Trip Reports

Our group of five spent three fabulous days in Horseshoe Basin. The flowers were beautiful and the bugs plentiful. After setting up camp at Louden Lake we walked up the mighty Armstrong Mt. for the mandatory visit to Canada and cheesy photos of Alan, Phyllis, Maria and Greg staddling the border. Saw Ptarmigan as well. The next day we went over to Windy Mt. for fantastic views. After hearing the rumbling of thunder and seeing rain showers over the basin we hot footed down the mountain only to have the sun come out when we got to Sunny Pass. We went to see the cute old log cabin below the pass, now a ranger quarters, and took the stroll back to camp through the lower meadow. That night Alan, Phyllis and I scrambled Rock Mt. to watch the sunset. After doing some howling at the rising moon, we walked back to camp in the dark. A little while later we heard the real thing howling up on Rock Mt. They must have seen us there the whole time, but wanted to let us know that they were back in their domain. A very special evening. Next day we decided to check out Pick Peak on the way out for fabulous views of the basin and Windy Peak. All in all a wonderful trip with a great bunch of companions. I'm sure we left the resident mosquito population well fed!

With a few days off from work, I thought a back pack trip was in order, so picked Cooper Lake. Drove up Monday morning the 22nd to start the trip. From the trail head at the end of the West Fork Foss River Road the trail stays on the east side of the river until the crossing. Part of the trail is on wet rocks and the main crossing is on an old log bridge that has partially fallen apart. As I hiked up to Trout Lake some of the trail is getting over grown. There are two really large Doug Fir trees that you pass along the way. Both are about 12 feet in diameter. Once at Trout Lake, took a break and met a family who was also back packing. There were three families with lots of little kids from 6 months to 8 years. Even a 2 year old was hiking. A lot of the trees around the edge of the lake have died off do to over watering. A rock slide back in 1991 near the outlet raise the lake level 10 feet.

Leaving Trout Lake the trail begins it's climb up to Copper. There are two spots in the lower section of swithbacks where the trail is close to Copper Creek. Since it was getting hot, I stopped at the upper spot where the trail is still in the forest. It is about 50 feet to the creek, so made for a nice place to put some cold water on my head to cool off. The next water is above the slide Alder section which is out in the hot sun. This part of the trail in the afternoon was like hiking in a sauna. You can see the big Copper Creek Falls coming down the side of a cliff as you hike along. Looks like it drops 500-600 feet. Once back into the forest there is a creek that crosses the trail and has a nice little water fall that you can put your head under to get cool. The trail switchbacks some more and goes past the top of the big falls. At the first trail juction, I hiked the short trail up, and I mean up, to Lake Malachite. There was still quite a bit of snow around the lake, but it was trawled out.

When I got up to Copper Lake, I found that the bridge across the outlet creek was long gone. With the high snow melt water you either had to ford the creek, try to cross on the slippery wet rocks or go up stream to the log jam. I found a path that headed up stream and even one camp spot above the log jam area. So decided this was a good spot to camp, plus it was in the afternoon shade. The families with all the kids finally arrived about 9 pm, as they waited until the slide Alder area was in the shade.

Tuesday the 30th I did a day hike up to Big Heart Lake. After crossing the log jam at Copper Lake, I followed the trail to Little Heart Lake. The section of the trail that follows Little Heart Creek is still under snow. The trail crosses the creek about half way and you needed to watch your step on the wet rocks with the high water. Once up to Little Heart Lake, I crossed the outlet and began switchbacking up, out of the snow, the side slope to a saddle above the lake. The trail goes by a small pond and a boulder area, then up some steep switchbacks. Then the trail side hills to get up and over a ridge, with some snow in places. From there it is back down hill to Big Heart Lake. As you are going down, you can see the lake through the trees. I came to a snow covered meadow area with a creek flowing in it. The trail then follows a ridge line down to the lake which still had ice floating in it. It is larger then Copper Lake and sits in a nice setting among the rocky cliffs. A few people had backpacked into Big Heart and did some fishing. One guy showed me a 14 inch trout he had caught. The outlet to the lake drops over a large water fall and there are the remains of an old log cabin. Only the four bottom logs are still in place. On the way back to Copper Lake, there are several small streams to cool off along the way on this warm day. A couple guys did go swimming in Coppers Lake's icey waters, but it took them about 30 minutes to get all the way under.

Wednesday the 24th, I left at 7 am for the trip out, before it got hot again. I had shade most of the way down. Some of the campsites at Copper Lake still had snow in them. Bugs, mosquitos in the morning and noseeums in the evenings. The trail is muddy and wet in spots because of the late snow melt this year. If you would like to see the roaring Copper Creek Falls, do it soon, before the snow has all melted. This would be a good Fall trip after the bugs are gone, the berries are out and the sauna has been turned off until next summer.

Three of us hiked into the Enchantments this year via Aasgard pass, entering on Sunday the 21st and exiting on Wednesday the 24th. We planned our trip to coincide with the full moon, providing us enough light to do late-night summits without headlamps!

A note about getting to the Enchantments: After hiking the interminably long Snow Creek Trail in the past, we now far prefer the Colchuck Lake/Aasgard approach. Despite what well meaning -- but grumpy --Harvey Manning has to say, Aasgard is a beautiful and rewarding way to enter the Enchantments. This route has its own ""esthetic"" that appeals more to us as climbers and surely provides more drama and a bevy of alpine vistas that the monotonous Snow Lake approach cannot match. If you're fit, and comfortable with steep, alpine-like approaches to climb peaks, you might prefer Aasgard. If you'd rather do long hours on the trail (in consideration of knees or whatever), then do Snow Lakes. But, (Harvey!) let each person decide for themselves which approach is preferable to their own tastes, skills, and desires and don't try to brow beat us into your preferred approach.

By the way, Aasgard is a much faster way to enter the Enchantments.

On with the report: We arrived in the upper Enchantment basin on Sunday afternoon and pitched camp near Tranquil lake. Total time from the Colchuck trailhead was 6.5 hours, including a stop for lunch at Colchuck lake. We spent the next two nights there, rambling ridges and peaks, exploring, and watching sunsets. The nights were gorgeous and surreal, thanks to the nearly-full moon.

However, the bugs, mosquitoes in particular, were atrocious. Even with a coating of DEET, they were hovering like a cloud. The only relief was the occasional breeze or the tent. Despite this, the conditions were amazing. The sun was very hot, and the nights were warm. Sunsets were spectacular.

There is still plenty of snow around, however much of the trail and most campsites are snow free and dry. The upper lakes are roughly half melted out, while the lower basin lakes are snow free. But the snow is melting fast, and will be reduced quickly by the hot, sunny days. Gaiters were nice for exploring, keeping the boots snow free. Ice axes are only necessary if you plan to do some climbing. Many people must have left on Sunday, because we saw very few others after Monday. Didn't feel crowded, like it sometimes can. It was almost lonely at times. Wonderful.

The third day brought us into the lower basin, camping on a granite dome near Gnome Tarn. More amazing weather and views. Did get hit by a small, afternoon squall (Tuesday, the 23rd), but it cleared into a beautiful evening, capped off by even worse mosquitoes than we had experienced above. We savored the strong breeze later that night, allowing us a couple bug-free hours to enjoy some moonlight roaming.

Awoke Wednesday morning to warm sun and hungry bugs. Packed up camp and had a fabulous hike back into the upper basin, down Aasgard, and back to the truck via Colchuck Lake, stopping for a cool, refreshing dip and lunch at the lake. Hot! Time from the lower basin to the truck at Colchuck trailhead was 7 hours, including an hour at the lake.

In summary, trail conditions are great, weather is very warm and mild, bugs are horrendous, and hiker traffic and numbers appeared very low mid-week; standard mid-summer Enchantments conditions.

The Colchuck lake/Stuart Lake trail will be inaccessible starting August 1, according the Rangers, due to a planned bridge replacement. Call the Leavenworth Ranger station to confirm dates, as they have pushed the date back once already.

Deceptive start, looks like an easy Mt.Si hike until you get to the second avalanche chute on the East side. The snow bridge had collapsed and required a scramble up the rocks and over the top of the remaining snow in the chute. Bugs were an integral part of the hike and stayed along all the way to the top. Snow still present on the west side but fading fast. The final 100 feet to the peak was exhilerating and worth it.

KHS trail straightforward. Some old spectacular washouts (look up) circumnavigated by established trail ups and downs. Temporary crossing is still in effect, a very comfortable log about 2ft above afternoon water level. Post-crossing the flags/cairns are sometime scarce, worse so on the way down. 2.2hrs.

KHS to PCT is beautiful. Climbs about 500ft in the first 20min, then becomes a great almost-level open-forest trail. Junction with PCT easy. One tree across path; easy to go under even with axes in pack. Once acros the river, flies get nasty. Some mozzies join in but it's the deer flies that prevented me from stopping and having lunch. 50min.

Had tremendeous trouble finding climbers trail to Boulder Basin! Looked for 15 min, then went too far, came back and saw a descending party emerge from the great void. Two significant branches with flags broke off - I found them on the ground. Reattached to higher branches. Note: At the Toilet-sign, take an 80 degree right turn off the PCT. At the edge of the open forest area look for a big cairn (just walk the perimeter until you find it). Trail straightforward but brutal from there. 30 min steep ascent (like going UP all the unauthorized shortcuts you see on steep switchbacks). Gets better after that, the deer flies don't though. Wore Deet but got most of the bites through my thin shirt... 1.2hrs.

Campsites easy to find, creeks open for water (filter due to marmot population - hide your stuff, they like anything containing body salts and will not hesitate to chew through tents, apparently).

Started climb at 0500 (later than most parties like, but I had neither headlamp nor crampons so needed daylight and soft snow surface - timing was perfect for both). Route is straightforward - UP! After 10 min on ""trail"" above camp, transitioned to snow. 1hr to first bench from where Sitkum Gl is visible. Circumnavigated big cleaver in glacier to the south. No sign of crevasses, just a grey-ice patch which is easily avoided. On the upper glacier toward Sitkum Spire some crevasse-dips are visible, I stayed to north of them. Some pumice/shale ascent is required, but a snow finger reaches to within ca.200ft of the summit. I was early and the snow was too hard for safe non-crampon ascending, so I took the ""steps of futility"" and ascended the pumice slope. Traverse from top of snow finger to the east and around the summit block is well trampled and straightforward. 4.5hrs including 20min break.

No wind, great view! Now I had 2 hrs on summit waiting for snow to get soft for descent. It's the best butt-slide all the way. You'd be very well advised to take a sitting device! 45 min back to the bench above camp (once again circumnavigating the now even better visible but covered crevasses via a northerly route), 10 min down to camp! 5000ft in less than an hour...

The steep descent to the PCT seemed less threatening on the way downward. Was relatively short (50min). Good steps in roots, didn't slip once. The 5+ miles from KHS to the car dragged on forever though :-)

Great climb - can only recommend!

My wife and I hiked up Pilchuck yesterday and the trail is in great shape; no mud and maybe twice we had to cross about 20 feet of snow. To be honest, it was so hot yesterday that each time we got near what little snow remains and the coolness of it we were thankful. The bugs are starting to come out in full force but thank God for bug repellant. The flies are getting to be the size of humming birds but once they got of whiff of the DEET we had slathered all over our skin they wanted no part of us.

We did see the black bear that has been hanging around up there. We were talking to a couple of ladies on their way down from the lookout who said they hadn't seen it when as if on que, it came crashing down out of the brush. The bear is the size of a very large dog and probably weighs in the ballpark of 150lbs. This is a bad situation waiting to get worse. People have been feeding it so it is quite used to people. For example, the bear ambled right between us on the trail and went up to one of the ladies and was licking her thigh. While this was happening she nervously pointed out that she had spilled some of her lunch on her leg. I imagine that something is going to be done about the bear pretty soon.

Been meaning to go to the lookout for a long time. Today, the goddess prevailed to bring all together: sunny weather, a weekday, and no other obligations. Arriving at the trailhead, I was somewhat disappointed to see a small group of USFS and Fish and Wildlife folks, one with rifle in hand, heading up the trail, saying they were going to see if they could find ""the bear"". (Had been there a few weeks back and did see a bear, which was later removed to an undisclosed location.) Hiking by myself in bear country never really makes me nervous, but today I was a little, singing an occasional song to myself and the like. As it turns out, no bear was seen and I guess they were trying to get out of the office for a day. As to the trail, there are some snow patches remaining, but they will probably be gone by the time you read this. There will, however, be many bugs. They kept me moving, with few breaks for water or views. Enjoy!!

great views and few bugs on top. we brought ice axes but never took them out of our packs. a helpful note for those going up bryant: just when you reach the top of hemlock pass turn right and stay on the ridge following the almost trail(beckey says to go 150' past the pass, but we could not find where he was talking about) go nne then go up the left side of the gully in the trees

We did the hike on Sunday 7/21. We have no complaints about the trail or the hike, but the mosquitos are a real problem. We were using pretty powerful bug repellant. Other people we met on the hike complained about them at the time, but my son and I didn't really notice it until we were home. Two days later though we are covered with bites that just aren't going away.

Two friends hiked further West in the Cascades and had the same experience.

I hiked up four miles of the White River trail on the way to Boulder Pass. The first 2 miles of the trail have been logged out and is easy walking. Then things get more difficult, with frequent logs on the trail and brushy sections. The bugs get really bad as you proceed up the valley. The forest around Boulder Creek is thoroughly infested with mosquitos and black flies.

However, once the bugs go away in a few weeks, the river valley could make a great easy backpack destination. Scenic camps are available next to the river in forest and on gravel bars.

