Trip Reports

My husband and I decided to hike into Kelcema Lake this week-end. Got to Deer Lake Rd. #4052 too late to see well enough, so slept in truck. At 6:00 a.m. were going to start drive up road to trail head. (We have hiked into this lake before and my husband used to stay at Kelcema Lodge on the lake's edge, which is long gone, when he was in Order of the Arrow) today their is a gate across the road a few hundred feet off of the Mt Loop Hiway making driving to trail head impossible. A 1/2 mile hike to lake would now be approx 9 1/2 miles! We came home. Hope Forrest Service has plans to repair/remove whatever is blocking so we all can enjoy this lake again!

Took off from Dog Lake at 7 am to beat the heat. Rewarded with mama goldeneye and brood at Cramer Lake. Only a few patches of snow between Cramer and Shellrock Lakes. However, lots of water and mud between those lakes. Very warm in the afternoon. Beargrass is in full bloom. Mosquitoes weren't as bad as I expected, but there was no one else on the trail for them to suck blood from, so they were annoying. Deep Woods Off helped. Fished the lakes and caught a few fish. Spent most of the day at Shellrock, did some off trail exploring, spent late afternoon at Otter Lake, and hiked out in the evening. Surprised that there were no overnighters coming in for the weekend. Very little horse traffic so far. Had a great day.

I was working on this trail about a month ago with WTA and knew that the top was snowed in, but hoped that the snow had melted enough to allow access to the top by now. Alas, within sight of the peak there was a nasty snowfield that appeared as though it would cave in if you looked at it wrong.

Up until this point it was a very uneventful hike. The trail is in good (?) condition, although it appears to be moving downhill at an alarming rate. Lots of rocks and roots - the usual. The mosquitos were without mercy! Not too bad at first, but they gained numbers with altitude, and they were hungry.

I wish I could describe the location of the snowfield, but never having done this hike before, I don't know how much further I had to go. Someone else on the trail said that just after the snow the trail starts to bend around the back side of the butte, if that helps anyone else out there. Happy Hiking!

Left Longmire at about 9:00 am, and started up the many switchbacks. Encountered Avalance lilies blooming at about 4,000'. Snow in a solid patch at about 4,700, for about a half-mile, had to do some trail finding. Lots of tracks going hither & yon, but being thoughful and persistant will find you above the snow. Trail clear the rest of the way to the saddle. Got to the saddle between Eagle & Chuytla at about 12:00. No problem scrambling up Eagle, but there is still plenty of snow on Chuytla. Trekking poles did fine going over the snow.

It was a nice, mostly cloudy 7:15AM start for this first time postal worker & his faithful sidekick. This was the most difficult three miles I have ever hiked (poles highly recommended), which did not turn out to be a positive experience. We did quite well until about 2 ->2.5 mile marks where the trail disappeared & left in its wake was a field of flagged trees which caused more confusion (& lead to bushwhacking) than help for us & the hikers I spoke with on my descent. The wild flowers were a sweet reward from then on to the summit, but with them came the clouds of mosquitoes & flies, insect repellant was a must! Summited in ~3 1/2hrs with many water stops. The view was great, Rainer to Glacier, despite the heavy haze. On the descent it all went down from there. Somewhere around the half mile mark from the summit the trail was lost to us, with no flags in sight & no trail to be found. Thankfully I had my compass with me & a map, all be it the one from 55 hikes Snoqualmie, we were able to orient our way out, but down the wrong side of the mountain (the draw back of such a steep Mtn & a minor map/compass discrepancy), so we found ourselves just down the road from the State Fire Training Center. Thankfully a State Patrolman drove down the road not two minutes after we emerged from the wood & drove us back to our car, which had many more acres of back country between us via the straight line approach. My picture of the Mailbox had better turn out!

I plead with those familiar to this trail to clarify the 2>2.5 mile section of the trail. I got lost today & I am sure someone else could (already had?) my fellow hikers today were also expressive about the sketchiness of a fab trail that needs some mending. Thank you

BUGS, BUGS, AND MORE BUGS. BIG ONES WITH BIG TEETH!!!!!!

