Trip Reports

If you go on this trail in the near future beware water everywhere & snow beginning at around 3,500 ft. There's considerable snow around 1/2 mi. fr. the lk. You have to pick & choose carefully where you put yr. feet or else you might sink down to your hips & have to drag yourself back to the surface. Bring ski poles or hiking sticks for traction & balance.

I followed a false set of footprints about a 1/2 mi. fr. Rachel Lk. & ended up bushwhacking straight up around 700 ft. (in deep snow) to Lila Lk. (an excruciating climb), which is a totally otherworldy terrain in total snow. A few trees poking their crests out of the snow & rocky hills. Other than that there's not a single soul or even footprint up there (except mine!).

There is high water everywhere so be prepared for some high wire stream crossings.

There are bugs everywhere so don't forget repellant. Water on the trail everywhere so bring an extra pair of socks & water repellant boots.

Rachel Lk. is esp. gorgeous because there is still ice floating in the lake. THe area around the lake is mostly snow free. The hills around the lake are of course covered in snow.

Thermometer dipped to thirty degrees at the 3400' trailhead, but skies were blue. Got rolling at 8:30. The first two miles are boring. A cool creek is crossed where the Copper Pass trail splits off. The trail beomes more interesting, gaining elevation and views. At times the trail is blasted through rock; it's a long way down. The flowers are rioting on the east side of the Cascades! Phlox, paintbrush, lupine, tiger lily, and glacier lily were the obvious ones. Plenty of streams to sample. The way becomes choked with snow about 200' below the pass. There is a path beaten through. Climb above the pass for more views. Try to find the tarn shown on your map, it will be worth it. Ten miles r/t, 2645' gained, almost six casual hours away from the car.

Friday was a terrific day for a snow scramble. I took a visitor from Ireland up to 6852' for a great day of hiking. Trail is snow free up to about 5200'. It is completely covered from 5400' to the summit ridge. The last few hundred feet were back on dirt. The summit is completely snow free. Rock Lake is thin around the edges but still completely snow covered. Some bugs but not bad at all. Only 3 small logs down and none are a problem. The full story and 23 pictures are at http://www.kuresman.com. Look under Trips-2002.

If you're going to get up to Stuart or Colchuck Lakes this year, the clock is ticking. The TH will be closed as of July 15th as they are going to replace the two bridges just past the 8 mile Lake TH. I asked at the Leavenworth ranger station if it would be allowable to park at 8 mile TH and hike on up the road to the Colchuck/Stuart TH and they said ""NO"" They intended to keep the area closed for the remainder of the year and the closure would enable them to get a lot of work done in this region. The only way to get into Colchuck would be Snow Creek trail and even this wouldn't be encouraged. I hope they change this position. Now, having said that, I decided that Colchuck was my break in trip to get the kinks out and equipment tested so on Weds the 3rd, I headed up the trail to Colchuck to spend a couple of days. The trail was in great shape with no mud or even bugs to contend with. There were three trees across the trail on the last 1/2 mile but none were a problem to get over or under. No snow to contend with and then it happens, you come to a vista that opens up before you and the view of this lake is drop dead gorgeous. The aqua marine color of the lake with the majestic backdrop of Dragontail and Colchuck peaks always blows me away on a nice sunny day. This may be my favorite alpine lake in the Cascades (well, its in my top ten) Asgard pass looks very doable with the trail crossing one snow field near the top. I spent a couple of days just enjoying the Lake and the local environs while testing and tweaking some of my gear, my Hennessey Hammock in particular. My tin can pepsi alcohol stove left a little to be desired so I'll probably shift back to my pocket rocket. The HH? It worked beautifully. I sleep so well in it. Oh yes, mosquitoes abound at the lake and there were many hikers and climbers taking advantage of the weather, the 4th and the fact that this will not be easily accessible after the 15th. Hurry, the clock is ticking. Dean

This hike in the Golden Ears Provincial Park is a must. Years ago I hiked the Golden Ears- and although the peak is rugged and breath-taking-the trail and approach is brutal. Not the case for smaller cousin-Aloutte. A wonderful approach via old logging roads and then a very nice trail through incredible old-growth forest. Heather and I didn't give ourselves enough time to reach the summit- 7.5 miles one way. We instead stopped at a delightful high-ridge tarn and enjoyed the solitude. Still lots of snow from around 3500' upwards- not difficult to travel and the trail is very-well marked. BC has those neat little bright orange tags-can't miss 'em. Some root and rock hopping on the way-but generally the trail is in decent shape with apparent up-keeping. By all means if you don't intend to hit the summit- the old-growth forest around Lake Beautiful will keep you ""awing for awhile."" Check out Mike Lake at the trailhead below too. Otters and bear spotted the day of our hike.

I think this is the first time I've clicked FIVE of the checkboxes for warnings... Bugs, Mud, Snow, overgrown trail, and water on trail. None of these were a big nuisance except the bugs.

Anyway, since our party was coming from both Seattle and the Redmond, we met in Woodinville at 6:45 to start the drive. We got to the trailhead at about 9:15 and began hiking from Eightmile TH at 9:30 under sunny skies but cool temps. Parking was not a problem as today was a friday.

The trail was relatively flat with a few muddy spots to little eightmile lake. The mud isn't too thick, but a lot of boots have trampled the trailside vegetation to avoid going through the muck. Significant sections of the lower trail were very overgrown. The flowers on this section of trail are wonderful!!