We hit the trailhead Saturday afternoon and returned Tuesday afternoon. Rigorous hiking, but a great trip nonetheless. The trail is free of snow and blow downs the whole way up Robinson Creek, over Robinson Pass, down to Middle Fork Pasayten, and up to Ferguson Lake. A crew went in a week before our trip and cleared the trail (thanks, guys!). There are 4-5 ""Teva crossings"", where streams flow across the trail. You can either scramble over logs or rocks, or put on Tevas and wade through. Nothing more than shin deep. Other parts of the trail are swampy, presumably from fresh snow melt. Bugs abound. If you move through steadily, they're not so bad. Stop and you're toast. The fields of wildflowers were amazing. So were the views of the peaks, the north slopes of which still had large patches of snow on them. There were patches of snow to the side of the trail by the Pass (6,000'), and Ferguson Lake (6,600') had snow fields stretching from the top of the peaks 2,000' above right down to the water. Gorgeous. One thing to watch for is the heat. On our way out yesterday, we stopped in Mazama (fresh juice, ice cream!). The thermometer read 93* at 6pm in the shade. Ouch. Good thing you cross so many streams up there! Wildlife: humming birds, woodpeckers, ptarmigan w/ chicks, doe & fawn, buck w/ antlers, jack rabbits, trout, and tons of wildflowers.

What a great Hike! Left TH at Flume Creek for Abercrombie Mountain. First time in these parts, but won't be the last. All this country, so few people. Did not see a soul! In July! Abercrombie is one foot short of being the tallest peak in Eastern WA. so I was surprised to see the road leading to the trailhead and the trail itself so little used. Hopefully it will stay that way. Abercrombie trail from Flume Creek TH is a mere 2000 ft. climb streched over very moderate switchbacks. Several small campsites are present immediately following the second rockslide area. If you look carefully, you will even find a spring that was still running strong in late July! I ran into a little snow on the north slope near the top, but just enough for aesthetics on this 90 degree day. Abercrombie features a unique summit with a panoramic view of NE Wash. Today I could even see the North Cascades. The moonlike summit is only slightly marred by the occasional busy beaver who feels they must build the rock structures atop. Oh, I almost forgot, Thanks to the prolonged wet season in this corner of the state, the wildflowers were vivid and plentiful. I definately recommend this trip, however be prepared to walk a lot further if you do not have a high clearance vehicle to traverse Flume Creek RD. to the TH.

Boulder Pass is one of the few ways to get into the fabled ""Shangri La"" of the Napeequa River Valley. From the junction with the White River Trail (2500'), the trail climbs the valley wall in well graded switchbacks, initially in forest then in sunny, hot brush. This stretch of trail is in good condition, except for some downed trees. Bring plenty of water and insect repellant!

Then the trail levels out, traverses into the Boulder Creek Valley, and enters cool forest. There's a good campsite available here. At about 4000' the trail crosses Boulder Creek, still roaring with snowmelt. You have to wade the creek, there is no dry way across.

The trail continues climbing up the valley through a large brushfield. The trail condition gets considerably worse, with frequent logs on the trail, washouts, and encroaching brush. Snow from heavy winter avalanches still remains on the trail in spots.

At 5000' the trail reaches scenic Basin Camp, by far the best camping spot in the area. Unfortunately, the biting bugs are out in force here, too. Beyond the camp, the trail is lost under a massive pile of avalanche snow. The trail reemerges about a half mile beyond, climbing in switchbacks up a steep meadow. The final portion of the trail below the pass is still covered in snow. Crossing some of the steep snowdrifts could be hazardous if the snow is icy.

There is a nice campsite right at the pass (6300') with spectacular views of Clark Mountain and the Napeequa valley. The north side of the pass is covered with a steep and dangerous snowfield that could take weeks to melt.

What a beautiful day for a hike. After reading Brian's report for Lake Lillian, Rock Skipper and I decided to go check it out. Brian was right, from the beginning the bugs were out. Mostly flies, but biting flies!

Today, the temperature at the pass was over 85 degrees and the dusty hike through the fly-ridden clear cut was miserable to say the least. Further more, we had consumed all 3 quarts of water by the time we reached Mt Margaret. Bring lots of water for this hike if you do it in the heat.

If you are going to Mt Margaret, look for a faint side trail about 3/10 of a mile past the Lake Margaret/Lake Lillian intersection.

The views from Mt Margaret were outstanding, but the bugs were detirmined to bite, so we hurried back down. There were only small patcheds of snow on the trail.

Do this hike on a cool day, perhaps later in August when the blueberries are rippened.

The Trail is in good shape, with only a few down trees in the lower section. Snow patches near the top. This was an exploratory trip for a Bath lakes traverse next month. Snow still holding high up, but looks good. Beautiful expanse.

Actual destination was Goldmyer Hotsprings via the short trail from the ford. Not much hiking to get there really but report is more about the road, stream crossing etc.

The Middle Fork road is just as hideous as expected and advertised. It is even starting to pothole significantly in stretches of the 11 miles to the regular Middle Fork trail uberparkinglot, could really use a grading at least to here Mr Road Engineer. The next nine miles basically are bare rocks, no niceties such as an actual road bed. Worst stretch is a steepish series of whoopdedoos about a mile prior to Dingford, if you can get over those (slowly) you are probably good the rest of the way {tho cannot speak to the final three miles to the Dutch Miller lot, those are usually even worse). The two usual points further on where there are seemingly bottomless mudholes are reasonably dried out now but could get bad again if either churned or refilled.

Crossing the Middle Fork at the ford is feasible with willingness to get wet in quite cold water to the waist.

Springs of course were heaven on earth for the bargain price of 12$ plus immeasurable collateral damage to vehicle courtesy of the Middle Fork road. Bugs were middling to bad. Actual hike mostly uneventful except for two incidents involving mice. Incident #1 had a mouse paratrooping into our tent in the middle of the night after chewing through the top to get to our food bag (suspended from the eaves). Incident #2 I cannot do written justice to, since I was not the victim of the crime. Let's just say that if you have ever seen the movie ""Strange Brew"", this resembled a rodent-oriented situation that figures prominently in its plot.

We were told by the ranger at verlot public service center that the access road was washed out. so forget the hike for this season.

Gold creek portion of the trail was good. The log that you have to cross to get over Gold Creek has slipped a little closer to the creek over the winter but is still managable. Numerous creek crossings on the other side of Gold creek which aren't a problem if you have good waterproof boots. The last stretch to the lake is pretty clear to make out but steep. The lake still had plenty of snow and a few icebergs.

From calls to the North Bend Ranger Station, we discovered the need to replan our hike to stay around 4,000' to avoid snow on our 6 day trip. Originally we planned to go back to Williams Lk & higher but instead headed up the Dingford Creek trail (which, with recent work, is in great shape to the Hester Lk turnoff.) We found the way trail up to Horseshoe Lk after crossing 4 branches of Goat Creek (the first branch has big sitting logs on both sides) and just before a wide spot in the trail that looks like an occasional campsite. Look for 3 large (4'-5') boulders...the trail goes between them. There is a very faint but boot beaten way trail the entire way to Horseshoe Lk. that is much like a cross country route. When you lose it (and you will) for more than 50', go back & try again! Over the years, with blow downs the trail has been rerouted in many locations providing many dead end trails. After climbing 300'? we discovered that we were still on an island as the route crossed a 5th branch of Goat Creek still staying within 150' to the east side of the current creek branch. Horseshoe and Goat Lks are beautiful and have no snow, few bugs (few fish) and are even swimable! The trail looked like only one or two had been to Horseshoe earlier this year. There is no trail to Goat Lk. but it is a relatively easy cross-country trip. Some views to Snoqualmie Lk from the saddle just north of Goat Lk. There is a beautiful campsite on the north end of Goat Lk if you can get past the lake with a full pack!

We then headed for Hester Lk. but turned back 1/4 mile beyond Dingford Creek’s multiple crossings on blowdowns because the trail was in extremely poor condition and didn't seem to be getting any better. Where the trail wasn't mud, it was washed out by the creek! There are 2 nice camps at Dingford creek just before the first crossing.

The trail to Myrtle was muddy with many blow downs but passable. Bugs at Myrtle were very bad. As thick as I have ever seen. Mosquito coils & DEET required! With all the wetlands around Myrtle Lk. bugs are probably a common situation here. The trail continues on the east side of Myrtle passing 3 campsites. At the lake’s far end, the trail branches with the left branch going to another camp and the right going on to Little Myrtle. In 1/4 mile, the trail crosses the creek to the west side all the way to Little Myrtle. What a beautiful lake! Saw no campsites there. Continue past the lake to the 4300’ saddle on faint trail and 300' beyond for more beautiful hiking over glacier worn granite and views down to Lake Dorothy & the Gold Lake drainage which were barely visible with the fog on Friday 7/19. Found snow at the saddle, but not a problem. Well worth it to go this far. Headed out Saturday morning as the crowds came in…2 heading for Horseshoe Lk.

Flowers (paintbrush, lupine, yarrow, woodland penstemmon, some harebells) are still very nice, though the ubiquitous beargrass is mostly shriveled and brown. The fields of glowing white heads in those few shady places where it was still at its prime give the impression of an invading horde of aliens. It must have been quite a sight a week ago when the sunny slope was covered with these ungainly blooms.

There is indeed a new trail being constructed from the old roadbed up through the trees. This saves you from having to go out into the hot sun quite so soon as in the past, though for now the new trail ends less than a third of the way up the hill, leaving some steep and dusty climbing in the woods, and then on the final open slope to the ridge. We left the trailhead at 5:15 p.m., and when we got to the first summit at 7:15, it was almost 90 degrees on top! This hot weather has its drawbacks.

The best part of the hike was on the descent. My friend stopped to enjoy the cool air beside the waterfall on the old road and almost stepped on a mysterious critter that looked like a giant dark brown gerbil. The critter snuffled up to his shoe, sniffed it, and then waddled off to the woods beside the trail. We wondered all the way home what we had seen, and learned it was a mountain beaver! Found a good website with lots of information about these interesting animals: http://www.infowright.com/mtbeaver/index.html

This is a kind of out of the way trail, and on the Monday I hiked it, I saw no one on the trail all day, or at the trail head either. The first mile or two are in good shape, with a couple of easy creek crossings on logs. After the second creek crossing, however, the brush gets pretty extreme. I guess this is the price you pay for the solitude of a little-used trail. Not only was I fighting through thick brush, but the day was hot and much of the trail is unshaded.

I was glad to see the final steep climb through forest to the upper lake basin. This is a really beautiful area, very open and park-like compared to many of the alpine lakes. Snow began to cover the trail in places as I continued above the lake to the PCT. I tried the right fork but quickly lost the trail altogether, so I headed back to the west on the PCT. I wanted to make the ridge, but time was running short, as I'd gotten a late start. So I stopped for lunch at some very nice campsites just off the trail.

I somehow managed to make my way back down the trail through all that brush without damaging my sprain-prone ankles. I'd recommend this as a day hike if you don't mind the brush. It would really be a bitch to fight through it with anything larger than a daypack, though.

Trail to Glacier Basin is in excellent condition, lots of flowers & for those macro lovers there is quite a large number of Few Flowered shooting stars. Bears have been seen in the area lately so be cautious with your food. The campground by the basin has a few flies & mosquitos but nothing a repellent can't take care of. Interglacier is in decent shape, the top of the first step has some hard ice becoming runny by noon, you will encounter three crevasses (all very well marked). The glissading chutes are already made & perfect for a quick descente. Lots of people before the glacier, scarce after that. memorable hike/climb. Bring an ice axe, gaiters, sunscreen & sun glasses.

My family and I went for a wonderful hike into Esmerelda basin and it was spectacular. The trail was in good shape despite the horse traffic.The wild flowers and birds were abundant. Thankfully the bugs were at a minimum, I actually did not need to use bug dope.I was amazed at the number of vehicles at the trailhead, but we did not encounter that many people on the trail.I would highly recommend this trail.

Previous Neclace Valley Report hit the high points of the trails to the lower lakes. The High Route up and over to Otter Lake below Iron Cap Mtn and La Bohn Gap is spectacular. Fully snowed and good walking with minor avalanche debris. Afternoon temps were shirt sleave and the views were unlimited. All the pass lakes are still frozen in, but some heather is showing on the rocky outcrops at the top.

The route down to Otter is snowed and the lake looked high. Cross country travel is tough in the afternoon with all the streams up. We spent 4 days playing in the upper meadows and came out on the 24th.

The snow is gone and the bugs have arrived.

As expected a quick drive to the trailhead after leaving the Seattle monday morning rush hour. Our group found the trail beautifully maintained and a clear shot all the way to the lake, to Red pass, and west to the small summit just above. NO SNOW all the way to the lake. From the lake there is trivial amounts of snow. And the small summit is easily attained. Red mountain appears almost completely snow free. The flies are small but their bite is still painful and quite frustrating. Not many people on the trail on this monday. Views are fabulous.

Warm day brought out a good number of bugs at Lillian. I don't know who was eating faster at the partially frozen lake - me or them! Finding the trail past Twin Lakes was tricky in spots b/c of a combination of hard-packed snow on the trail and overgrown trees,etc. Took me 1h40m to get from Twin Lakes to Lillian b/c of all the trail finding, but only about 40m to get back. The way up to Rampart Ridge crosses a small but somewhat steep snow field, where a mis-step would send you glissading down into the icy waters of Lillian. Bring an ice axe (or swim-trunks) for it just to be safe. The trail past that point looked visually do-able.

Quite a showcase of wildflowers in the area. The masses began to arrive as I was getting close to the parking lot at about 2pm.

Started at Lake Cushamn Ranger station and hiked the north fork of the Skokomish river, very easy trail and nothing to note, a couple of minor stream crossings, a couple small blowdowns but nothing eventful, Camped at Nine Stream. Started early to get over the Staircase before the main heat of the day, a couple of blowdowns on the trail but nothing bad. There were two places we crossed snow bridges over creeks that will get bad in a week or so. (They held my 270lbs with pack) Crossed the top of first divide and descended into Home-Sweet-Home. The creek here was a little difficult to cross but no one fell in. The trail down to Upper Duckabush was in good shape.

Next morning we did a day hike up the Duckabush there was one stream crossing we had to put on our sandals for, not difficult just wet. We continued up to Marmot Lake then up to Lake Lacrosse and Heart Lake. Both of these lakes are still 2/3 ice covered. There were four bear roaming the valley around Lacrosse, including a mother and two cubs. We made it back to upper Duckabush and camped again.