This is a great hike but I will never do it in the blazing heat again. It was 90 degrees today and it was stupid to do the hike at 4pm. This is a easy climb to a lookout that has beautiful views of the Grand Park area below. You can see the 3 bouroughs behind you, Skyscaper mountain to the left and the trails leading to Mystic Lake and other camps below. Elevation at the peak (7100 ft). Wonderful views of Mount Rainer made the hike in the heat tolerable. Will do it again next year, it is one of my favorites.

This year, my 13 year old hiking partner's father and I decided that we would make the greater Flapjack Lakes region the destination for our annual foray into the Olympics. We were joined by another relative for this years adventure making for an enjoyable party of four.

Flapjack Lakes met our most important trip attribute: good fishing -- as nothing motivates my 13 year old hiking partner more than the prospect of pulling a four pound trout from a high mountain lake. With a notch in his belt from our Mildred Lakes hike last year (his first overnight backpack), my partner was confident and excited about another adventure in the wilderness.

We were blessed with an early Friday departure, gorgeous weather and an empty parking lot at Staircase. The first four miles along the Skokomish river are an easy walk, following the old road grade that one in our party remembers driving on as part of an earlier scout trip. This section makes a great day-hike for those less inclined to tackle the incline ahead.

Once we made the turn toward Flapjack Lakes, the temperature seemed to climb as steadily as the well traveled grade. With no breeze, an abundance of bugs, and an ever climbing trail, we entertained ourselves with good conversation and wagers on who would catch the biggest fish first.

Nothing erases the memory of ones toil like the sight of these beautiful emerald lakes nestled together like two Flapjacks in a fry pan in the shadow of the Sawtooth Range. It took no time at all for us to shed our packs, and most of our clothing to submerge ourselves in the clear, cold waters. We were quickly reminded of their source just a thousand feet above in the lingering snowfields.

Saturday brought marine air, showers, and a slow return to partial sun. We relished the cooler temperatures and set our sights on Gladys Divide at 5,000 feet. This is a beautiful 1.5 mile climb through the treeline to a park like setting of wildflowers, snow fields and the towering presence of the Sawtooth Range, guarded by Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Cruiser. The true magnitude of its beauty was best described by my 13 year old hiking partner as ""So awesome, like something you see in the movies or on T.V. from Alaska!"". It was an experience that makes one feel even stronger that our world would be a much better place if every 13 year old could experience life in this wonderful zone above tree-line.

While 3/4's of the party rested on the ridge just above Gladys Divide, enjoying the views of Stuey Lake below and Mt. Skokomish beyond, the author quickly scrambled to the summit of Mt. Gladys for a nice view into the interior Olympics, out to Puger Sound, and down into scenic Murdock Basin.

A quick descent on partial snow found us back at Flapjack Lakes as light rain began to fall. We packed our gear and hiked back out to Staircase, covering the 8 miles in about 3 1/2 hours in steadily improving weather.

Another great hike in the Olympics that left at leat one of our next generation of wilderness advocates already talking about next year.

1/3 Donald Larkin Trail Team and the Geist Clan

Three of us headed to the Leavenworth area early Friday morning with the Enchantments as our ultimate goal via Colchuck Lake and Aasgard Pass. Friday morning at 8am when we picked up our permit at the Leavenworth Ranger Station, the expected high in Leavenworth that day was 110 degrees. We were all thrilled that mother nature was going to be providing good warm weather but also quite glad we were heading out fairly early. Surprisingly there was still one permit available for that weekend. And of important note, according to the ranger station they will not be closing the Eightmile Creek road until August 4th – they’ve had to spend money on fire suppressants so are delaying work on the bridges.