We continued on (by accident) to Eightmile Lake - a nice little 1/2 mile detour that proved very pleasant. After we figured out that we were in the wrong place, we backtracked to find the trail to Caroline. We found it, but it was no wonder that we missed it - the signing is good, but the trail is quite overgrown there as well. The climb through the silver snags was often brushing our legs. Parts of the trail here had mud as well.

We arrived at saddle above the lake at around 1:10 PM, and after a quick trip down to the lake (on some snow), decided the bugs (annoying 1/4"" long biting flies) were too bad, and went back up to the meadow with the views. And oh the views! In addition to many peaks whose names I know not, there was Dragontail (Draggin' tail), Colchuck, Stuart, and I think I even saw Little Annapurna over the top of Aasgard Pass.

We enjoyed lunch atop some rocks in the meadow (and unwillingly provided blood lunch to the flies) and headed down. Back at the car at 4:05 - total hiking time: 6 hrs, 35 min. for 12 miles (including detour and lunch)

All in all, this was the best dayhike I've taken in the 1+ summers I've lived here. The wildflowers were amazing (and will probably get even better in the high country) and the panoramic views from the meadow are amazing. Varied geology, silver snag forest, 3 lakes, and some other water features make for an awesome trail.

As for the warnings: Bugs Bugs Bugs - these suckers (and they do suck) are relentless - we made the mistake of not arming ourselves, and paid in blood. There are also some muddy stretches that are a bit annoying, but they few and far between. Some water even covers the trail in these muddy spots. Past the saddle above the lake, there are some sections of trail covered with a little snow, but I suspect it will be gone pretty quickly. The biggest problem for hiking though was the overgrowth of the undergrowth. This trail could stand to have some clipping pretty much from bottom to top.

Next time, we'll have to do the Caroline-Windy Pass-Trout Lake loop!!

Yawn, work was very quiet. Can a pika escape for the afternoon? My paws trembled with anticipation as I drove the long, long road to Bare Mountain. Massive clearcuts and industrial forestland whizzed by. At 3 PM I reached the trailhead and scampered up a bouldery roadbed to a river crossing. There is a good log across the first half, then you hop three rocks to finish. I saw 6 people on this trail, but was happy to share it - it is incredible! I expected a Mount Sigh experience, but an incredible circ-mit-waterfalls and large steep meadows made it worth the drive. Hiking up many, many (55?) switchbacks I marvelled at the exponentially expanding views of snowy ridgetops and green valleys. Near the summit I was glad for Mr. Ice Axe, as there was a steep snowfinger I needed to kick steps across. The exposure on this trail is exciting, but watch your step! From the summit I saw Tiny Seattle, Glacier Peak, and many other special friends. Chimney Rock looks especially forbidding from here. Nibbling on some stores from last fall, I began my descent, relaxing only after the snow was passed. My paws were a blur, and I grew dizzy on the switchbacks. I crossed the river and reached the car at 6:20 PM. It is 8 PM, I'm back in the office, nose twitching!

Trail is rather muddy in places during the first two miles, but the River is full and makes for some great photos. I left the parking lot at 8:00 a.m. and didn't see a single person. Once I hit Echo Lake, I saw a tent, but no one was in sight for the hour that I was there. Very sunny and very peaceful. A group of chicks kept skirting the edges of the lake close enough for a photo or two and the fish were jumping! On the way back, I ran into at least two dozen people, but only a few looked to be backpacking. Do this one early in the morning and you'll have the trail to yourself...

I have two words for this hike. Flower orgy! This was certainly one of the most colorful spectacles that I have ever seen. Flowers of ever shape and color adorn the trail from beginning to end. The Balsam Root along the final mile are particularly plentyful. All the rain that we had this year has definitely paid off. Most of the flowers are currently either at their prime or just beyond it. The other pleasant surprise is that the trail hasn't seen any motorcycle use this year due to several blowdowns that effectively block them. I hope that nobody tries to clear them! Why the forest service even allows motorcycles here is beyond me. I only saw one other person the entire day even though the weather was perfect and it was a holiday for most people. The trail is in good condition except for some loose rocks in areas kicked up by the horses. The peak affords great views of the Eastern section of the Teanaway area. To the south Mt Rainier stands high on the horizon. Just a few bugs, a couple of easy small snow patches to cross and several easy stream crossings. RT 8 mi and 3200 ft.

Owyhigh started out in the typical Mt Rainier style, nice wide groomed path, old growth forest, and a gradual incline. For 2 1/2 miles, the hike was a very pleasurable experience until the last 1 mile.

Ugh! There were at least six blowdowns that required a relatively high IQ to cross over. Also, there was deep compact snow that hid the trail causing us to get lost a couple times. We slid across the snow, slipped on our butts, fell into holes, etc.

Did we make it to the lakes? Yes, but we were disappointed in that they were small and shallow, more like ponds. Although any hike in the Mt Rainier area is pretty, and the surrounding bluffs were beautiful, this hike would not be high on my list of repeats in its current condition. Wait until the snow melts and the park service has time to remove the blowdowns.

To make matters worse, while manipulating one of the blowdowns, I lost my prescription sunglasses.