From Upper Duckabush out there were two stream crossings that required sandals, these were both within 100 yards of camp and neither was a difficult crossing. There were quite a few blowdowns on the trail out though none of them were difficult to get over or under. A couple of small stream crossing but nothing bad. We camped at an unmarked spot on the map just before going over Big Hump. This morning we hiked over Big Hump and met our rides at the Duckabush trail head, a great 5 day 46 mile trip for our scouts.

My 3 sisters from Texas had only allowed a 3 day visit for me to show them Washington. 3 days!

I knew I would have trouble with time when we spent 2 hours and 18 camera shots at the flowers in my neighborhood and of the patrons drinking coffee on the patio at the Still Life Café – we hadn’t even left the city yet! It took 8.5 hours (and 2 rolls of 36 exposure film) to reach Washington Pass (can you blame them?). Luckily Whitehorse at Darrington was swathed in clouds, or it’d have taken a helluva lot longer. We strolled to Ladder Creek Falls behind Gorge Dam (20 photos), had a gaze-session at Gorge Creek (9 photos) and at the Pass (29 photos).

After pitching camp at Klipchuck (4 photos) and having dinner (3 photos), we took the 1.5 mile long accessible trail to Rainy Lake (31 photos and well worth it).

The trail to the Goat Peak Lookout is in excellent condition; the flowers (13 photos) are at their glorious height. The lupine are so thick the meadows have a purple haze about them. There is no water on this trail, so bring plenty. It’s a short 2 mile trip, but dusty, hot and steep. The views of the Sawtooths are fantastic (34 photos).

We were in luck! The infamous Lightening Bill (8 photos) and his dogs Turk and Sophie (2 photos) were on duty at the lookout (6 photos). He read us some of his wonderful poetry (1 photo), and demonstrated the navigation equipment (4 photos). He showed us on the map (and on the horizon) where the current fire is burning at Lk Chelan (2 photos), not far from last year’s Rex Ck fire (looks like I won’t be hitting Navarre this year, either!).

Lightening Bill mans the lookout for 2 weeks at a time throughout summer. He’s a delight to visit. I was expecting Bill to be an ugly old guy, but I hafta admit he’s quite the handsome devil (I bagged 2 photos here).

48 photos of the glaciers at the Cascade Pass TH and 6 of the humongous Doug Fir and cedars at site #12 at the Marble Cr. Campground later, we were in line at Edmonds for the 2:30 PM Kingston ferry (12 photos) and Ruby Beach beyond (1 full roll) where we watched the sun set (another full roll) and hung out on the moonlit beach (6 photos) until waaay after the last Kingston Ferry sailed back to Seattle.

We took the south Sound route back to Seattle only when we were out of continent, out of film, and out of coffee.

I got the sisters and their driftwood collections to the airport in time for their early morning flight back to Dallas. They were armed fresh film for the flight over the mountains.

The climber's path up to the Snoqualmie Mt. summit was easy to follow but very steep and was a workout and a half on this 88 degree day. The trail is relentless in it's upward climb gaining 3200' in two and a half miles (which seemed like more both up and down!). After passing the waterfall, what a welcome respite from the heat it was, there are supposed to be two routes to the summit. We only saw one and though steep, was easy to negotiate. The views from the top are spectacular being the second highest peak in the Snoqualmie Pass area. The waterfall is the only water on the trail, be sure you have enough. No mosquitos to speak of and the black flies were more of a nuisance than ravenous hordes. We only saw one other hiker, an Auburn fireman who was in much better shape than us, while the cars parked for Snow Lake were numerous. Better to do this hike on a cooler day but be sure it is clear, you wouldn't want to miss the panorama.

Ditto the previous report by Mike Collins. The trail to Little Eightmile lake is in great shape. There is a little brush near the lake. But a crew came in as we descended and should be lopping it out. The trail to Lake Caroline is also a bit brushy and has one or two blowdowns. There is no snow to the lakes.

The route to Cashmere started shortly after Lake Caroline, and goes directly to the 8000 saddle. See Mike's report for more details. It's class 2 and not scary. A few snow patches up high, but small.

Quite a few bugs in the entire area. Flying ants on the summit, flies and skeeters lower.

The relentless mosquitoes did not dampen the spirits nor the resolve of our two seven-year-olds and a friend's six-year-old. Everyone had a blast at Cutthroat Lake and Cutthroat Pass despite the omnipresent bugs. Here's some skinny:

(1) bugs - the mosquitoes were thick and relentless all day and all night everywhere except at the pass itself.

(2) fords - if you are going to the lake, bring aquasox for two fords.

(3) unsigned trail junction - to go to the pass, turn right at the unsigned trail junction shortly after the lake trail cut-off.

(4) snow - the pass area is still mostly under snow. The upper trail near the pass is partially snow covered. The snow slopes are all doable without ice axes. Our junior alpine ramblers liked the snow travel.

(5) wadding fun – another reason to bring aquasox: the creek right before the lake is an attractive, kid-friendly aquatic playground.

We decided to take a day off and climb Esmeralda Peaks, as well as look around at the old mines around Gallagher Head Lake. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far.

The DeRoux trail is good although horsey. Due to our somewhat late start, we sucked hot air and went slow. Most blowdowns have been cut out, there still is a large avalanche mess at around 5100', which the horses and motorcycles are detouring around and chewing up the meadows there. We left the trail for the peak just NW of the house-sized boulder on the switchback at 5500'. A good route description for the climb can be found here:

http://www.everettmountaineers.org/scrambling/scramble _tr/esmeralda_101897.pdf

We worked up easy terrain and rocks towards the summits, eating lunch several times along the way, reaching the summits in about 4 hours from the trailhead. The summit register is on the western-most of the peaks, and is almost full (last page). Binoculars were used to scope out the obvious mine dumps down below at the lake.

Gallagher Head Lake is very nice, although well-used. We expected horsey camps and evidence of mudding around the lake, but saw neither. The newly built creosote-laden bridge over the outlet stream was disgusting. The topo map shows three claim areas near the lake, which is accurate. The western-most prospect appeared to be a caved adit, showing some old shoring still. The middle prospect consists of an open shaft filled with water, and a caved adit. The prospect marked on the topo map as 'adit' looked like an open cut of some sort, with lots of shiny black rock. More dump material exists below, which led us to believe there was a covered up adit below, as we could also see some seepage.

The heat and bugs of the late afternoon chased us back down the trail. We saw only 2 hikers during the day, one deer on the peak, and two goons riding motorcycles up the trail.

Headed up this trail with ""Halfway House"" as our destination. The trail is rocky in many parts, but maintained with no blowdowns or puddles to contend with. We got a late start on this day and the temperatures were rather hot. Stopped at Wolf Bar Camp for a break and enjoyed the beautiful view. The kids begged to spend the night here, and we probably should have listened to them. Instead, we trudged ahead, determined to make it to Halfway House. The maps said we only had a little under 3 miles left to go, but it sure seemed longer than that. After crossing Wild Rose Creek, we tackled once last little hill and dropped down to our destination, where we were promptly greeted by thick squadrons of hungry skeeters. Erecting our tents in reocrd time we dove into the relative sanctuary and cooled down while thick, buzzing clouds of little monsters hovered outside. Applied some DEET and stepped back outside. The repellent worked on some of the more timid insects, but failed to stave off the entire horde. A smokey fire did little to drive the bugs away, and the Horse soon looked like a swollen mutant child. The insects resumed their assault at dawn and we figured it was time to get out. Stuffed our packs and headed back down the trail to Wolf Bar where the bugs were not nearly as numerous or vicious. While relaxing next to the wonderful North Fork of the Quinalt River, we observed a deer running up the middle of the river! It stopped, relieved itself, and then headed back down stream. On the way back to the trailhead, the Wiggle Queen plundered the nearby huckleberry and blackberry bushes. She even managed to locate tiny wild strawberries. While waiting for her to finish stripping a huckleberry bush, I heard something crash through the bushes below the trail. It took me a minute to locate the source of the sound, but I suddenly found myself staring at a fairly young black bear. It had assumed a tree climbing stance, but then dropped down and just watched us watch it. Once it determined we were no threat, it ambled off, providing several excellent photo opportunities.

Had a great hike to Robiinson Pass via Robinson Creek. The trail is in fantastic shape! Trail crew of two very hard working men cleared all brush and blow downs. We thanked them kindly as we passed them headed out after working for a number of days on the trail. Spent the night at a great camp at 6 1/2 miles. No bugs at all! Next day hiked to the pass at 9 miles and then back to the car. Lots of water available at the top of the pass and only minor bugs. Outstanding views of the surrounding peaks and valley. All in all a great trip!

Y,K,B&B

We were going to meet some out-of-state friends at the Ohanapecosh Campground, and decided to make a day of it by hiking up to Shriner Peak before the rendezvous.

Stopped at the Black Diamond Bakery on the way down for breakfast and to pick up a freshly-baked marionberry pie for our after-hike enjoyment.

HikerJim's description of the parking lot and trailhead location are exactly perfect. We left the trailhead at about 0930, and it was already quite warm. Much of this hike is exposed, and there were no clouds whatsoever, so sunscreen was a must. The trail is in fantastic shape and climbs at a nice steady clip all the way up. On such a clear, beautiful day, Rainier was HUGE! and a constant source of wonder and beauty for at least the last half of the hike on the way up. It's hard not to stop and just stare in awe every 10 steps or so. Bring your camera for this hike! Binoculars would be good, too.

Very dry and dusty most of the way, with a couple of small snowmelt streams coinciding with the path along the way, though not for more than about 20 feet. Those will probably be gone soon, as will the 5 or 6 small (and very negotiable) snow patches. There's a little more snow at the top between the lookout and the campground but with this heat, all of it will probably be gone by next weekend.

Amazing meadows, flowers and greenery all the way up. Beautiful old forest growth as far as the eye can see, with not one patch of clearcutting to be found. Love those National Parks! Scads of lupine, paintbrush and beargrass, along with wild strawberries (ripe and yummy!), columbia lilies, heather, spreading phlox, avalanche lilies and vanilla leaf. Lots of little pale blue butterflies too, that seemed to congregate around the pale purple clusters of phlox for camouflage. Dude was accosted and scolded by a mama ptarmigan determined not to let him pass. She must've had chicks nearby. And all the way up and down, in various places along the trail, we'd hear what sounded very much like a timpani, always in counts of four. We found out later it was the mating call of the male blue grouse. At the top, there was plenty of space to sit and study The Mountain. Adams was out as well, and the Tatoosh Range was beautiful. Could also see Mt. Aix very clearly.

Mosquitoes, black flies, and horseflies were out in full force. DEET didn't seem to help -- we ended up being the main course for many bugs, despite three applications apiece of bug spray. In the end, Dudette was one gigantic walking insect meal, with over 50 bites at last count.

The heat slowed Dudette down, and Dudette slowed Dude down. The trip up took three hours, the stay at the top was another hour, and the descent was 1 hour, 45 minutes. We arrived back at the parking lot at 1515 and were at Ohanapecosh Campground by 1530, where we learned from the ranger that there are public showers (WooHoo!) at the RV park in Packwood, about 15 miles away. The showers were followed by our traditional post-hike beer at the Saloon, celebrating a truly beautiful and fabulous hike.

Looking some some peace and quiet? Well, then don't come here on a sunny weekend. I met about 50 people on my day hike to Bearhead Mtn and Summit Lk. Over 25 cars in lot seen from ridge above the lake at 3PM. At least 10 tents at the lake, some plopped right down on a revegitation site next to the lake. Large groups of teenage hikers. On the plus side the trail was in great condition, lots of flowers on Bearhead, just a few bugs, and no snow except around the lake. More on the minus side: road is a bit rough, narrow and overgrown up high, and few signs. Don't go there this week because they will be chip-sealing the Carbon River road.

The Suiattle River road was in excellent condition. The Green Mt. Road is also in relatively good shape, but I only recommend the track for 4X4 or AWD vehicles unless you want to spend a whole lot of time on the road. However, the elevation gain that the road gives (3,400 foot trailhead) is much appreciated! We began at 8:45 a.m. to escape the heat of the day as the south facing slopes are very exposed to the sunlight.

On this hike, we were treated with a spectacular wildflower display beginning on the second mile. The steep hillsides covered in luscious wildflowers makes for a surreal setting. The blooming is peaking in the lower meadows and just beginning in the higher meadows. The majestic and grand Glacier Peak dominates the horizon from this point to the lookout.

Snow is reached just before the pond basin (around 5,000 feet). The basin is still mostly snow covered and snow is walked for about a mile. An ice axe is not really needed as the snow slopes here are gentle. (A pair of good poles would do the trick.) From the end of the basin, the trail is visible again all the way to the summit lookout except for a couple snow patches. Some of these patches can be used for a direct glissade on the way down, but they are melting away fast. The summit ridge is completely snow free and there are even some beautiful wildflowers amidst the clumps of alpine fir and rock slabs. I reached the summit, 4 miles from trailhead, at 10:45, two hours after beginning.

From the summit, views are in all directions. Clockwise from the west, they include Mt. Baker, Chaval Peak, Mt. Shuksan, Snowking Mt., Mt. Buckindy, Mt. Formidable, Spider Mt., Mt. Buckner, Sentinel Peak, Spire Point, Dome Peak (excellent view of Dome glacier), Bonanza Peak, Glacier Peak, Mt. Daniel, Sloan Peak, White Chuck Mt., Three Fingers, and Whitehorse just to name a few. The lookout does appear to be unstable so enjoy the view from around the structure. There is also a friendly marmot that lives under the lookout and many of his friends in the alpine meadows.

After eating lunch at the summit, we began our descent at noon and reached the trailhead at 1:35, just before the heat of the day. The views of the Ptarmigan Traverse are tantalizing! They make me want to get out there and do it! Enjoy the views, marvel at the wildflowers, carry bug repellant, and bring lots of film!

Looking through the mountaineers book, Lord Berry and myself (Lord Greenwood) were deciding between Perry Creek/Mt. Forgotten and North Lake. We chose North Lake, and we weren't disappointed.