The trail to the junction where it splits between Stuart and Colchuck was fairly easy going; beyond that the trail is in not quite as good shape but not particularly problematic. There's one big blow-down near the lake that for those short-of-leg really necessitates a walk-around, but its easy to see where others who are also not tall have done the same. Arrival at the lake is a wondrous sight to behold - such a glorious colour ! We secured our campsite atop the isthmus slightly protected but still able to glimpse the lake, the almighty Dragontail and Colchuck Peaks, and the taunting Aasgard Pass. Just several yards north east from the site is the 'porch' - big rounded slabs of granite where we breakfasted and supped while gazing up at the peaks and down at the lake, snoozed, took in the beauty surrounding us, contemplated mother nature and talked about nothing much.

Mosquitoes were very bad, although seemingly more for me than the other two. I became the decoy. Donning raingear and boots helped although it was a tad toasty. The climate overnight was positively balmy. We retired relatively early, as much due to the buggy atmosphere as anything else.

Saturday dawned cloudy. Nevertheless, we were not in the slightest bit deterred from our assault on the pass and in fact grateful that the sun would not be blazing down on us as we ascended. No problems getting round the lake and to the upward trail. This is not a trail to take lightly but is no biggie provided you are not nonchalant about it. It was useful to have hands free for grasping and clambering. At one point some rocks were dislodged. Close to the top (about 80% there) there’s one small section of snow to cross but as of our crossing it was straightforward. We had seen this patch with the trail from the porch far below and were surprised how minimal of a trail it actually was. We made it to the top of the pass in just over 2 hours and by this time most of the cloud had disappeared. It was a little windy right at the top, but not cold.

The upper Enchantments still have quite a lot of snow. You can get by without gaiters, but if you’re one who has a knack of kicking the stuff into your boots and you’re paranoid about wet socks, you might want to wear them. Poles are handy but not really necessary. Ice axes not needed unless you ascend any of the peaks in the area. Sunscreen and sunglasses were a must. However, as the snow melts postholing will become much more likely.

After we’d spent quite some time in the upper Enchantments, a thunderstorm hit. We headed for the pass and sought shelter alongside a major rock formation. We let the thunderstorm pass and once we got to the top things were much clearer. A couple of ridges to the north west we could see smoke and surmised (correctly, it transpired) that there were small fires caused by lightning strikes.

Our return was uneventful. Mozzies again ruled the day around the campsite. However, it was a little cooler. Sunday, many, many people were heading to the lake as we headed out, mostly for a day hike it seemed.

When we returned to the trailhead there was a notice about multiple fires in the region started by lightning. As we reached Leavenworth we could see one burning and helicopters doing water drops. It didn’t look too big but I hope they were able to contain it.

And if anyone found a pair of Smith tortoiseshell sunglasses sitting on a rock in the Upper Enchantments, I’d be grateful if you could let me know.

Friday was a glorious day for a hike, so a friend and I headed up to the Denny Creek trailhead to Melakwa Lake.

I'd never hiked this trail before and I must say that it's one of the most beautiful hikes that I've ever been on. It starts in cool forest and climbs into a hanging valley to view head-on the beautiful waterfall coming down the side of the mountain.

After climbing up the hill past the first waterfall, we encountered some patchy snow as we crossed the creek. It disappeared once we got into a second hanging valley and began climbing again. However, once we entered the forest, the snow was back. This time doing a pretty good job of obscuring the trail. We followed others' boot tracks (why do they always seem to go straight up the hill?) and managed to pick up the trail which was melted through in places. Once we attained the summit, the snow mostly disappeared as we headed back down the other side toward Melakwa Lake.

The lake was beautiful and calm. The snow and ice on top of it has melted a bit since the last report was posted a few days prior to our hike. We sat down under a tree, ate our lunch, and had the lake all to ourselves for quite awhile.

The trip back down through the snow was difficult only because we had totally lost the boot trail at one point and had to beat around in the bushes for awhile trying to find the trail. We finally found it below us and scrambled down the steep hillside to tread upon it once again.