Ok, enough pissing and moaning - there is always another day AND A BETTER HIKE to make up for this one:)

The highlights:

-Lower Trail (Elliott Creek) is a beautiful trail that should be hiked on the way up to Goat Lake. It hugs the creek and is fairly well constructed. There are some mud holes that need some WTA TLC and several areas that need brushing but all in all it is a great hike.

-The last 1 1/2 miles follow the old wagon road and are in decent shape except for some mud holes and areas that need brushing.

-Make sure you follow the switch back wagon road to the lake and don't head off on the small side trail that takes off about 1 mile east of the junction of the Lower and Upper trail. Someone has laid some branches across the side trail to help divert you to the main switchback. They may or may not be in place when you get there. Look for the USFS Boundary markers on a tree at the beginning of the set of switchbacks.

-The falls at the outfall of the lake are absolutely full to the brim right now and really specatular. You will see them on your right as you head up the switchbacks. Make sure you do take this short side trail to get a closer look.

-The Lake...........what can I say? It is a prime example of the beauty of the area. Gorgeous!

-Most of the camping spots are a little dark and dreary but it is good that the USFS is attempting to keep the immediate lake shore from being totally trampled. Take the trail on the north (left) side of the lake as far as you can. It peters out and is a bit of a scramble to the cove and water fall. If you are highly reactive to thistle you might want to watch your step on this scramble.

-Upper Trail- I took it on the way back and I recommend it to you. It is easier to use this on the way back rather than on the way in because it runs quite a bit higher on the north slope than the lower trail and it climbs quite a bit from the parking lot. On the way back it is an easy down hill walk for the last 1 1/2 miles. You get some good views of the valley below and the trail is easy on the ankles because it is really the remnants of the old logging road. It is about 1/2 mile longer than the lower trail but because of the smooth grade it takes about the same amount of time to travel.

This was actually a 3 day backpack trip, with camp set up at Little Lake Caroline. The trail up to Little Caroline is in a good shape. A few blow-downs to get around, but nothing major. This part of the hike is very enjoyable and passes through some beautiful meadows. Fire has swept through parts of the area in the last year or so, it looked like. We set up camp towards the north end of Little Caroline on a little nob overlooking the lake. Camp was set up by 1 PM, so we kicked back, took an afternoon nap, watched a pair of ducks on the lake, and just relaxed and enjoyed the scenic, peaceful setting for the rest of the day. After we settled into our tent for the evening, it actually hailed for a bit. Of course, though, it is never great weather here on the 4th of July! Summer really starts the day AFTER and, true to form, July 5 was a georgeous day! We left our camp in the morning for a day hike up to Windy Pass, following the trail until it hit the slope directly below the pass. At this point, it was snow covered and we kick-stepped our way up to the ridge line. What views! We walked along the ridge towards Mt. Cashmere with tentative thoughts to scramble to the top if we felt up to it and it didn't look too difficult. When we got there, it looked a bit more work than we wanted to do. So, we hung out on the ridge near the base of Cashmere and enjoyed some absolutely incredible vews - Mt. Stuart and Mt. Rainier to the South and Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak to the North. When we got back to camp, the bugs were out in greater numbers, but that didn't stop us from thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We got up before the bugs the next morning, but it didn't take them long to realize we were out of the tent! We packed up in short order and headed out! The hike out was great through the meadows and down to Little Eightmile like, but after that we just couldn't wait to get back the car! An awesome trip overall. This is a beautiful area and we felt like we had been away for much longer than three days.

We spent the first night a bit past Sunny Pass on the side of Horseshoe Mountain. There were quite a few cars at the trailhead for such an out-of-the-way destination, but we didn't see that many people on the trail. Friday we hiked up to the summits of Arnold, Armstrong and Horseshoe. Sat we moved camp - we hiked up Windy Pass, had lunch at the the summit of Windy Peak, then continued on to 2 Bears Camp. Sun we got up early (5) and hiked out. We saw 3 deer and a black bear along the way. No bugs at sunny pass, but lots of mosquitos in the marshy area south of Windy Pass. Great views of Glacier Peak, Mt Baker Cathedral Mountain and other peaks from the tops of Windy Peak and Armstrong!

It's a small, short, completly boardwalked interpretive walk really, but if you are in the Baker Lake area and have the kids - do it! Not many seemed to be taking that advice. We did this one late in the evening with the rain drip dropping off the trees. Old Growth?? 600 year old Doug Firs and Western Red Ceders sound any good? Vine maple that has tree trunk caliber limbs. Devils club with huge, broad leaves. Sure you can find better examples but you're over in Olympic Nat. Park now. Again, if in this area, just stop in late in the evening, early in the morning. By the way, at the time we were in the area, so were the wood peckers. At one time just standing still within the giants we had 4 different soundings going!

We set off in cool weather and it got cooler..in fact we landed up hiking in a snow squall...good old north cascades! The basin is all melted out and it was beautiful. Lot's of great camping spots, plenty of water and tons of great day hikes from basecamp. We spent friday hiking up Armstrong mountain to enjoy sesational views, and the thrill of crossing into Canada! A fantastic hike, well worth the drive.

