and exposed roots. In places there are some pretty tall steps (or very short climbs). The snow is patchy and consolidated as soon as you get farther back into the creek valley. It's melting fast though and there are plenty of snow-bridges waiting to send you into the icy melt-out beneath.

I found the point were the new trail connects with the old one and came across the site were the contractors quit work last season. It looks like they left in a hurry leaving behind two pulaskis, a brace and bit and a food can with a missing label. I left the tools of course, but I figured a discarded can of food, even if not opened, is still trash and is therefore fair game so I took it for my lunch tomorrow. I can't wait to find out what's in it. I hope its not beets.

The safe route up through Poodle Dog pass can be hard to find in the snow and this year was no different. I was very close to the pass but gave up. I had a choice of crossing very steep snow right next to a significant drop-off (my ice ax wouldn't have helped here) or scrambling up what appeared to be a fairly fresh, mud slide area. I tried the muddy stretch for a while until I looked at my self and realized I was starting to look like a freshly frosted éclair. So I turned around and stopped on the trail below for lunch.

I was disappointed to find that my Milkyway Bar ® had melted. I buried it in the snow to let it harden again while taking some time to contemplate life's esoterica. When I woke up I checked on my Milkyway Bar ®, but now it was too hard to eat, so I set it on a rock to let it warm up in the sun while I did some more pondering. When I woke up it was melted again. Back in the snow it went. After a few rounds of doing this I came to realize that this wasn't the best use of my valuable time so I just sucked it out of its wrapper and headed home.

Now I could have taken the new trail out, but I didn't since I remembered that sign telling my not to. But if I had, I bet it would have been a much nicer if not totally completed trail, with smooth tread, new puncheon and lots of turnpikes. I think I would have enjoyed it very much if I had gone that way (but I didn't) and I'm looking forward to making another trip up there later this year when the new trail is finished.

It's only been two years since I last did this one, but I forgot just how incredible the view is from up there. What a day! From St. Helens to Baker, and just about everything in between, the mountains were certainly out today. Three Fingers from this vantage point has got to be one of the scenic highlights of the entire state. Simply stunning.

Enough ranting and down to business though. The creek crossing is running very high and you may have difficulty keeping dry. Snow begins about 1/2 mile before breaking out of the trees. The steepness of the snow isn't really a concern however the rocks are. Several spots look like acidents waiting to happen. The final summit bid is very tricky right now as the summer trail wasn't packed down with feet. Serious (and dangerous) postholing is just starting to occur. Also, BEWARE OF THE CORNICES. There are plenty of footsteps walking along them, but I don't think those people realized that they're basically walking on thin air.

The trail is snow free for about the first two miles. It's patchy from the upper creek crossing until below Hemlock Pass. Then it's constant snow to the lake. The snow was firm but very thin in places. Watch out for snow bridges. The lake is still frozen over but some of the camp sites on the peninsula are melting out. I intended on doing Kaleetan but after getting to the lake it just didn't feel right. Being by myself, I listened to my little voice and took a nice nap on a rock in the sun instead. The route above the lake is still solid snow for anyone interested.

This is a nice trail that starts out with a very moderate climb and very casual for the beginner hiker or the avid enthusiast. In the late season, trail navigation can be kind of difficult unless you have a great navigator (as we did - thanks Joseph and Dick). After finding the lake, we descended onto the Pacific Crest Trail for a few moments and then traversed the lake towards the climbers route on the West side of Lichtenberg Mountain. Lots of scrambling, post holing, and a few snowfields made it a slower climb than usual. The traverse to Lichtenberg Mountain is a gradual climb with many opportunities to post hole on the way across the boulder fields. The Pacific Crest Trail actual goes north around Valhalla Lake, and we traversed the south side as a more direct route. Only danger was an icy slope that required ice axe skills to arrest your fall so that you would not slide down onto the frozen lake and fall in! Once aorund to the west side of the mountain, it is straight up the slope to the summit. Images at www.nwog.org

Greider Lakes We counted 43 switchbacks from trailhead to where trail leveled off, about 1 mile, and half a mile further to first lake, then half a mile beyond to second lake. Two big blowdowns on trail with trampled detours around them--someone should clean them up! The trail is not in great condition with rocks and roots to grab your boots, and of course it's steep. However, here were views of Spada Lake all the way up, many wild flowers blooming, no snow at all to the lakes, possibly on trail to viewpoint but we didn't try to go up because we could see low lying clouds above us. Trailhead is on Sultan Basin Road, just east of Sultan, ten miles on paving and ten on well-maintained gravel.

Took an hour to walk the freeway 3 miles to Little Eight-Mile Lake. Turned right to ascend 1900 feet in 2.2 miles on a narrow tread through the homogeneous landscape of the 1994 burn to the saddle overlooking Lake Caroline. Plenty of tracks through the few snow patches, and saw same heading down to the lake. Windy Pass looked remotely distant, especially with low clouds hovering and a stiff breeze.