The trail to Independence lake, about 1 mile in, is in great shape with only a couple blow downs to note. On the way back, there was a huge group with kids, since this short, gentle, rolling trail is ideal for children and families. Independence lake is small to medium size, with a nice agate color. There's no snow to Independence lake, but there is a patch upon rounding it en route to the North Lake trail. Just stick close to the lake and you'll find the trail midway up a snowfield on the right.

The trail to North Lake is a switchbacking one, but it is just beautiful with flowers and heather slopes. Might be a bit hot for some, but the 80 degree sun felt just fine for us. After about a mile snow becomes a bit more of an issue, but with some caution and reasoning most hikers will easily follow the trail.

We made a little diversion exploring the tarns that are around 1 3/4 miles from Independence Lake. These are still iced over, and surrounded by snow, but they are beautiful right now. They sit in a nice little basin with scoured cliffs around and nice views of the valley below.

We ended up spending too much time at the tarns, and picked our way towards North Lake, which is still 80 percent ice covered. The route down to the lake is snow covered and would best be accomplished with an ice axe. Given the snow conditions and how much we'd enjoyed the hike up to this point, we made the decision to turn around and make it a point to return later this summer.

A great, underrated hike!

Started off with a beautiful morning. Hiked 3 miles in, to the Boulder Lake trailhead, (See Appleton Pass for description.), then 2.8 miles up to the lake. The trail is in excellent shape, with a few trees across the trail. None of the trees were hard to get around. The trail does gain some elevation, but maintains a decent grade. The lake is totally melted out with very little snow on the ground. It is a crystal-clear lake with trout in it. Flowers were abundant.

I also hiked another ½ mile, up the Happy Lake trail to Happy Lake Ridge. And was I happy I did! More flowers abundant, with bear grass waving in the wind. If you hike from Boulder Lake, up this trail until you stop gaining elevation, and then go straight up onto the ridge, you can follow the ridge back towards Mt. Boulder (southwest), and you will shortly come to an open area with spectacular views of the eastern Olympics, Mt. Boulder, Mt. Appleton, and Mt. Carrie. On the western side of the ridge, you look down on the Solduck watershed. This trail is also in excellent shape.

On my way out, I met a backcountry ranger packing in. In talking to her I asked when she thought the upper end of the Appleton Pass trail would be cleared of windfall. She told me that everything is melting out simultaneously, and that the trail crews were swamped. I guess they will get to it in time. I also met a gentleman visiting from West Virginia, who asked where he could hike to, to see snow. He thought it quite amazing that there could still be snow in the mountains in July.

Another great hike in the Northwest!

Mount Pilchuck could have been great hike except for the bear **Yes BEAR.. We figured to get up there and back sown before it got unbearably hot. We arrived at the trailhead and signed in by about 7:45.Am. After about a mile we came across a bear (I would guess about 250 lbs or more.) We first saw it from about 25 feet away or so lying across the trail. We attempted to pass by waiting for it to run off, but it was clear it wouldn't. We backed down the hill with the bear following for about a half mile (talk about slow going) until it was gone, then continued toward the car at a good clip. Just when we were pretty confident it was gone, it came down from an above switchback to the trail a few feet behind us. It seemed to discontinue it's pursuit when we came to several other groups of hikers. We went to the Ranger station at Verlot where they assured us the animal would be dealt with (removed or destroyed) They indicated it had been around for about a month. It's just getting too aggressive now.

Clearly someone has fed it because it has no fear of humans. I doubt the people feeding it realize they may have caused its demise.

Best of luck

this may be the most beautiful alpine lake in the verlot public service center area. the trailhead is just 2 miles from the ranger station, so it is very easy to get to.

the trail, however, is root covered, muddy up high, has various little streams passing over it, and is over-grown a bit in spots.

the forest that it passes thru is one of the loveliest ones, full of 2nd generation ancient trees. there is a bit of exposure along the trail.

after the forest, there is a long switchback thru a talus field. up top is the saddle that leads to the lake.

there is supposed to be both rainbow and eastern trout in the lake.

After a long Saturday on Grand Ridge, we were ready for a short, but rewarding hike. It was tempting to stay on Dungeness Spit near the campsite, but the peaks beckoned.

We parked at the base of the short Switchback Trail, which leads sharply up from the Hurricane Ridge Road, 1.5 miles before the lodge. A quick sweat up led to a junction with the Klahahne Ridge trail, where we turned left and ambled back towards Hurricane Ridge. In a half-mile, a junction with a small wooden sign perhaps once pointed climbers up to the right to Mt. Angeles, but these days, there is a better, alternate path 100' before the sign that avoids some large downed trees.

This path is obviously an example of what Harvey Manning describes as a ""climber's trail"" and it dispenses with soft, wimpy conveniences like switchbacks and rockets straight up the west side of Mt Angeles, past some large meadows with fabulous views of Carrie and Olympus. As the path flattens after a mile, at a jumble of rocks, it seems to dissipate in a series of non-commital wanderings across meadow and rockfall towards the base of Mt. Angeles.

Do not be fooled, intrepid scrambler. My Dad and I took the most logical-looking route, straight up an obvious fan of rocky debris emanating from a narrow gully descending from the SW side of the summit. Its right there, in your face, how could it not be the right gully?

Bad idea. As I climbed rotting rock with both hands and both feet and both knees, I somewhat doubted that this was worthy of inclusion in Washington's 100 Best Scrambles--not to mention doubting our ability to descend this couloir. And indeed, once we gained a small saddle, SW of the summit, we found that there was no way up without a rope or a death wish, and the way down was fraught with loose pebbles, eroded dirt, and crumbling handholds.

I resorted to past experience, and turned to face the gully, and downclimbed gingerly. Anything less prudent would have sent me careening on my arse down onto the rockfall below. As my Scottish Dad remarked: ""This is a wee bit o' spice"". Once down safely to a cluster of ground-hugging shrubs, we regrouped. Now what? I remembered the Scrambles book as mentioning a level traverse around the Western corner of the mountain. So maybe we had not yet turned that magic corner, had not traversed enough.

So we traversed some more, to our right, through some wind-beaten trees, and spotted another trail wandering up from the meadow below. This then followed a few pink ribbons up through distinctly easier terrain, needing the use of some hands and feet, ploughing through some dense shrubbery, but mostly consisting of a simple steep pull uphill. Bearing left at a cliff, we came to a narrow gully angling to the right towards what had to be the summit. There is a small chockstone lodged in the jaws of this gully, which makes for a thrilling little exposed step up onto a short rocky slope, to the summit and the register tube.

Beyond, to the NE, a couple of intrepid punters from Long Island, NY scrambled up rock spires on the Mt Angeles ridge, and I took their picture with Mt. Baker and Dungeness Spit behind, to send to them later, should they survive their tennis shoe efforts. Looking south only confirmed that we had originally been way out of our league attempting the south ridge of Mt. Angeles.

We were down to the car within 4.5 hours of starting. If you don't screw up as we did, and stay way left of that first obvious gully, count on a possible 3-hour roundtrip, and an amazing reward for so little work. Bring good boots and experienced friends.

This is actually considered a ""scramble"". It is best to start Tipsoo Lake, just west/south of Chinook Pass. When one looks at the lake the peak is on the left, there is an unofficial, ""social"" trail up to the summit. It is about 1 mile and 1000 ft up. The ""social"" trail sometimes fades out as one hikes up moderately steep grassy slopes that plateau's out in 3 spots. As you climb up bear to the left around the mt. After the 3rd uphill stretch you come to an obvious gully, scramble up this gully approximately 100ft. Go through, crawl under the obvious, lonely tree at the top of the gully. You are now on an obvious ridge. Go straight head, through some small trees, down 1 step, about 2 ft down onto obvious trail. Follow this trail to the right, in 10 min you are on summit. There are a few bolders to scramble over/under onto the summit. No ""exposure"". Great views of Rainier & Adams. We had a wonderful, warm sunny day. 1hr up, 30 min down.

Flowers around Sunrise are at or in some cases just past their prime. Magenta paintbrush and showy Jacob’s ladder steal the show, but there are dozens of others. We were most excited by bracted lousewort and birdsbeak lousewort, and spent a long time stopping at every new cluster of unusual flowers. Also fun to watch marmots chasing one another over the snow. Black flies and mosquitoes were pretty bad at Shadow Lake, and also annoying on the top of First Burroughs except those welcome moments when the wind was blowing. This was a very hot day, in the upper 80s even above Sunrise.

Only a few patches of snow on the trail direct from Sunrise, and each has a well-worn rut that many people followed safely in tennis shoes. No snow at all on the south side of the ridge, and the views of Rainier are fabulous. The masses of climbers on the way up to or down from Camp Schurman looked like busy ants.

Wow! Very hot up at the top and little wind. Very pleasant trip up with many wild flowers out to enjoy - avalanche lillies, indian paintbrush ,etc. We were looking for some snow but it was long gone when we arrived. Road was open all the way to the top to enjoy the beauty of Mt. Rainier which was right there to almost touch! A bit dusty going up and down the road. Well worth the trip! Go for a picnic to enjoy the wildflowers!

Follow Hwy 20 east to Marblemount and continue straight over the bridge onto Cascade River Rd for 13 miles and drive up FS Road 1570 as far as possible. Blown over trees require you to hike about 1.5 miles to the trailhead, adding extra mileage to a very long day.

I recommend this climb as an overnighter. Even though it is only 11 miles round trip, the scrambles books estimates 11 hours to summit. Yet the book also made the leap to 11-12 total hours trip time if you are in good condition. 6.5 hours in, we were ony a mile from the summit but it was already 3:30. The steep trail the first two miles and the third mile of difficult route finding in the trees slowed the process. Along the ridge to cyclone lake, we hiked up and down along the ridge, losing significant elevation at times.

The mountain and surrounding glaciers are incredible. Luckily, it was a beautiful day and we still had commendable views of the north cascades and Rainer from the ridge to the SE of Cyclone lake, still frozen over. The summit was in reach, but we did not feel like bivying or descending the steep trail in the dark. We turned around at 4:30 and got back around 8:30 exhausted. Bring lots of water on this one and try camping at Cyclone lake overnight.

With our friends, Stephen and Robin, we headed out to the Eastern slope for hike up to the old lookout on Polallie Ridge. The first mile or so follows the Pete Lake trail and fairly flat until you hit the junction with the Tired Creek trail. Taking a right there we gained a few hundred feet to the old logging road. Take a right on the logging road and walk about a hundred feet or so to where the Tired Creek trail continues on up the slope. There is a sign on a tree and a cairn on the road to mark the way. We were amazed at the number of bugs! We've never seen it so buggy this late in July on the Eastern side of the Cascades. Past the logging road, the trail heads uphill at a grade that provides a good workout. The total elevation on this hike is only 2,600', but it is concentrated in the middle section of the hike. At about 5,000', the trail flattens out and wanders through some beautiful meadows with lots of wildflowers and some great views of the surrounding peaks and Mt. Rainier start to present themselves. The trail then heads uphill again for the last few hundred feet to the remains of the old lookout tower. Once again, it was Bugville! We had thought that gaining the ridge at 5,400', plus some breeze would put us in a bugfree zone. NOT! So, even with 80 degree temperatures, we zipped on our pant legs and put on long sleeve tops to eat lunch. However, this didn't prevent us from enjoying the beautiful scenery and the great weather.

Got to the Hurricane ridge parking lot early (~10 AM)to do a short walk up the Klahane Ridge trail to Switchback trail intersection and back down. Quite a few people on this gorgeous Sunday, but only a drop in the bucket compared to the hordes later. Only one tiny snow patch left on the trail. No bugs at all. The flowers are magnificent right now. Fields of avalanche lilies at their peak. Lupine, wallflowers, paint brush, penstamons, mountain owl clover, etc. etc. etc. Spectacular views. Easiest flower hike I know of.

Jim and I met Kevin and Matthew, Kevin’s 15-year old son, Saturday morning at the Frontier Village Starbucks. Jim and I were planning a weekend trip, with an ascent of Black Mountain on Sunday. Kevin and Matthew were going to accompany us to base camp at Lake Byrne for a nice day hike that sunny, warm Saturday.

The trail was in great shape, and we enjoyed a delightful hike through the forest along the White Chuck River, with plenty of queen’s cup, bunchberry, and vanilla leaf along the trail. We could hear the hiss and roar of the milky white water of the White Chuck crashing through the boulders below us.

The crux of this portion of the trip was crossing Kennedy Creek. The bridge had washed out sometime in the past, but two logs had managed to deposit themselves at a convenient crossing point for the creek. The Forest Service re-routed the trail to intercept these logs, cross the creek, and then adjoin with part of an abandoned trail to Kennedy Hot Springs. They are good logs, a solid 2 to 2.5 feet in diameter, but with the swift current beneath them, and the logjams just downstream of them, it is a dicey crossing. We called them “strainers” in kayaking, because water goes through them, but you don’t. With my heavy pack, I wasn’t very excited about crossing on these dicey logs, but somehow managed to walk the scary 30 feet. We all managed to get across without incident, but my legs were shaky from adrenaline by the time I safely and thankfully reached the opposite bank.

There were a few people at the hot springs, but I couldn’t imagine soaking in the hot water on such a warm morning. Jim and I kept a slow but steady pace up the first switchbacks, but lost the trail in a swath of avalanche debris with some snow patches, and wound up bushwhacking too high on the hillside. On the descent, we figured where we went wrong. About 100 yards up to a snow bench, cut sharp right and pick up the trail where the creek exits the avalanche debris, in about 40 yards.

The trail is sporadically snow-free to elevation 4900, where the snow is fairly continuous. At the lake, I found a nice level snow-free patch of dirt to put two bivy sacks on to call home for the night. The backcountry loo is also snow free, but the trail to it is partially snow covered. It took us six hours to get from the trailhead to camp. It was 4:00 in the afternoon, we had plenty of time to relax before dinner, so we enjoyed some hang-out time in the sun, savoring the view from the lake. Glacier Peak dominated the view across the valley, towering an awe-inspiring 5,000 feet above our camp, just four miles away as the crow flies. We aspired to climb Black Mountain, which was not visible from our camp. The lake was still frozen, but our small camp spot near the outlet stream was snow free. There were no other people at the lake - we had it to ourselves. By dinner time the mosquitoes came out in force. It was cooler then, and we could at least put some impenetrable clothes on. However, getting into our bivy sacks in sleep clothes for the night without letting any of the bloodthirsty buggers in was a comical exercise.