Excellent weather, trail and glacier/snow conditions. The way was snowfree all the way to the top of Asgard pass. Crampons were not needed on the way up Dragontail, although ice was starting to show through in several areas. Reach the summit on very easy class 2. From Dragontail drop around a 800 ft on a southwesterly traverse and find an easy notch leading over to the south slopes of Colchuck. Hike up to the col and then an easy scrammble to the summit of Colchuck. The glacier was still in good condition and did not see any ice showing through, cramponsd were not needed. Bugs were non-existant. 3 1/2 hours up to Dragontail, 1 1/2 hours over and up Colchuck, 2 1/2 hours down and out. All the lakes in the upper Enchantments are still frozen over but camps are melted out in plenty of locations.

It is a long drive from Kirkland to the Iron Gate trailhead(6 hours), but well worth it! Thursday afternoon we set up camp during a short shower of snow pellets just below Sunny Pass. It was a beautiful camp spot, but a very cold night! The next morning was cold, sunny, and warming. We decided to dayhike to Windy Peak. The first hour was a boring forest walk, actually losing elevation. Once the trail started up the views were fantastic. After returning to camp we decided to pack up and move further into the basin. Our next camp was at Louden Lake, a beautiful spot in a meadow. The next morning we climbed Armstrong Peak, which is relatively easy. The views were great from this peak, also. The trails in this basin are in great shape, and there are numerous places to camp.

While the Cascades are still mired in snow, the Sawtooth Mountains in the Okanogan are snow free to over 8,000 feet. For our lucky thirteenth wedding anniversary Pack Pup and I returned for the fourth time and spent a fantastic five days in the Golden Lakes Loop, a 23 mile round trip that passes 6 lakes with unlimited side trips.

On 6/29/02 we drove to Twisp and spent a very comfortable overnight at the Idle-A-While Motel. For that night’s dinner and the following morning’s breakfast we were well fed with excellent service at Antlers Saloon And Café. Twisp is a small town with a rich history and was well worth the time spent there to ensure an early start on our trip.

Sunday morning 6/30/02, our adventure started out early as we startled a black bear driving up forest service road 4340–300 to the Eagle Lake/Crater Creek Trailhead. For best directions I would recommend 100 Hikes Series, North Cascades National Park Region and Green Trails’ Prince Creek Map number 115. The Golden Lakes Loop is a multi use trail for hikers, motorcycles, horses, mountain bikers, and assorted pack animals. Portions are motorcycle restricted.

Our first nights destination was Upper Eagle Lake, approximately 6.3 miles and at an elevation of 7100 feet. At just over two miles we came across a very curious doe less that fifty feet uphill from the trail. Ears forward and looking straight at us she seemed thoroughly entertained as we passed by. Trail 431 to Upper Eagle Lake was in good shape and snow free until one quarter mile before the lake. Upper Eagle was completely thawed and the immediate basin thirty percent snow covered. We found a dry site and settled down for an uneventful night.

The following morning 7/1/02, we packed up and headed 2.5 miles over Horsehead Pass elevation 7,600 feet to Boiling Lake at just under 7,000 feet. We took a short break at the pass and absorbed fantastic views! We were also relieved to see the pass blocked with sufficient snow to deter all but the most adventurous motorcyclists. It is one mile from the pass to Boiling Lake. Approximately one-quarter mile down from the pass we spotted what looked like a moose walking across the shallow Southeast portion of Boiling Lake. We watched in fascination as the moose disappeared behind a knot of trees at the South end of the lake. As we approached the lake we dropped our packs and proceeded carefully across the outlet stream to see if we could confirm our sighting. Within 40 yards of where I saw the moose disappear, a huge head elevated between the trees with antlers coming out the side of its’ head in velvet. We stopped dead in our tracks and watched this huge animal break cover, come into full side view, pause for a moment to check us out, and then trot Southwest out of sight.

Unlike our three previous trips when we had done the loop, we decided to base camp at Boiling and day trip from there. On 7/2/02 we scrambled to the saddle between Martin and Cheops Peaks at 7,800 feet. We followed a defined social trail South of Boiling Lake and hiked to an unnamed pass previously used by sheepherders. We crossed the snow covered pass and dropped about one hundred feet when we were interrupted by a knockdown drag out fight between two marmots that had started one hundred feet up a scree field and had ended at the base of our feet. We then proceeded South to a point below the saddle and scrambled five hundred feet up dirt and loose rocks to our destination. Again we were rewarded with outstanding views of the North Cascades on one side and Martin Lakes on the other. I called into the Methow Valley Ranger Station and reported that both Upper and Lower Martin Lakes were completely thawed and that all campsites appeared open. The ranger also told me that we were not hallucinating and that from time to time moose did migrate South from Canada.

On 7/3/02 we hiked Angels Staircase elevation 8,100 feet, and proceed East to the lookout point between Cooney and Sunrise Lakes. We followed the previous days path and proceeded off trail following signs of the old sheepherders route that runs approximately one quarter to one half mile East of trail 1259 until it intersects with the trail just before entering the East Fork of the Prince Creek Basin. At the rise between the East and Middle Forks we took a short break and viewed three bucks cautiously making their way North up the basin.

The trail to Angels Staircase, called Switchback Peak Trail in the 100 Hikes Series book, is well marked with a sign and was the highlight of our trip. The expanding views to Prince Creek, Deadmans Pass, and surrounding mountain ranges are indescribable. This trail is motorcycle restricted if for nothing other than safety reasons. The Staircase was virtually snow free all the way to the saddle above Cooney Lake. Cooney Lake was completely thawed and all campsites appeared open. Sunrise Lake was also thawed, however all campsites and a majority of the trail that rises from Merchants Basin appeared covered in snow. The North side of Deadmans Pass was sixty percent covered in snow.