We had a great gentle hike up to Camp Handy, the sun was shining even though the weather report had been of some concern! There was a chill in the air and we were delighted that three nice young men left us a toasty fire in the pit next to the new shelter. (plenty of wood and kindling left by the crew that put the new shelter together). No sooner had we gotten ourselves organized for the night it started snowing, big fluffy flakes, oh joy! After breaking up the ice on the tents the next morning we headed up to Boulder Shelter. We were so suprised to see the devastation of the last avalanche and equally suprised to see that the incredible beauty of the surrounding peaks and meadows survived. We only encountered a bit of snow before the shelter and the entire trail is clear and delicately lined with friendly nodding heads of calypso orchids. The hike to Camp Handy is a great day hike for kids and many campsites are hidden among the trees.

Didn't get to hike the trail. The 30-mile road (FS Rd. 56) to the trailhead was closed after 10 miles, much to my frustration after calling the Ranger station to inquire of trail conditions and failing to get this info.

No need to worry about mud or snow in May on *this* trail, being as it's the easternmost NF trail in the entire highway 12 corridor and at 2500-3000 feet. The trail is featured in ""55 Hikes in Central Washington"", albeit with a few modifications, the most notable of which is that both the book and the map I have were out of date with respect to the trailhead location. Instead of a 0.4 mile drive from the highway to the trailhead, the road is now gated right at the highway and you have to walk the 0.4 miles.

Although the book said that Bear Creek should be running until early summer, the drought must have had an effect here for the creek ran only in intermittent spots. Repeatedly encountering a dry creek in one place only to find it running again upstream produced a mystery: where did the water go' (Was it being dammed each time or did it just evaporate away') The book also mentioned a campsite at 1 3/4 miles from the old trailhead, but after over an hour and a half of hiking we didn't find any place that showed evidence of having been used as a campsite, although this could be due to paucity of use of this trail. (Total number of other hikers we saw in three hours on this trail on Memorial Day: zero.)

Needless to say, the vegetation was rather different from all those western Washington hikes. For starters, it was my first hike in the state to feature oaks. Apparently we humans weren't the only ones to make use of the trail; several pine saplings had been stripped by deer or elk.

This was part of a loop drive from Puget Sound through Yakima starting on I-90. In a single day we ran through a year's worth of weather: cold and rainy at the rest stop at Cle Elum to sunny and 75-80 degrees in Yakima Canyon to springlike conditions on the hike to a winter wonderland at White and Cayuse passes where fresh snow covered all of the trees. Outbound on I-90 at midday we gaped at the stream of bumper-to-bumper holiday traffic going the other way. What would happen when it was our turn to head west' No fear, coming home via highways 12-123-410 at evening hours (7:30-10 PM) was quite a different story. In the 15-mile stretch of highway 123 we didn't encounter a single other car.

Started 3-day backpack trip to Buckhorn with a road detour (check w/Quilcene RS). Tubal Cain Mine camp was swarming with people so we pressed on, traversing hot, dry slopes (this is May') above. Trail to lake had some snow (bring gaiters-deep and soft in spots) but not a problem. Snow will be gone soon. Cross two creeks and when you get to a third, you've just missed the hard-to-find turnoff to the actual lake. There is one small camp spot by lake but it is better to camp above and have that area for hanging out, dayhikers, etc. We set up camp and set out for Buckhorn Pass, 2 miles up. Spectacular views to the Needles Range! Nice places to hang out and read. We set out the next day for more adventure beyond Buckhorn Pass, on the climbers' trail. This trail has less snow on it than the hiker trail to Marmot Pass. Deep and soft in places, but not dangerous. Coulda, woulda, shoulda gone for the summit of Buckhorn but played around in the meadows below instead. Great start to backpacking season!

One of my two companions, who had been up to the saddle before, was predicting clearing weather for the top. The hike was a nice steady uphill workout through the forest from 2700 feet, up to the high angle meadow at 5000 feet. Checking out the various little waterfalls on the way was a treat. Then areas of snow on the trail became significant. The exception was the last few switchbacks up to the 5700-foot saddle. We had one nice sun break at 5000 feet, and only a spotty sprinklings of rain for the entire way up. At the saddle, and by the time we were halfway through lunch, the wind and snow were blowing hard and cold enough to force us on our way down early and still hungry, not to mention that no views were to be had. Several hundred feet below and out of the wind, we warmed up quite bit. The snow continued to fall and turned to rain as we continued down. Our umbrellas served us well. The three-bean chili, vegie burger and hot chocolate and ice cream sunday at the Longmire Inn hit the spot. All in all a very nice invigorating hike for us, even though the most sunshine we saw that day was just as we were passing through the park entrance on the way out.