The next day Jim and I set off to climb Black Mountain, but I turned back, not comfortable with the traverse to the peak. Jim continued on, and his account of the ascent is presented in a separate Trip Report.

Jim returned to camp after a successful summit climb. We assembled our gear, and packed up for the hike out to the car. The descent was uneventful. We got a bit disoriented in the area where the forest service re-routed the trail to the log crossing.

Four and a half hours after we left camp at the lake, we were at the trailhead and the cars. Our feet ached, and our legs were like rubber. It was nearly 9:00 pm, and we knew it was going to be a late one. Not only that, it put us, tired and hungry, at the dining “black hole” of Darrington just before 10:00pm on a Sunday. It was not looking good for anything but gas station burritos. Nothing in Darrington, not even fast food. So it was on to Arlington. We approached the Fountain, and lo and behold, a bright blue neon “open” sign shone from the window. We got the last meal of their business day, and it was wonderful!

It was a great trip to a beautiful spot. Statistics to Lake Byrne: 16 miles, 4100 feet elevation gain round trip. It took us 6 hours to go from the trailhead to the lake, and 4.5 hours to descend from the lake to the trailhead. Snow cover began at 4900 feet.

Check the two good reports from last weekend for info on the trail as far as Marmot Pass. From there up to Buckhorn Mountain, the trail is entirely snow-free, water-free, extremely steep, and full of glorious wildflowers, especially lupine and paintbrush. And lots of other purple, yellow, white and pink things. Especially notable are some mauve colored paintbrush - something I've never seen anywhere else except up by Marmot Pass.

Bugs weren't too bad and weren't biting at all. There were some little knats and mosquitoes at Camp Mystery in the evening. Up by the pass and beyond, there were swarming flies and other large winged creatures, but again they weren't flesh eaters.

One thing of note: by 10 a.m. Saturday EVERY nice campsite was full at Camp Mystery. Most hikers seemed to have come in Friday or earlier. We were shocked that there's no box toilet up there. With around 30 campers in the area, searching for a private spot to take care of business is creating a lot of extra side trails and damage.

Someone lost a ton of gear on the trail. We're thinking it was probably horse packers, since hikers would have noticed so much stuff falling from their packs. Right in the middle of the trail we found sunglasses, a tin mug, a ladies sandal, a big buck knife, a fresh banana peel, and a full red duffle-bag. We set the stuff off to the side of the trail on the way up, planning to clean the stuff up on the way down, but it was almost already cleaned up by then (thanks to some nice hiker!). Hey packers - watch your loads - it's bad enough to have to hike around so many piles of fresh horse dung, let alone all the lost gear!

Another perfect hiking day!! We left our toddler at home and so chose Bare Mountain for our hiking date! Arrived at the trailhead around 9:45am. We donned our eucalyptus/lemon bug concotion I bought from the local hiking store just in case the bugs were out! Started off in forest up an old abandoned mining road. At about one and a quarter mile we came to Bear Creek. There were several logs on which to cross. We had no problems. Continued for another quarter of a mile crossing a foot bridge into the Alpine Lakes wilderness. The forest was very beautiful and a shady respite before our ascent into the upper meadows. In another 1/4 mile we came the first open meadow with waist to shoulder deep bracken. Luckily, trail maintenance had just been done! We took a short break around 11am looking at the surrounding peaks! What a lovely day! At 3650ft we took our first left and started now into thicker bracken. We stepped carefully to avoid falling into holes or falling over rocks. 46 or so switchbacks and 1700ft later we climbed onto the 5353ft summit. The heat had geared us down but, the upper meadows were painted a rainbow of colors by a variety of flowers! The views were spectacular...Rainier, Glacier, Snoqualmie Peaks, Olympics, Index area....There is a definite sense of isolation! The Paradise lakes were still frozen. We started down about 1:20pm and ran into a party of 3 woman and then shortly after them a lone guy. The temperature had warmed considerably! We stepped gingerly through the bracken and splashed our faces at each stream crossing. At Bear Creek we dunked our heads. We arrived back at the car around 3:30pm. No problems with bugs. They were there but, no bites! 8miles and 3250 ft. gain! Perfect hike, could have done without the 19mile drive on the gravel FS road though! Oh well, isolation comes with a price! Halley and Joey

On Saturday we went for a family hike about 3 miles up Milk Creek trail, which is in six to eight hundred year old growth rain forest, which is very beautiful. What is amazing is that only a mile away on the opposite side of the Suiattle is the Sulphur Mtn. trail, which is also old growth but because of a drastic climate change, is dry forest almost like Eastern WA. This is an amazing workout and you don't break out of the trees until way up on the ridge. Which is good because the trail is dry and ""hot"". Excellent trail for those who like to fry their calves on the way up and the quads on the way down. The blow downs are small and easy to negotiate, and the crowds are on the other trails, enjoy. Leave the kids in camp for this one, like I did.

Passed a bridge-fixing FS crew at Goat Creek...

We didn't encounter any snow on the trail till right around the treeline near Snowgrass Flats. Even then, it wasn't continuous & routefinding / slipping were not issues.

We proceeded up to the top of Old Snowy for some excellent 360 views, then camped on the snow just below the summit. Next day, we headed along the trail to Goat Lake... there were a couple snow patches on the trail, but nothing problematic. Goat Lake was still 98% frozen, but it looks like it'll start melting soon. Some people did hike the ""loop"" back along goat ridge - it looked do-able, (possibly a couple patches of steep snow) but we headed out the way we came.

All in all a great trip - no bugs, great flowers, pleasant weather & wonderful views. The only negative was a lot of people... but that doesn't bother me too much, I kind of like to see people ""out there"" - if we don't use our trails, we're more likely to lose them!

-jl

July 21-23 Headed up to Glacier Basin on Sunday, and arrived at 10am to find a portion of our group camped out there waiting for us. We went on to the base of the inter-glacier where we roped up and made our way to Camp Schurman. The inter glacier is starting to break up, even at lower spots on the glacier. Plenty of glissading paths and some of them can be misleading, especially into crevasses.

The climb down the loathed hill from Camp Curtis to the Emmons Glacier was not as bad as last year, but is melting out fast so soon there will plenty of nervousness to be had on the descent.

We stayed at emmons flats on sunday and monday night, with monday being a rest day. Insanely nice weather so we basked in the sun and played/practiced in some nearby crevasses. Watched the climbing ranger scott make a full ski descent off of the summit which was cool, especially the serac jump near the bottom.

Left camp at 11pm on monday night as the freezing level was real high, and I was leading a rope for some recent graduates from a glacier course, so some were slower than others. We wound up gaining 700 feet an hour which was fine for most, but I froze most of the time at that pace. One student fell in a hidden crevasse and got stuck at his waist, not much fun after being only one hour out of camp!

Sunrise was very much welcome as it had been a long time hiking with only headlamps (Petzl Duo's do very bad in cold climate BTW).

The crossing of the Bergschrund was fun, as it was a high throw of the ice axe, and a stem move with a crampon. After that the summit was obtained and clouds rolled in @ 6:15. The wind blew hard, but not obnoxiously. I suffered from AMS, but was still able to zombie like over to the summit register and sign in and view our other teams that had come up the DC route the day before.

Getting down was the hard part, as the snow had softened and crevasses had come into view, and some stayed buried and waiting.

After negotiating about a dozen crevasses on the way down we got packed up and made our way down the damn interglacier and towards glacier basin. From there I was happy to take off the harness and get rolling towards the cars, but that last 3.5 miles lasts forever.

All in all a good trip with good weather. Cant wait to go do it again on Aug 3-4

Images and more TR to come soon at www.nwog.org

We were looking for a shorter hike that was up near Mt. Vernon and decided that Watson Lakes would fit the bill. We got a late start, hitting the trail after 2:00. It was OK even on a hot day, however, because the lower part of the hike was mostly in shade, and the open part of the hike was mostly in snow.

The first part of the trail is in great shape, with new bridges and puncheon. There is a junction to Anderson Butte soon after you come out into the first meadow. We missed it on the way in, however, as the sign is laying on the ground. We went up to an open saddle above the first meadow, which had terrific views of Baker. The trail then gets a bit rough, heading down steeply to a second meadow and the junction for Watson and Anderson lakes. We chose Watson. This route starts up steeply to a saddle above the lake, then switchbacks down several hundred feet to the first lake.

Bugs were bad at this lake, so we hurried over to the second lake, which is much more scenic and which enjoyed a nice breeze keeping the bugs down a bit. There were fascinating patterns of melting ice floating in the lake. We had lunch (dinner?) at a nice cool spot near the outlet. Numerous waterfalls can be viewed on the ridge south of the lake.

It is a very scenic area, especially on a clear day. It is a good place for a family hike.

Ooh la la and pass the DEET.

Many of the camps over 6500' Ingall's pass in the Headlight Creek basin are melted out making for a supreme quick escape from urban reality.

I had several errands to run in downtown Seattle, so did not begin up the trail till 4:30, elev. 4200. The late afternoon climb was enjoyable - in the shade at the begining, cooler later towards the pass, at 3 miles. My light load was no doubt a help as well, limiting myself to not much more than my regular day pack plus a bivy sack and sleeping bag, 27 pounds total.

I watched the sunset on the slopes of Stewart and supped on home smoked salmon, uncooked top ramen, and jello pre-mixed with powdered milk and cremora. The moon was glorious that night on both Stewart and Ingalls.

The next morning had cold oatmeal premixed with my favorites, including peanut butter and took a quick run over to Lake Ingalls. The lake is still mostly frozen and has an almost lunar feel to it.

I decided to make a scramble loop of my return ascending the valley just below South Ingalls Peak ascending to a saddle just below point 7382, the southernmost point of the Ingall's ridge.

Climbing to here was easy, basically just a very easy snowfield walkup, never exceeding 30 degrees. The backside of this ridge is a bit messier, but was fortunate enough to find a route from up top that didn't require traversing any the crumbling cliffs. The way is just up from the saddle on 7382 and all but about 25' of the climb down to the main scree field can be seen. Views from this ridge are incredible 360 degrees. Descending along the ridge rejoining Ingall's way just before the pass is also a good route.

The scree here is of varying sizes, ranging from small toe sized to sofa cushion, and steep. I found a climbing snow shovel on the way down and will return with ID of brand and the story. Just one couple camped at shallow and clear Lake Ann below, a great alternative to the more popular Ingall's basin.

I returned to the trail head via the County Line trail, rocky, rutty, and steep, though relatively short, and the Esmeralda throughway. I arrived back at the car by 12:30 completing what was easily my best 20 hour adventure ever.

John, Brianna and I decided to hike to Grand Park yesterday. I had always heard that it is a pretty spot and after viewing it from Mt Fremont Lookout a week ago, I decided it was time. The trail was in great shape with snow patches in places.

The flowers were really just getting going. In the woods to the north of Grand Park we saw a few clumps of western coralroot, and patches of solid avalanche lillies. In the woods to the south of Grand Park the beargrass was in it's peak. Amongst the beargrass was quite a few tiger lillies, lupine and the occasional columbine.

In Grand Park itself, we saw phlox, lupine, magenta paintbrush, some lousewort opening up, cinquefoil, alpine pussytoes, lots of sitka valerian, a few ""mop heads"" / western anemone / pasqueflowers, various daisy's /asters, american bistort, and partridge foot??? - I had thought they were a buckwheat or a parsley though.

The view towards the white massive pile of rock and ice was wonderful. The climbers trail was very obvious. When are those hanging glaciers on the NW corner going to come crashing down????

Other flowers we saw were; shooting stars, heather, jacob's ladder, alpine forget-me-knots, elephanthead, marsh marigolds and I'm sure I forgot some. I did not see any white rhododendron's in bloom. Darn.

The mosquitos were out. John was afraid of getting low blood pressure due to blood loss. He did remind me of Pig Pen in the Charlie Brown cartoon - only replace the dirt with mosquitos. John was quite the popular guy with the mosquito crowd. We found that if we kept moving it was OK, thank goodness for the breezes.

I think I saw a bluebird(s). I did not have my binocs with me. All of us want to go back. Great day. By the way, Lake Eleanor was snow free.

What a great trip! Started up the Goose Prairie trail on Friday the 19th. A steady uphill trail, but not too steep. After 5 miles, I reached the ridge top of the American Ridge trail and headed west for about 1/2 mile. Dropped my pack and headed up to a beautiful viewpoint of Mt. Rainier and other surrounding peaks. Headed down the trail for another 1/2 mile and set up my tent at Kettle Lake. Much to my surprise, the bugs were not bad! (From all the trail reports I have been reading, I expected them to be horrible) Went for a dip in the (shallow) lake. The next morning I headed off for a long day trip (close to 14 miles roundtrip, I think) to reach Goat Peak. The American Ridge trail heading east is very nice, lots of up and down, and many views along the way. (Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Aix, etc.) Headed up to the top of Goat Peak which was SO worth it! 360 degree views of the whole region! (In addition to the peaks listed above, I could see Mt. Stuart, Mt. Baker and everything in between) It was so nice!! Headed back to Kettle Lake- there were a few more bugs, but nothing like I was expecting. There was no snow on either trail and I only saw two people on a day hike in the entire 3 days. Be aware that there is no water along the American Ridge trail between Kettle Lake and Goat Peak, so come prepared. A great 3 day trip... I only wish I had had more time to head further west along the American Ridge trail.

Trail is wide open all the way to Mystic Lake. A few small snow patches on the trail that are easily crossed. No significant water on trail.

Watch for rock slides along the Carbon River; my buddy nearly lost an ankle in a little slide that breached the trail.

Avalanche Lillies, False Helibor, and other wildflowers in bloom. Significant mosquitos in meadow around 5,500', few bugs above or below.