During our last visit to the Golden Lakes Loop in September 2000, we had very close encounter with a large black bear that turned out to be quite anti-climatic. This trip we decided to call “Hey Bear” from time to time when hiking down wind and around corners and rises where our sight and sound would be blocked. On our return trip from the Staircase we stayed on trail 1259 to Boiling Lake. Shortly after crossing into the Middle Fork of the Prince Creek Basin, my wife paused and asked, “Is that a bear over there?” Approximately three hundred yards to the West there was a large brown colored bear looking at us. At that distance I could not tell if it was really a black bear or not, but I would like to think that if a moose could migrate from Canada maybe a grizzly could too. Anyway, after satisfying its’ curiosity, the bear returned to eating and slowly proceeded uphill and we proceeded the heck out of there. That evening at Boiling Lake we were treated with a very athletic display of an Osprey as it hunted over the lake before proceeding Southwest.

Up till now we had only briefly encountered one other couple that had hiked up the Summer Blossom Trail and come down Deadmans Pass. Having this area basically to ourselves was a treat that we had never previously enjoyed. On 7/4/02 we packed up and headed out. At Horsehead Pass we met four mountain bikers that had ridden up from the Eagle Lake/Crater Creek trailhead with plans to do the loop. As we descended we had a nice conversation with a ranger and stepped of the trail to let several motorcycle riders pass by. Just before the turn off to Crater Lake we met a very nice couple with three lamas headed for 5 days camping at Crater lake. Something about the very small packs that the couple carried and the very large packs the lamas carried made sense.

This area is crammed with wild life and it seemed that every square foot of trail was covered by an animal track. Don’t be deterred by the trails multi use nature, if you can come during the week you will rewarded with solitude; and don’t leave your binoculars home as I did to save weight!

I felt so un-patriotic hiking in Canada on the 4th of July- but I got what I was seeking- solitude. Golden Ears Provincial Park a mere 30 miles north of the border is a great destination for hiking. Although the front contry can be busy-the back country is quiet. Great place to camp and explore. Heather and I headed out on an extremely wet day to find Lake Hector Ferguson in the heart of the park. We followed the East Canyon Trail for about 6 miles before turning around-fearing hypothermia. The beginning of the trail is a treat to walk (or mountain bike)- easy cruising. After about 6 kilometers the trail gets rough but interesting. Well-marked but very brushy in spots. Giant cedars and an incredible walk along beautiful Gold Creek. The hike reminded me somewhat of the upper Elwha Valley in the Olympics. There are some great sand bars for resting and wading. Trail is a good choice for solitude.

The Crystal Lakes trail is snow free and in good condition all the way to the upper lake. There is snow around the lake, in the basin and up to the ridge. We saw trillium, glacier lily, and western anemone near the upper lake. The elevation is 5860' and it was snowing while we ate lunch, but as we started down, we were soon out of the snow and the rain didn't amount to even a shower. It was a nice hike and of course we had sunshine on the way home.

We hiked on the WT from Reflection Lakes to Martha Falls - about 5 miles roundtrip and 1300 feet loss/gain. Reflection Lakes (about 4800 feet) have 1-2 feet of snow. The WT is mostly covered with snow at Reflection Lakes and around Louise Lake. Route finding is not difficult if you have a map. The last section of WT from Stevens Canyon Road (about 4100 feet) to the waterfalls is nearly snow free.

Wildflowers are blooming - mainly avalanche lily and lupine. Martha Falls is spectacular with a lot of water. There were a few bugs, but not bad.

Hiked loop starting at Maverick Saddle and proceded to Blue Cr. Meadows. Then on to Cougar Meadows, Cougar Ridge #1418 and down Jimmy Cr #1419 to the Mad River trail. A few blowdowns along the Mad Lake trail for the first 3 miles.

Snow encountered along the trail along the north side of Cougar Mt but passable.

High water at the two stream crossings of Mad River so we avoided them by hiking along the east side of the stream until we hit the Cougar Ridge trail.

No Bugs!!!!

The trail begins at the Hozomeen Campground, and passes Hozomeen Lake on its way to the south end of Ross Lake. The distance to Hozomeen Lake is about 3 miles, and elevation gain is about 1000 ft. The trail is in flawless condition, and snow free. There's little scenery along the way, but the scenery at the lake is worth the hike. The view of 8000 ft. Hozomeen Mtn. is spectacular. We saw no other parties on the way in or at the lake, but met one group on our way out. Our round-trip hiking time was 3-1/2 hours. It's a long drive to Hozomeen Campground--to Sumas, and then about another 2 hours. We used $10 worth of gas, but there's no park admission fee, no campground fee, and no trail-park fee, so you're better than even. Camp sites were plentiful on this holiday.

I had a few hours in the afternoon, so I went hiking. I'd heard of ""the old trail"" up Mount Si, but only knew that it started at the Little Si trailhead. Hiking up that trail, I took the 2nd right turn after it levelled out (I should have taken the third!). Unaware that I was on the wrong trail, I hiked up to some mossy boulders with bolts sticking out of the moss. ""Crazy climbers"", I thought, but the next joke was on me as I was lured into deep and steep brush by dozens of flags and pieces of string tied along the trees. ""BRH PRJ"" said the flagging. 30 minutes later, I got back on the trail which dropped to a road. The road then climbed to a scary ""Meth lab"" looking house. I heard someone crashing around near the house, so I bushwhacked to the road higher up, not wishing to disturb someone(thing?). At least the road kept going up, albeit slowly. Eventually, I hit the old trail! Boy was I happy! I scurried up the steep switchbacks like a field mouse, cunningly reaching the main trail mere yards from the boulderfield. I scrabbled to the tip top summit, dodging falling rocks and bodies as Mr. Manning suggests. Mountains to the east were socked in and rainy. North Bend popped and fizzed through the afternoon, the celebrations getting underway. I ran down the trail, and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw another person on it at 2000 ft! He had gotten disoriented, and his legs were tired and sore. Just to be safe, we stuck together until reaching the paved road. What a great trail it is, and forgiving of my routefinding errors!

Head up to Green Mountain to celebrate our indepence. Could you think of a better way? Anyway the trail is good shape until just before the basin were it becomes all snow. You can easily find your way to the basin by following footprints, from the basin its every man for himself in terms of the route. I ended up going to far to the east and had to traverse over. I had no views. About five minutes before the top it started snowing, that quickly turn to hail. One of the highlights of the evening would have to have been the bald eagle that circled over the basin twice, I thought that was fitting it being the fourth and all.

This trip was July 1st thru the 4th. Well, you get what you pay for. The NPS gouged me for a $10 entrance fee, $5 permit fee, and $2 per night, for a total of $21. For this I recieved perfectly maintained trails, excellent access roads, bearwires and outhouses at every camp, and they don't subsidize clear-cutting. I was happy to pay. The hike in to Lillian river is made worthwhile by the detours to Goblin Gates, Krause Bottom, and Humes Ranch. The bees buzzing at Michael's cabin were almost hypnotic. I love Lillian River camp for the profusion of giant trees of several species, and the obviously glacier-fed torrent of the river. It is always at least 15 degrees colder there than other stretches of this trail. From there I hiked to Mary's Falls, no falls visible anywhere. I found a secluded site right next to the river, in a large salmonberry parkland studded with giant moss-covered alders. I hoped/was afraid that the ripe berries would attract a bear. On Wednesday, I day-hiked up to Canyon Camp and had lunch in a marvelous spot. Today I hiked all the way from Mary's Falls to the trailhead, about 8 1/2 miles, just about my limit to still enjoy the day. All told it was about 23 miles and two thousand ft of elevation including the detours in 4 days. I still have 6 more days of vacation, so I might see some of you in the Glacier Peak area Sunday thru Tuesday. (P.S.- The Elwha valley is very much in the Olympic Rainshadow. Use weather reports for Port Angeles as the most accurate guide for this area.)

Finally this trail is cleaned out and open to us riders! The ford is fast but not deep. The bugs are bad when you stop to rest as it is still early spring here with the trillium and yellow violets still blooming.A few snow patches.A wonderful trail.

WTA has been improving the heavily used initial stretch of this trail, and it's in better shape than last year. The trail is essentially snow free to Snowshoe falls. Saw a push broom by the side of the trail between the falls. That's taking clearing the trail too far! Relatively easy to get across the snow to the log across the creek, but this may get more difficult (due to undercut snow) before it gets easier. There were boot tracks on the other side, but my time was up.

An aborted work party on this trail turned into a hike instead. The trail was mostly clear with a few snow patches (a couple being a little trouble to get over without poles) until the junction with the Crystal Mountain trail (about 5400 ft elevation), at which point the snow became continuous, ending hopes of making it to Henskin Lake. The portion of the trail that crosses the ski hill was a rather soggy mess, unless the work party of July 4th fixed it up. On the other hand, just after that there is a small cave at a creek crossing that would undoubtedly be a very nice spot on a hot day.

The rather rough road to the trailhead is a couple of miles before the ski resort, on the left side. The trail sign at the trailhead is down and as several roads/trails intersect at the trailhead the correct trail is not easy to identify. (This trail starts off as as a road straight across the hillside in the direction of the resort.) Alteratively, it can be reached from the resort by hiking (steeply) up the hill to the left. Although shown in the forest service map at 2.1 miles in length, this seemed rather unlikely as it took us only 35 minutes to do the return from the junction to the trailhead.

We went for a 2 day backpacking trip to Pratt Lake and surrounding environs despite dire warnings from the Ranger regarding treachorous snow bridges and twisted ankles. There was soft mushy snow around Olallie and much mud on the connecting trail to Pratt Lake trail. I would recommend bypassing the scenic but wet Talapus/Ollalie route for the more straight-forward Pratt Lake trail 2 exits up the road. There's still plenty of mud holes and wet snow ahead!! Don't let the snow scare you going to Pratt (as it did 3 other parties we passed) - it soon becomes snow free for much of the rest of the way (except right near the lake - but it's no problem atall). We did get the lake all to our selves, though, which was amazing.