This is probably one of the most scenic and flattest hikes in Washington, so it's a good choice for anyone who's in halfway decent physical shape. The 10 mile gravel road to the trailhead is in great shape; any car should be able to make it. About a mile and a half up the trail from the trailhead, there is a steep drop-off to the river below, so use caution. I hope the Forest Service places some type of guard rail there. Also, the bridge at the Hot Springs river crossing is out, so go upstream a little ways and cross over the log jam. One doesn't really see Glacier Peak from the trail until reaching the river crossing near the Hot Springs, but there are great views of the river on the way up. One downside: there were many biting flies near the river for most of the hike as well as at the hot springs. Off! brand repellent seemed to keep them at bay.

I have read the book on Monte Cristo and all of it’s history, but doing the hike made me want to pay more attention to the details like where the streets were and the location of the mines. This first 4 miles is fairly level and is the old road. This section is easily handled with a bike with just a few washout areas that are still easily passable. There are bike racks at the entrance of the town site where you could lock them up.

Once you get into the Monte Cristo town site, there is a sign showing Silver Lake trail. This is the old trail and there is a new trail at the other end of town starting at “Sunday Flats” which is just above the ruins of the old Concentrator. The old trail, I have been told is brutal to say the least and difficult to follow, take the time to find the new trail. The new trail, while a little longer has a smooth surface and switch backs to make the climb more comfortable. There are a couple of large blow downs on the trail. With the snow pack melting late this year, I encountered snow at Poodle dog pass. The trail down to Silver lake is 75% snow and the trail is difficult to follow. Just follow the foot prints and you’ll come to the lake. This whole section is easily traversed. I did find one nice campsite that could handle two tents overlooking the lake and the outflow. It was dry and level. I then proceeded back up to Poodle Dog pass and followed the foot prints in the snow up to Twin lakes. The first ½ mile of the trail is 60% snow, but the next mile was only about 20% snow covered. I turned around at about 1.5 miles at a steep section that was snow covered and I didn’t have an ice axe for a safe crossing. The views point at about ¾ of a mile is spectacular and worth the hike. The trail is narrow and becoming overgrown with knee high berry bushes.

Three adults and 9 scouts made it to the summit on July 21. We spent the night of the 19th at Cold Springs campground (which wasn't full to our suprise, even when we arrived at 8 PM on a Friday.) We moved up to Lunch Counter for the 20th.

Here are some things to help you with your planning: No water right at Cold Springs Campground. Great water source on trail 183 at 6500ft, about 2 1/2 miles in. Good campsites on the ridgetops near there. There are some places to camp near the junction of the round-the-mountain trail, and lots of revegetation sites to avoid. At Lunch Counter you can choose to camp on snow or sand/small rock. There are some nice snow melt creeks running.

The weather was warm and sunny with snow conditions changing quickly. Crampons are nice early in the morning, but become fairly useless later in the day. Watch out for folks who don't know what they were doing, we nearly got swept off a trail when someone lost control above us on a side slope.

I think we were able to get our large group (with scouts ranging in age from 12 to 16) to the top because we had practiced our ice axe skills, we were constantly drinking water and snacking, and we rested frequently. We paced ourselves, used our rest step and pressure breathing. We worked as a team and enjoyed the view from the summit and the glissade chutes on the way down!

The road seems better than last year, didn't bottom out at all with low clearance.

Looks like there are some big improvements being made to the trail, something like a boardwalk through the upper woods section. Looked like a lot of work.

This trail was in late spring condition, with the first snow opposite the major river crossing after leaving the woods. Not a difficult crossing, though.

Higher on the trail, beginning just before the rightward traverse across the meadow, there are several snow bridges to keep you thinking. Snow covers about 75% of the trail up there, including a couple moderately steep gullies that the rangers warn about. An ice axe, or at least trekking poles, is a good idea. There are also lots of creeks sharing the same space as the trail through this section. It's nearly solid snow once you round the corner and start heading left toward the lookout.

There's snow at the saddle below the lookout, but the steeper northeast-facing rock section to the top looked melted out. We opted for Hidden Lake Peak, slightly higher than the lookout, and outstanding views.

I lost a lens filter in a deep crack between the boulders at the summit, never to be seen again, and I saw a pencil from the new summit register down deep out of reach. Hold onto your valuables up there, or don't take them out of your pack.

A gorgeous sunny Sunday means lots of hikers at Mt. Pilchuck. Drove up the 7-mile road amongst a long line of cars slowly making their way up to the trailhead. About 40 cars at the trailhead at 11am. Trail is good, patchy snow starting at 1.5 miles in, which turns into a lot of slushy snow as you get within a mile of the summit. Some parts are slippery. There is some snow melt flowing in certain parts of the trail if water is needed.

Hiking was slow going because of the traffic jams on the trail - families, and many dogs off leash. One growled at some kids and another barked wildly at other dogs. The bugs are horrendous - they bite and suck blood. Wearing bug repellant with DEET didn't help at all. It got so bad closer to the top that I couldn't eat my sandwich because the bugs were trying to fly in my mouth. The worst I've seen this year. There was a warning sign of a bear on the trail but did not see any bears. Returned to the parking lot to see about 80 cars. There were probably 200-300 people on Pilchuck that day. Overall, we still had great views.

Many people on a hot day. Bugs start around the rockslide traverse and are pretty bad on up through the alpine zone. Also lots of big snow patches, mud, and large amounts of water on the trail once in the alpine. But many hundreds of people were still making the trek, some in tevas. Snow is melting fast causing some postholing and snowbridge breaking issues - use caution.

Chokwich Falls

I was looking for a short hike without much elevation and picked one out of the new ""Roads to Trails Northwest Washington"" guide by WTA and Ira Spring. This little hike is perfect for a hot day. The hike begins on the Upper Elliott Creek trail. The Lower Elliott Creek trail is the rebuilt old trail -- the more scenic route to Goat Lake. Hikers can make a loop trip to the lake but the upper trail is a bit longer. Goat Lake is a scenic and popular destination and on Sunday the parking lot was full with many cars parked along the road.

The hike begins on the Upper Elliott Creek trail. It's about a mile to the signed junction (more trail-like than road-like). The forest is pretty and cool with goats beard and fox gloves blooming along the trail and alders crowding in where they can. There are a few tantalizing glimpses of the Monte Cristo peaks (Sloan, Pugh, Del Campo) -- enough to whet the appetite and make you want to return on a cooler day. From the junction it's about a mile to Chokwich Falls (spelled Chocwich in the guidebook, Chokwich on the Green Trails map, No. 111 Sloan Peak). This is a refreshing spot for a break. Getting across the creek is easy -- there are big rocks to step on.

If you want you can continue from the falls another 1-1/4 mile to Bedal Creek (I wanted to). This stretch was in worse shape - I suspect most hikers stop at the falls. Alders are obliterating some sections of tread while some segments are still in fairly good condition. I moved a few small trees off the trail and some of the alder branches blocking the path. Some very brushy sections are encountered near Bedal Creek but it's friendly brush (nothing with stickers) and hikers can get through unscathed. Just before Bedal Creek there is a very pretty section of road that is entirely covered with moss and tiny flowers. The book says you may be able to ford Bedal Creek and continue to FS Road No. 4096. The crossing looked doable but I was alone and no one knew where I was so I turned around.

It is about 5 miles round trip to Bedal Creek with about 800 feet elevation gain. To the falls it's about 400 feet. Chokwich Falls is a short and pleasant hike that offers quiet beauty and solitude. The trail from the waterfall to Bedal Creek may soon be impossible to follow if more hikers don't get on this trail soon.

Karen

Do you like lot’s of people ? Do you like mosquitoes ? Then head to Royal Basin!!! You will enjoy plenty of both.

As usual, the scenery is great, but the blood suckers, and the crowds make this an “after Labor Day” hike. The lake is warm enough to swim in, the upper basin is as pretty as ever, but there are plenty of other places to go now, and save this for later.

Hit the trail on Friday early afternoon - butterflys everywhere. No snow patches until just before meadows. Tried to make it to upper campsites but thwarted by raging river! Camped lower meadow, could have been a bug frenzy but heaven sent wind kept them at bay. Eight point buck wandered into camp that night.

River crossing easier in early day, made it to sublime campsites at the bottom of Spider Glacier by early afternoon Saturday. Trail mostly clear but snowy patches at switchback temporarily confused our group.

From upper campsite followed cairns up ridge to avoid spooky spider glacier. Largely clear with some soft snowfields. Peered over Spider Gap to marvel at Lyman lakes, snowfields and just a pinch of the glacier.

Hiking out was slightly buggy. Not many horses yet. Lots of hikers, some with snowboards!

Last week we tried skiing here, which was a bit silly, though we did get a few short runs in. Given the great weather we opted for a re-match, this time with hiking boots. There were a lot more cars this week, though it seems that nearly everyone stops at the first viewpoint, so the hike out the Divide was quite peaceful. The views get better and better along the ridge, and the trail's twists and turns serve up many great views during the hike.

There is plenty of lingering snow, but we found that our ice axes just added a little unnecessary ""training weight"" as there were no exposed traverses or anything like that. The flies are busy enjoying the view along with the few hikers who wander out the ridge.

There are glacier lillies everywhere, the heather is blooming, and the lupine is starting to come out.

We followed the Divide to the southern high point, and then turned left for a short bit along the ridge that continues toward Baker. We found fields of red paintbrush where this ridge starts to drop down to an alpine meadow area just before Chowder Ridge. WOW!

BLACK MOUNTAIN July 20-21, 2002

Laura and I hiked up to Lake Byrne on Saturday and camped on a ridge overlooking Glacier Peak. Sunday morning, under cloudless skies, we left our camp and headed south toward 7262-foot Black Mountain. After crossing the east-facing basin south of Lake Byrne, we reached a 6100-foot saddle at the far end. This saddle gave us our first full-on view of Black Mountain's impressive north side, with its Shuksan-esque summit pyramid crowning a high, snowy plateau that spills over steep faces to form several handsome snowfields held between rock ribs. We speculated that the snowfield spilling down the northwest face might be a nice route, although it looks quite steep and Beckey states that its climbing details are unknown. The first problem to tackle, however, was actually getting to the northwest face, as the ridge extending between our saddle and the peak looked a bit uninviting. Laura decided to call this splendid viewpoint her turn-around spot, so she headed back to the lake while I reconnoitered the route ahead.

From the saddle, I backtracked several hundred yards, then climbed straight up a snow finger to a 6200-foot notch in the ridge above Lost Creek. Vertical cirque walls on the western side prevented a direct descent into Lost Creek's upper basin, but a steep heather slope to the northwest allowed me to scrabble down. I crossed the basin floor at 5500 feet, then climbed southward through a gap in a west-trending rock rib (per Beckey). A rising traverse across heather and snow slopes brought me to a south-facing cliff band, which at first looked impassible. However, I discovered a heathery cleft that offered an easy descent on goat paths, depositing me onto a large snow slope at 6200 feet. Black Mountain's northwest face loomed directly ahead. I climbed the snowfield straight up the center and was treated to a comfortable ascent of moderate (30- to 35-degree) inclination, followed by a short Class 2 scramble up the summit pyramid.

Summit views are dominated by Glacier Peak, which fills the northeastern skyline in a ""wide-screen format,"" but Kololo Peak, Tenpeak Mountain, Sloan Peak, and Mt. Pugh are also near at hand. Unfortunately, the more distant peaks were washed out by the hazy air. I could not find a summit register at first, then spotted a film canister nestled between rocks. The few bits of paper inside indicated that John Roper's party had left the canister in 1987. Only four other parties had signed in afterwards, including Mike Torok's group and Greg Koenig (solo) in 2001. I suspect that there have been other summiteers who failed to find the tiny register. I left it conspicuously inside a small summit cairn.

My descent was highlighted by a 1000-foot boot glissade down the northwest face, and lowlighted by a punishingly hot 700-foot climb back up the Lost Creek cirque. I arrived back at Lake Byrne depleted of water and feeling quite parched. Like an angel of mercy, Laura greeted me with a big smile and a big bottle of cold water! Aaahh….it was a wonderful alpine climb in a true wilderness area.

Stats (from Lake Byrne): 7 miles RT, 4300 feet gained, 4.75 hours up, 2 hours down.

The trail to Crystal Lakes is in excellent form, with no snow up to the pass on the way trail above the upper lake. Flowers are making a great show and the views of The Mountain were stupendous. Bugs were definitely present although the Off! repellent seemed to work pretty well. A few light breezes helped also. Through the pass above the lakes we peeked over at Sourdough Gap; no snow there on the northside. You can make a nice, long loop starting at the lakes and hiking to Chinook Pass (with a car shuttle). Start early on this hike. Although there are trees almost to the lower lake, the hillside gets warmish. And don't expect to have the place to yourself. Very popular hike.

FYI there were cars broken into at the trailhead overnight belonging to backpackers camped at the lakes. Too bad. Also, a no,no -- dogs ARE NOT allowed on Park trails. I've run into three parties recently with dogs in the Park. There is a fine according to the ranger we spoke to today.

Crystal Lakes is a beautiful place and one of my favorite hikes off of Hwy 410.

Already several reports on this trail, but I'll chime in anyways. This was the first time I had ever been up this trail, and was doing so to see the widflowers (on recommendation of several other reports in the DB plus the FS rec report). The flowers are great, in a very spread out way. On W side of cascades you might see no flowers for 3 miles of walking thru the hemlocks and suddenly come across a meadow so bright with flowers it makes the sky look a funny color when you look away. Here on the E side, the flowers weren't all packed together like that due to rocky dry soil, but some kind of flower will be your constant trailside companion through the entire hike. And in that way the flower show was definitely worth the price of admission. Next time the book with the flower color plates for ID gets packed. Bugs not bad. Mighty hot though which might have cooked some bugs for us. Parking lot was not too badly packed. The problem with this lot is that this single lot shares access to both the Basin and Ingalls Way (which in turn accesses basically the entire upper Ingalls Creak by connecting trails). Then add on 75% of the climbers attempting Stuart on any given weekend. And to top it all off the creek cascades right above the lot seem to be an attactant for many of the folks who have car camped anywheres along the road and are just there to splash for an hour. Prima facie of one of my biggest beefs with the trail pass system: you have to look long and hard to find a trail in the Cascades that has gotten even a slightly bigger or better parking lot, independently of having had the trail itself rerouted (and usually if the trail HAS been rerouted it is typically for no other reason than to reach the new parking lot and thus adding on pointless yards or even miles). Most lots are still the same size as they were originally bulldozed to when the roads were brought up to FS grade during/after all the logs were taken out.