The following day, we decided to go for a short hike. We strolled to Lower Tuscohatchie lake, which was really pretty and had a great campspot. There the trail divided: 3 miles to Melakwa, or 3 miles to Kaleetan. We decided to take the road less travelled up to Kaleetan, and that made all the difference. This trail descends to a tricky creek ford, where our poor canine was swept several hundred feet downstream, much to our horror (she was unfazed, however). The slippery log bridge would be really hard to cross with a backpack. This trail is in danger of dying of neglect - the tread is very narrow and becoming overgrown. The way then ascends about 1200 to 1500 feet on a nice dry trail with pretty little streams. However, the way is so narrow, almost completely eroded away in places, that our ankles began to scream at us. After the ascent, you round the hill and it's a short jaunt to Windy Lake. Short except for the few snow fields that, while not huge, present some navigation problems (I for one got around all of them successfully only to slide and nearly fall to my death on dirt.) Finally got to Windy Lake which is frozen over. There are a couple of nice campsites on top of a little knoll by the lake. Kaleetan Lake is a scant half mile from Windy and almost worth the hike. There's a glorius campsite there and a great view.

3 miles my eye!!! That was at least a 4 and a half mile slog up and down on narrow and iffy trail. We returned to Pratt somewhat dazed but better for the experience. At least the dog got out alive. In all, a great trip, but my feet still haven't completely dried out. Have fun in the mud!

This was a good overnighter. Although most people only make this a quick day hike/bike ride/jog, you name it, it was quite an experience. In fact, I've found that watching and meeting some of the people who visit the Monte Cristo town site, to be a lot of the fun of the whole thing. Set out on Wednesday, and after a quick hour and a half was up at the Monte Cristo townsite. Make sure that you don't make the same mistake of blazing a trail on up to the townsite without having a look around while you're doing it. The road skirts 4 miles through the forest, crossing the river once at Weden Creek, up to the townsite. Having good weather that day, I decided to do a little bit of exploring. Many people make it all the way up to the entrance to the townsite and don't even realize that the town is up another trail and across a bridge, which incidentally happens to be the one that later goes on up to Glacier Basin. The road right now is in pretty good condition. Couple of potholes here, and stream crossings there, but other than a couple of minor things there's not a lot to complain about. I wish that I had done this later in the summer, so that I could have gone up to Glacier Basin. But alas, about 1/4 of a mile past Glacier Falls the trail is completely covered with snow.

We 3 left Seattle on the eve of July 4 to arrive at the Dickerman trailhead at 9 a.m. The day was ideal – firm snow beginning at 4,300 feet, enough clouds to block excess rays, and enough cloud breaks to glimpse the neighboring peaks. After an hour’s lunch and reflection on the summit, descent by plunge stepping swiftly brought us to the car by 3 p.m. As almost always, I was glad we brought ice axes for a short, narrow, steepish, potentially slippery slope.

Day was cloudy, cool, and good for hiking. Trail was in fine shape, dry, some mud in areas where snow has melted. Forest service was out doing some clearing. Last 1/4 mile approaching the lake has some patchy snow. Lake is clear and looking beautiful. A little cool at the lake, our light weight jackets came in handy. Chipmunks out it full force. We had a nice afternoon.

Started at De Roux camp, went up De Roux spur to Koppen Mt. trail then south over Koppen Mt. to Medra Trail, down to Middle Fk. Teanaway R. then return up to De Roux Spur and back to De Roux camp. Distance about 14 miles. Snow patches on trail as you approach pass on De Roux spur but no trouble getting around. Snow patches turn to larger snow banks on Koppen Mt. trail with trail under several large banks on north side of mountain. Just work around or over the banks and stay near ridge line and trail can be picked up again just before reaching top. Top of Koppen Mt. and south to Medra trail is snow free. Unpleasant hike in upper part of Medra trail due to steep water and horse eroded trail. Middle Fork Teanaway trail crosses the Teanaway to west side about 2 miles above junction with Medra trail, then recrosses to east side about a mile later. No bridges at these crossings. We stayed on east side all the way, requiring some thrashing but much of way was fairly easy walk through the woods. Stay close to river bank and you can pick up trail again after it crosses back to east side. Still some patches of snow in this shaded section. Cool, windy day and no bugs. Good flower display on Koppen Mt.

A nice hike under mostly cloudy skies. We hiked the first three miles (two small patches of snow), and then turned back at the first avalanche chute. An attractive outdoorsy type of gal walking down the trail said she made it to the top. She had crampons and an ice ax, we didn't (that's our excuse anyhow). Lots of biting insects, a couple of blown over trees....but all in all, not too bad of a hike.

Wow, have I had good luck with weather this year! Anybody want to go climbing with me? No seriously, I have tentative plans to go to the Ptarmigan Traverse August 1-9 and to Luna and Fury in the Picketts August 15-19 and I have no one to go with! My email is meganerd00@hotmail.com for anybody who is interrested.

Anyway, so North Gardner... Made the long drive over Rainy & Washington Passes in the morning Tuesday under increasingly cloudy skies. The skies remained cloudy to Winthrop but then as I headed west to the trailhead, it began to clear off (???). To access this trailhead, drive to Winthrop and cross the tan truss bridge over the Methow River just past downtown. Immediately after the bridge, take a right onto Twin Lakes Road. Then take another right after awhile onto Wolf Creek Road. Where this road changes from pavement to gravel, there will be another road heading left. Take this left and follow it a few more miles to the Wolf Creek Trailhead.