The trail is in good shape all the way to Rachel Lake. Roots rocks and a steep final mile + of trail were rewarded by a great waterfall about 3/4 of a mile from the lake and languid lunch at the lake.

The initial 2 to 2.5 miles of trail is reasonably flat and easy to hike. The last up to the lake is not as easy but enjoyable as the views increase down box canyon creek and the surrounding peaks.

Harvey Manning does not do justice to the enchanting falls on upper box canyon creek. They are truly sublime as well as a great air-conditioner on a hot day. It was the highlight of this trip, that and talking about Thailand with a fellow Thai-pile at the lake.

There were some bugs at the lake. KT got several bites but I managed to escape the nasty critters this time.

Several groups went swimming in the lake and the water seemed warm in the shallows.

R/T to Gladys divide 20 Miles, 4500'gain

Trail Conditions: The trail is well maintained all the way up to Flapjack Lakes, with the exception of a couple of minor blow downs. The trail from Flapjack to Gladys has some spotty snow from the basin on up to the pass. There is still quite a bit of rotten snow on the ridges above Gladys...which should be melted away soon.

Wildlife: Two bears were spotted at the lakes in the evening by the ranger and a large bear was spotted at the junction of Skokomish and Flapjack trails...of course I didn't see them. I did see an Osprey dipping into the lake for it's dinner, and a yearling dear.

This is a nice hike, but if it weren't for the views up at the divide, I don't know if it would be worth the steep climb up. This is a reservation only camp and the rangers check everyone that is up there. One last thing...BUGS, BUGS, BUGS!!!! Mostly SWARMS of mosquito's...bring a tent and lots of bug goo.

The trail is in good condition, but there's still a bit of snow on it. There are two snowbridges at about two thirds of the hike and some larger snowfields at the top. One should proceed with caution on the snowbridges, I'd even recommend ice gear. Please note that there's a chance they'll break underneath you. Once you get to the snowfields, follow boot tracks - if there weren't any, we would have had a hard time guessing where the trail might go. There's no water on the trail, so make sure you carry enough. There were lots of mosquitos along the way.

The views from the top are impressive! You should pick a windy spot up there, so you'll enjoy a break from the bugs.

Perfect clear and hot day for a trip to the lookout. Bridge is installed on second creek crossing. First creek crosing no problem. Third creek crossing is a problem, high water levels. Look downstream for a log across the stream. Note by the end of the day water is running over the log. Solid snow (2 feet) when you hit the upper meadows. Hard to find the trail to the lookout. Passed 3 dozen climbers headed up baker. Lots of mud and horse flies on the trail.

Hail! My favorite forgotten trail is Martin Creek. The first half of the trail was mancuired nicely. But get almost 3/4 the way it becomes very overgrown. Me and my friends are used to this. But the blowdowns are covering parts of the trail. The biggest thing we saw was close to the end, a place we call FernGully! I would think this area is at the true 3/4 way to the trail's end campspot. Right on the trail was a bears territory marker. Looked to be a young black bear. The tree was small and claw marks were'nt bigger than my own hand. Bark torn off tree down to the base. With the thickness of the brush overgrowing the trail at this spot makes it pretty scary. After 23 trips down this trail and all points around it at the end, we have never seen bear tracks/signs. Other than that, the trail is in perrrfect condition. The current state of the trail is the way we like it! Keeps the whiners off it.

The trail to the former lookout site (1 mile from trailhead at 2800') is in excellent shape. It doesn't appear to be travelled much.

Beyond the lookout a trail continues up the ridge, much steeper. Follow blazes. A few hundred vertical feet above the lookout site is a scramble section. The rest of the way to the summit of Painted (Red) Mt is non technical. There is a little snow, melting fast, on the way to the top.

I left my sun-worshipping partner at Painted, and traversed the easy walkway to Magenta Peak (Pt 6735). Quite a bit of snow on that route.

There are a few bugs in the area, and the air was hazy with smoke from the Chelan fire.

Wow - this was my first time hiking up the Teanaway area and this was an awesome hike. Unfortunately, it appears that many others think so as well as the parking lot resembled a mall more so than a trailhead (with cars lining the side of the road well down from the trailhead by the time we returned at 3pm). Nonetheless, this hike is well worth the effort; go mid-week to avoid some of the crowds.

The trail climbs steadily from the TH (a few mosquitos here, but very few once you get on the trail) to a fabulous viewpoint at Fortune Creek Pass (3.3 mi); along the way enjoy the many wildflowers and snow lined Esmeralda Basin valley. Many stream crossings along the way, all of which are easy - no need for gortex boots on this trail. For bigger views we looked for a trail up the north ridgeline (as described in The Mountaineers book) but found nothing. Instead we descended back .4 miles to the intersection with the county-line trail and headed up again to the Lake Ann overlook. This section of trail is a bit more difficult with steeper sections and some loose scree, but should be doable by most people. Midway up the views open up to the south - including an awesome view of Mt. Rainier framed by the nearby peaks. The flowers along the way are also outstanding, more sub-alpine varieties here than at the lower elevations.

We opted not to descend to Lake Ann as the it is a steep descent and the lake is probably better described as a small pond than a lake - not too spectacular, although the adjacent ice melt makes for a nice picture.

Solitude can be found on a Grand Ridge summer Saturday--despite the dozen cars at the Deer Park trailhead. The trail is entirely snow-free, and the meadows are in full bloom. We cut up to the E top of Maiden Peak from the first large meadow--a steep, but very short scramble. We then nipped along the top of the ridge to Maiden Peak proper, while trying to decide what she would be called in the Highlands of Scotland--A'Maighdean was the consensus. We encountered skiiers--oh the insanity--who were packing their skis and alpine boots along the trail in order to get a few runs in down the north side of Grand Ridge. They were huffing mightily in the heat.

From Maiden, its an airy ridge walk down to a windy saddle, then up shale slopes steeply to the Elk Mountain ridge, where you finally lose the Deer Park crowd and see the most intrepid of the Obstruction Peak day-tripping punters wondering how much further they should venture in their tennies.

We crossed the slope up to Elk Mountain's east end, and walked the high meadows, dropping down past Elk Mountain to nip up to a nice looking outlier with a thick snowpatch in its lee. Here, Mts. Olympus and Carrie were massively present on the horizon, and to the north, beyond Victoria and the San Juans, the crest of the BC Coast Range shimmered. We could see the Strait of Juan de Fuca all the way out to Cape Flattery, it seemed.

We turned back, retracing our steps not along the ridge crest, but on the proper trail, getting fresh views now of Buckhorn, Mt. Townsend, Mt Baker, and north Puget Sound. And in the end, a punishing short slog through a recent burn brought us back up to the car at about mile 13.5. If you can, do this one way--but then, if you do, you miss out on enjoying the ridge for a whole, long day... (6.5 hours RT from Deer Park to Elk Mtn and back, with long lunch stop)

Followed the route description in 75 Scrambles, and recommend sticking with that - it made good sense.

Only a few insignificant snow patches on the way up to Ingalls Pass. Though the day was very warm, there were no bugs until we got to the Pass. DEET kept them at bay while we donned our gaiters, and they were not a problem at all anywhere else.

Lots of snow at all levels in Headlight Basin, but most campsites are clear, and the trail to the Lake is readily hiked, though in a couple of places there are weak or broken snow bridges that should be bypassed – take a stick and if any doubt, test the snow before walking on it. From the trailhead it was about 2 ½ hours to the Lake, where the shore is all snowed in. There were a few openings in the ice near the edge of the lake. The ice is breaking up fast: in the morning, probably 90% ice, by late afternoon, probably only 75%.

From the slabs at the SW corner of the lake, we (and a couple other parties) just followed our noses up nice sticky rock and increasingly steep snow to the dogtooth. Snow was pretty rotten the higher we got (ice axes definitely advised!), and one pair of hikers without axes stopped at the dogtooth. The other 3 went on leftward, up easy talus to the saddle between North and South Ingalls, and we did too. The three split up into 2 and 1, got separated on the climb around the big rock formation just south of the saddle, and didn’t continue to the summit.

From the saddle, we found a well-defined track down through the talus and to the left (south) on the west side of the ridge, which we followed (probably too short a distance) until we turned uphill and scrambled on some crumbly and exposed boulders into the first (obvious) gully. Definitely needed two hands and some good nerves to do this traverse into the gully; it would not be for everyone, but we liked its looks much better than getting to the “black crack” through the middle of the rock formation described in some reports. Once in the gully, it was pretty straightforward and more protected, though one had to be careful with the loose rock and a couple of large mantling moves.

Once up the gully, most of the walk to the summit is on a broad open slope. As you near the final summit rock, stay to the left (east) to avoid steep final cliffs. Our time was about 1:40 from the lake to the summit.

On the descent we improved our route by following the gully down farther before taking a right turn and heading north back to the saddle. Though we had to descend a steep snow finger in this lower part of the gully, the snow was soft and there was room for a boot in the moat between the snow and the rock on the north border of the gully.

We descended from the dogtooth on snow fields and heather, angling to the right to rejoin the hiking trail more to the south rather than at the Lake. This would probably have been an easier and somewhat shorter way up had we spotted the place where the route ascended from the trail. It leaves the trail at a narrow heather slope just north of a stream crossing in the final basin before the hiking trail climbs up the last headwall before the lake; looking up directly to the left from the trail at that point, you can see only a very jagged rock formation on the Ingalls South ridge south of the summit. But any route that gets you to the dogtooth seems like it would work out fine.

We never did see how to get from the summit to the reportedly “easy” walk along the south ridge, nor did the route along that ridge look simple, as there were some seemingly jagged cliffs that appeared to force the route down into talus. Perhaps with more snow it would have been apparent and straightforward.

We saw very fresh bear tracks heading straight up the snow finger we descended from the summit ridge to the saddle, but never saw the bear.

In all, a classic class 2-plus scramble with a great approach hike and lots of fun snow.

Trail 61 begins at the end of FS Rd 46 north of Packwood. It meanders through old growth, past Lily lake (which is mostly lily pads in the summer) and is in fairly good condition, gaining and loosing only a couple hundred feet. At 2.3 miles it intersects trail 76 which runs east (to Hwy 12 and points north) and west into the Goat Rocks Wilderness to eventually intersect trail 65. Trail 76 (Clear Lost) follows a short distance on the forest floor and then climbs steadily over a well defined, but badly in need of repair, route for approximately 4.5 miles over one ridge and up the side of the Coal Creek mountains to Lost Hat lake. A short distance from here it intersects trail 65. Going south will take you to Lost Lake. This route should be traveled in mid-to-late August to allow the snow fields to melt off. I tried, with a small group, in late July and was met by numerous large snow fields that made route finding difficult. Glorious views of the Goat Rocks area and Mt Rainier, as well as the many wild flowers, can be had on this trek. Estimated time to travel: 6 hours.

This is such a wonderful trail. It has such a wilderness feel to it and only 60 minutes from Seattle. The trail along Gold Creek was snow free and we only had to take our boots off once to get across Silver Creek. The campsite, 3 miles in, is wonderful right along the creek. There are other ""campsites"" along this creek, especially if you are willing to camp on the gravel bars. That's the good news. The bad news is that at ~4.5 miles, the trail to Alaska Lake becomes ""not maintained"" by the USFS. It is at this point that the trail to Alaska Lake goes straight up hill for just over a mile. It is not quite scrambling, but there is no letting up until you get to the lake. Keep looking to your left at Alaska Creek. It is a virtual waterfall as it pours down the slope. There aren't many views of it since the trail is so overgrown. Did I mention poorly marked, also? There wasn't any snow until we got to the lake which had a snow beach. A couple of good campsites and I hear that there was fish up there. The bugs were never that bad but bring your bug dope.

Tatoosh Lake is still about 1/3 covered with snow. I looked down on the lake from the bench above the lake and saw it's condition and know from experience that when the lake is like that, fishing won't be good so I didn't go down in. Two young bucks had proceeded me, and when they came back up they confirmed that I was right. Anyway, no day on the Tatoosh is a wasted day-a clear, beautiful day, incredible views and the flowers were in full display. Flies were not bad.

If you remember, last week I hiked to Noble Knob with friends via roads 70,72,7220 and 7222. This time I took my Mountaineer group to Noble Knob via road 7174. I remembered this hike after hiking it two years ago for the following reasons: 1. Views! 2. Flowers 3. and the awful road to the trailhead. My poor corolla! It's almost like driving through a creekbed in places and the potholes are huge. Just a tip: swing to the outside at the turns and go slow. At the gate there is an unusually large pothole! However, the trail is well worth the road up (or go the back way) even with a little car like mine. No one in my group, other than myself, had ever been on this hike. But I think the trip made huge fans out of all of them. We left the Bonney Lake Park and Ride at 8:45 a.m. and reached the trailhead at 10:00. We started our hike at 10:10. The first mile or so is flat. Mt. Rainier smiles upon our journey almost the entire way. We even had a peek at Mt. Adams on the way up. The flowers were just fabulous and the sky was clear and blue! We reached Noble Knob at 12:15. At the knob we could see Mt. Rainer, Mt. Baker and the Mt. Stuart range. The bugs were a little annoying, but not too bad. I could have stayed up there for several hours. The group was just delightful and we enjoyed each other's company. The afternoon sun became really hot, but thank goodness for the breeze. We got back to our cars at 2:30 and it was off to Wapiti Woolies for a cool drink. Good hike. Good folks.

My new hound and I walked up the White River trail four miles (to Boulder Pass trail branch-off). Crews have removed all blow-downs. One even left a big industrial jack under one of the trees (tax dollars at work?). The trail is in good shape and easy to follow. We were out there early so mosquitoes were not a particular problem yet, but as soon as the sun came up over the ridge to the East they were open for business. We followed a buck's tracks for nearly the entire length of the trail. We also came across a couple of bear scats, neither of which looked fresh enough to be of concern. The dog was excited to be the only one in our neighborhood who has smelled bear poop. Quite a day for him.

Got to the trailhead early, which was good, considering the hordes of people I encountered on the way down. The waterfalls on the way up were beautiful -- a good distraction from the roots and mud on the trail. Rachel lake was pretty, but the best views were from above. Take the trail that branches off to the right and climb to the sky. It levels out in about 1/2 mile, and there you have a choice (look for the sign). To the right is Lila Lake and trails to the ridge top as well as a mountain top. To the left is the trail to the Rampart Lakes. There is a lot of snow at the intersection. I had some footsteps to follow to Rampart Lakes, but pretty much made my own trail and hoped. I was lucky.

Rampart Lakes are beautiful. Several were still pretty much frozen, but others were completely snow free. I spent a lot of time wandering around and up ridges where I got some great views down to Rachel Lake and over to Snoqualmie Pass.

Lila Lake is almost entirely frozen, but the basin is beautiful. I bushwacked up to the ridge top, where there were some great flowers and views to Ranier and Adams.

We did the Palisades on Saturday. No snow, bugs weren't too bad and, amazingly, it wasn't even crouded (counted 30 people total).

-ben wiseleyb@yahoo.com

Granite Mountain is a breeze! (except for the snow still hanging on near the top). The flowers are out, the trail is in good shape, but snow in the bowl underneath the summit is a bit steep in places for non ice-axe users. Most hikers are successfully scrambling up the rocks to the summit ridge. It takes a little bit of effort, but the high country experience and view is worth the effort. What a great hike!

A great dayhike, though there were plenty of people there given it being Saturday. The trail is dusty and dry, and once you clear the trees, you will be in beautiful alpine brush, but heed this warning: there is little shade up there and on a hot day, the unprepared hiker will find herself with too much sun. Also, most people think that when you clear the trees, you are almost at the top, but you are really only half way there. There are periodic watering holes all the way to the top, where there is still snow. Careful on the rocks at the top ! There are some that teeter underfoot.

Took an overnight trip to Necklace valley this weekend. A lovely weekend-- for once we had good luck with the weather. The trail is clear of snow to Emerald Lake (OK, maybe one small patch, but it's not long for this world), but has water in places (either mucky or stream-like). The crossing formerly known as ""dangerous"" is no longer so due to a nice log bridge with a railing (thanks, trail crews!). The last 3 miles to the lakes are pretty hot and sweaty in the sun but there are lots of places to stop and refill your water. We saw a nice campsite at Jade lake and lots at Emerald-- all snow-free.

After Emerald lake, the trail becomes more and more snowy, until after Opal it's more or less a choice of rock hopping or walking on snow (rotten in places). However, as long as you watch your footing it's definitely passable and we hiked to the valley head and gazed upon LaBohn Gap. Didn't have time to do much more than that.

Locket and Iswoot Lakes are easily accessible from Emerald-- about 10 or 15 minutes to get to each one. Didn't see nay obvious campsites on Iswoot but Locket looked like it might have some, is a bit more off the beaten path than Emerald. Emerald and Jade are shallow (but very cold!) lakes with interesting mud colors on the bottom (not swampy, though); Locket and Iswoot are deep, blue lakes which closer match my mental image of an alpine lake. All are beautiful.

Even though we were at Emerald, obviously a spot of much camping activity, we saw very few people throughout the weekend. As far as we could tell, there were a total of 4 overnight groups (including us), and we saw 2 day hikers on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. We were quite stunned (in a good way) that such a nice trail, so easy to get to from Seattle, didn't have a million people on it.

There were some bugs, but not too many Saturday. We could eat dinner outside the tent in relative peace. The hike back Sunday afternoon seemed much more bug-a-riffic.

Thanks to this invaluable website, I had been forewarned of an impending trail closure for the hike to Shi Shi Beach across Makah land. A phone call to Makah offices confirmed that as of next weekend (July 27), the trail will be CLOSED for several weeks for maintainance. So call before you go!

You should allow a good five hours from Seattle. Don't make my mistake of thinking that Saturday AM will be a quicker wait for the Edmonds ferry - not on a perfect July weekend it won't be! At least, thanks to cell phones, the line cheaters were turned in and thrown out by drivers calling the Edmunds cops, but even with those jerks gone, it still was a good 1 1/2 wait we hadn't counted on. What with the slow roads west of PA, we didn't pull into Neah Bay until 4 PM.

The trailhead to Shi Shi is found by heading south from Neah Bay on the well-paved road to the Fish Hatchery. Just before the Hatchery, when you see a house on your left with a front yard full of late-model cars and SUVs(in stark contrast to the beat-up jobs and pickups in most everyone else's front yards), pull in and park. The pay envelope and instructions are on the front door of the house. $5/day, no vandalism.

It's about 1/2 mile further up the road to the trailhead, a large steel gate. The trail to Shi-shi is marked on my old map as a road parallel to the beach, and the trail was obviously a logging road in a previous life. You go through some pretty woods on your way to the beach, listening to the surf crashing on the rocks below. It's dead level until the STEEP last bit down to the sand, and the big, spring-fed mudholes (why is there so much muddy terrain on the beach cliffs in the NW?) are apparently scheduled for boardwalks as part of the Makah upgrade. I'd call it 2 miles plus to the beach.

On a perfect clear warm weekend in high summer, there were a dozen other parties camped on the beach - one party had 8 tents. Unlike 3rd beach, most of the backpackers I saw came to camp right at Shi-Shi, rather than hike down the coast. It's a lot easier - anything to the south requires a reservation with the NPS, and more planning than I'm usually capable of.

Shi Shi itself is a classic NW coast beach, with picturesque seastacks anchoring the 2-mile crescent both north and south - the southern group being the famous Point of the Arches. Petroleum Creek, about 2/3 of the way down the beach, is in the center of the densest concentration of campsites. It's also a pretty damn scenic place to get water.

Because Shi Shi Beach is a destination in itself, it had a collection of some of the most developed rustic campsites I've ever seen. They have obviously been built on and elaborated over the years, perhaps by the same people returning to a favorite spot. Our hidden campsite had a rope to help haul you up from the beach into the woods, and multiple levels for tents and food storage. The driftwood kitchen table had a great view of the beach, and the various surrounding driftwood benches were convenient for seating and equipment. The bear wire worked great. Other campsites were even more elaborate, with driftwood picnic tables, shelving units, lawn chairs, even privies. Think, forest-people beach colony.

Fellow beach residents included a full range of temporary urban refugees, looking a little odd on this primeval beach. I saw joggers, frisbee players, driftwood sculptors, even two surfers in wet suits, who either floated in their gear on a Zodiac or did one of the more masochistic backpacks in history.

And speaking of Zodiacs, Carey the cheerful NPS ranger who was camped next to us said that that's what it takes to haul out the hundreds of trash bags she and the other rangers collect from the beach every summer and stash in the woods. Every August the Coast Guard sends a ship to ferry the trash back to ""civilization"", and perhaps issue a few citations to the Panamanian-registered freighters who tossed most of it overboard in the first place.

It was amazing to be on the outer beach in clear, hot weather - no fog, no mist, no rain. How often is that? Vancouver Island was so clear you could see the logging roads in the clearcuts, and the coast was visible all the way north to Bamfield and Uculet, location of their national park. It wasn't a good time for migrating whales, but we did have lots of eagle and tame deer action, and the swarms of beach-loafing gulls were in epic numbers.

Fearing an epic ferry line, we didn't leave the beach till 5:30 PM Sunday. We ate a smoked salmon dinner off a paper plate in the backyard of a gentleman with a little home business in Neah Bay, and talked fishing with his buddies who were tending their salmon in his backyard smokehouse. We didn't get out of there till eight, but what was the hurry? We caught the redeye out of Bainbridge no problem, and hit the sack at 1 AM feeling pleased with ourselves and ready to get back out into the NW outdoors while the getting is good.

We counted 7 cars at the trailhead on Saturday and were worried about not finding campsites at the lake. It turned out we were the only ones to camp there. One other party camped at the meadow before descending to the lake. By now most of the snow is gone and there are plenty of campsites before and at the lake. The bugs ruined a bit of the pleasure but it was a beautiful weekend in a beautiful and quiet place. We were even more surprised to only meet one other couple on a day hike on our way down.

Warning: We found broken glass at several parking spots: Drive a beat up car if you can, and don't leave anything in it!

Despite the low or no maintenance this trail receives, it delivers you to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. On the way up you'll be tempted to turn back, but don't! I have hiked to many lakes and been disappointed, but not this time, Lake of the Angels is among the most beautiful I have ever seen. The snow fields surrounding and above the lake leading up to Mt. Skokomish are spectacular and the flowers are equally thrilling. The view into the interior of the Olmpics from the ridge above the lake is worth the extra effort and climb. Be sure and take a map and compas to see how many you can identify. The Hamma Hamma road is still blocked so plan on an extra 1.4 mile hike to the trail head. Use the old forest road located several hundred feet further up the road, if you can find it. It will shorten your hike and help you save energy for the climb. The meadows below the last headwall are especially muddy. All blow-downs are easily climbed over. Mt. Stone and Skokomish are both very impressive and tempting to climb.

A close encounter with the snout of the Carbon Glacier was today's hiking objective. After a delayed rendezvous with my hiking buddy, Big Al, fueling up at McDonalds, and driving up to the Ipsut Creek campground, we were greeted by an overflowing parking lot and had to park a ways back down the road. The popularity of this trail makes getting an early start a good strategy. The trail is well marked, worn, and maintained. The very short side trip to view Ipsut falls was worthwhile. The grade is fairly easy with mostly just small ups and downs. Its not too long on the forest trail before one begins to periodically break out of the woods along the rushing and turbid Carbon River. If a hiker loses the bounce to his or her step after a few miles on this trail, they'll be sure to get it back when they cross the suspension bridge (she's a bouncy one alright!) over the river. A short jaunt up the trail past the bridge and we were face to face with the grimy black glacier terminus for which the iceflow begets its name. With Mt. Rainier looming in the background and the Carbon river gushing forth from deep within the ice, this seemed like a good spot for lunch and our turnaround. With a moderate grade and good footing on the trail, hikers can make good time by lengthening out their stride as they power-hike back to the trailhead . No hazards to report on this trail; unless you're allergic to a good tread with terrific scenery!

From the map it looked possible to do a day trip up the Dungeness to Camp Handy, cross the ridge to the west at Goat Lake, and return via the Royal Basin Trail. Fired up with enthusiasm for an interesting cross- country route, I arrived at the Upper Dungeness trailhead at 4:30 AM on a beautiful Saturday morning. Camp Handy on the Dungeness was reached in short order, where I tried not to wake the sleeping campers while I searched for a crossing to the west side of the river. It turns out there is a logjam and trail through the brush to a fine camp on the west side just downstream. The fisherman’s trail to Goat Lake was located by heading southwest through the woods to the stream draining the lake. The route to the lake is described in the second edition of Wood’s guide, and is a very distinct but steep trail to beautiful Goat Lake.

After a snack and some photos I headed up to the obvious pass west of the lake. At the top it looked possible to descend a snow filled gully to a broad scree slope, then down to the lower meadow on Royal Creek. I decided that I would instead traverse the mountainside east of Royal Creek to upper Royal Basin. This route, requiring an ice axe, involved travel over snow, broken rock, very loose talus, and scree. It was taxing as significant elevation is lost working around a spur, which has to be regained to get to the basin.

The upper basin looked about 50% melted out, but with no significant wildflower display yet. There were very few bugs out as well. Being Saturday, a lot of people were enjoying the sunshine and climbing the peaks. I picked up the Royal Basin Trail and descended the steep but snow-free trail past the meadows to Royal Lake. There were lots of hikers everywhere and a shortage of campsites due to groups without permits or reservations. The backcountry ranger found the last available site for a valid permit holder that arrived around 2:00 PM.

No difficulties, other than mosquitoes, were experienced as I descended the Royal Basin Trail. All bridges are in place and the trail is brushed out. On the way out I met at least ten groups heading for the lake and wondered what the ranger was going to do with all these people. I finally walked up to my car at about 5:30, tired and sore, but with lasting memories of incredible scenery and a beautiful clear day.

Mosquitoes were awful. Snow on trail above @ 5500'. Snow covering Meander Meadows (snow-camp only). We turned around posthaste and beat it for lower elevation hikes. I can't be the only one more than a little tired of all the snow this year...

A single snow patch at the parking lot, and another near the pass. The trail is almost completely clear, the snow is easy to cross. We just hiked to the pass, and the views are amazing. Most of the trail switchbacks under an amazing rampart with hanging glaciers. Bring water. Highly recommended.

In the summer start as early as possible. Hike was good and steep even with the ""95"" switchbacks. We hit snow on trail at about 5800 foot level and stopped at Juction at about 6200 feet. Snow was very sloppy around 1000 AM. So even though we could see peak of Rock MT., We called it a day. Bugs were very thick on top. Bring plenty of Bug Juice!

The snow has left the trail since the last posting on 05 July 2002 however, if you don't have a vehicle with at least a 10"" clearance then you will either have to risk getting water in it or leave your car 2 miles from the trail head because the last tributary before the trailhead is running a little high. I have never seen wildflowers like this, they are all over the place- Purple, red, orange, yellow, white. Didn't see any wildlife other than chipmunks on the way up and a LOT of bugs. I think that each of us, myself, Stanimal and the 2 Matts left with nothing shy of 30 bug bites each. Do not stand still or they will get you. As has been reported before there are a couple trees over the trail on the way up but they have been there for so long that thy won't be cleaned up. On a scale of 1 - 10 you cannot give Paddy Go Easy Pass and Sprite Lake anything less than a 10. It takes some time to get there from Seattle but if you enjoy nature, and being in snow on a 90 degree July day this is a MUST!