This trail starts very low and in this part of the state, this means it is very hot. As I said I got lucky with the weather, so I was there when it was not particularly hot, but most of the time, one should get a very early start on this one. To my surprize, this trail starts off by actually going down somewhat significantly. After that, although it goes up and down somewhat it stays prettly mild, well maintained and mindless for the first two thirds or three fourths of the 10.5 mile hike in to Gardner Meadows. As mentioned in previous reports, this last bit goes through a fairly recent burn area, and has not seen a trail crew yet this summer. There are probably about 20 silver snags across the trail although all but one area is not a problem. This one area is criss-crossed with trees annoyingly placed 4-5 feet above the ground. It doesn't last too long though and is the last difficulty before Gardner Meadows. There is no snow on or anywhere near the trail to the meadows.

By the time I was hiking into my campsite at the end of the trail in the meadow, the sky was clouding up again. The flowers are incredibly in the meadow right now! Also be forwarned that deer pretty much own this place so be sure to hang your deer bag. By the time all the camp chores were done, the sky was clearing up again. By the time I was thinking about going to bed, the sky was clouding up again; arghh...

So I went to bed early (around 8) and woke up early (4:30) to still cloudy skies. The clouds looked thin, there was no wind, and I was not particularly tired for some reason so I got up and decided to continue with my plans to climb Gardner and North Gardner. The proper route up to the Gardners (or at least North Gardner) is to head up the meadow wall on the north side of Gardner meadow (head straight for Gardner from the campsites in the meadow). Climb/traverse somewhat left up the slope. If you find yourself in the scree basin that leads directly up to the saddle between Gardner and point 8487, you have gone too far left. Continue up the steepening meadows until you can take a sharp left into the upper part of the scree basin just below the cliffs of Gardner. The reason I suggest doing it this way is because there should be a goat trail traversing the upper edge of the basin which is much better than traversing the very loose and slidy scree with no trail aid. Take the goat trail until directly below the saddle and then thrash your way quickly up to it.

From here the routefinding is straightforeward. Just head up the easy ridge to point 8487 and then back down, then up the summit ridge of North Gardner. There is some class three scrambling to get around a couple gendarmes on the ridge, but if you stay on route, there is little to no exposure. This section of the climb on the ridge is distinctly enjoyable, being very high and alpine. The views from North Gardner are very very nice. This is the first peak I have climbed with a view (although distant) of all 10 9000ft nonvolcanic peaks in the Cascades. Oh yeah, and there is no snow on the entire route! Yes no climbing gear at all is required.

By the time I got to the summit of North Gardner, McDonnalds was calling my name and I knew I would be bored in the meadow for the majority of this day, so I decided to skip Gardner itself and just head down making this a two day trip instead of the usual three.

The ideal descent is somewhat different than the ascent. From the saddle between Point 8487 and Gardner, descend directly down the scree basin by using the technique of ""screeing"" (scree skiing) and ultimately descend to the meadowy subalpine larch basin just below the scree basin. From this point, traverse left across meadows until the campsites of Gardner Meadow are visible directly below.

The hike out definetely was not fun on the feet, but the four excedrin I took helped out a lot. I actually got back to the car feeling better than I did at three miles into the hike.

So, all in all, North Gardner is a scramble that really deserves more attention especially during early season because it melts off sooner than pretty much any other high peak in the Cascades, and it also has a somewhat remote and out of the way feel to it because of the long approach, and with the easy fun ridge climbing at the top, it all adds up to quite an appealing package. Oh and did I mention that it completely cleared off on summit morning? Yes it did while all but the highest peaks further west remained enveloped in cloud. Yeah I get lucky with the weather...by heading east.

Large blowdown on trail to Beaver Plant lake as well as on the trail between Upper Ashland and Lower Ashland, trail is passable. Trail is wet and muddy with patches of snow after Beaver Plant Lake. Some bugs! Sanitary facilities are not installed yet due to budget cutbacks. Please help protect our Natural Resource areas. Pack it in Pack it out. Leave no trace!

I've looked at my Lester, WA map on many occassions and wondered about this trail that you drive alllllll the way to the top and hike .5 miles to the summit. It bugged me so much that I got in my car with my boyfriend and decided to find out what this trail is all about and how come I haven't heard anyone talk about it. First, it's a little difficult to find FS road 7030 from FS70 because someone has shot bullet holds in the sign so it's hard to make out. Then you drive up and the roads are unmarked. But we found the road (by guessing)but turned around before we got to the road to the trail. Mostly because of my fear of heights. The road is narrow and without trees on the downside...it was scary. Especially scary because there were signs that log hauling is taking place and David just got through telling me stories about being on logging roads with the trucks barrelling down the roads. We were probably a few feet from the turn off but, like I said, I was terrified of the height...not that others couldn't make it through...the road is wide enough for one car (but not two). Next time if I can't make it, I might park my car and walk the extra way, just to check this trail out. The trailhead starts at 4600 feet and we saw only patches of snow. The roads are clear. We drove to FS road 7034 and parked in a wide area and walked an abandoned road. It was great to be up so high. Catherine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jay

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

Jay

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

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

Happy Hiking!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rick Hunt--huntforgold

Assuming this is the Heather Lake Trail beyond Wenatchee Lake:

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

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

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

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

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

This trip was kind of a letdown.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keep on hiking

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

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

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

ALPINE LOOKOUT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Robert Michelson 6-29-02

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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