The tread on much of this hike is fairly rocky and uneven. I would highly advise wearing ankle-topping hiking boots as a turn of an ankle is likely on this trail. Also bring an ice axe or hiking poles for moving through the snow.

A hiker coming down warned us of bugs at the lake, but they must've only had a taste for him because they left us alone.

Thought I'd venture east to wade hip deep in summer's heat. I found what I was looking for and more. The wildflowers rejoice in these expansive meadows; a velvety green cake landscape sprinkled with delicious crumbs of granite.

Drove in from Winthrop via FS road #39 that will test the mettle of any vehicle, but the scenery is worth it, many unexpected pockets of meadow. I saw a Pine Marten cross the road leisurely, and on the Irongate of course, many slow elk (cattle). One bearing a still raw brand menaced the truck briefly, pissed! It took about 2.5 hours from Winthrop.

Four years ago I stayed at Louden Lake but found it without breeze and unbearably buggy. This year I enjoyed the camps of splendid Sunny Pass 7200'. Water is not difficult to find for the initiated, and springs negating the need for treament are not uncommon. Some sparse snow still clings to the ridgetops. Bugs were wisked away by a stiff breeze.

It was hot, but nothing a little shade couldn't fix. I suspect this trip would have been better about four weeks ago. A day hike to Windy Peak was a pleasant ramble through light forest.

This is now in one of my top 10-15 hikes. Gorgeous. We started our hike at the north end of Tatoosh Ridge up Butter Creek. To access this trailhead drive northwest 4 miles on #52 (Skate Creek/Kernihan Road) from the Packwood Ranger station (on Highway #12). Turn right on #5270 and follow it 7.3 miles to the trailhead. This gravel road is in pretty good condition, just a fair amount of branches sticking out, so don't bring your brand new car.

We saw one other car at the trailhead. Never saw the person who went with the car so shows you how much solitude is on this trail. The trail starts gaining elevation immediately, though on a nice trail in forest, for the first 1.5 - 2.0 miles. It was very hot, so the going was slow, drinking lots of water. Walked through Bunchberry, Vanilla Leaf, then on to much Beargrass.

After about 1.5 - 2 miles we entered a more open area with fewer trees and many more flowers. Here started glimpses to a higher peak on the range (the old lookout spot?) which was covered with green meadows that looked like a golf course. The flowers were in full profusion- lupine, paintbrush, avalanche lily, glacier lily, and many more. We passed a couple of pretty streams cascading over rocks.

At 2.5 miles is a junction. It is confusing here and didn't seem to jibe with one of the more popular hiking book's description or the green trails (missing the ridge stretch). So hope these descriptions help: Tatoosh Lookout-at this junction continue going straight on the trail. We followed this for a way since we missed the 2.5 snow-covered junction initially. We crossed a snow patch/creek, which required holding on to trees, then came to a camp in about .5 mile. We continued on until we came to an ""Abandoned trail"" sign. The trail then became visibly more overgrown, but not difficult to follow or pass through. Passed many small snowfields, much St. Helen's ash, and open vistas as you skirted the side of the hill heading south. We stopped after about .75 mile and returned to junction. Tatoosh Lakes-at the 2.5 junction go left, pass a large fallen tree very soon after and then continuing going up the hill up some rock steps. We missed this split on the way up as it looked like it was not the main trail and/or not used anymore, but I guess it is. Tatoosh Ridge - At the 2.5 junction, go left, pass the aforementioned large fallen tree and follow what looks to be the main trail heading north/northwest. You can see it snaking up the hill. The views really starts to open up here, with Mt. St. Helen's, Mt. Adams growing larger with each step. The trail takes you over a tricky snow gully, so an ice axe would be useful as this just about ended our hike. We had ski poles which aren't real useful if you need to do an arrest on the snow. We reached the viewpoint on a saddle mostly covered with snow and with incredible views of Mt. Rainier about .5 - .75 from the junction. Fantastic views, great alpine meadows, and wonderful flowers. Some bugs but mostly at trailhead.

It is gorgeous on Dickerman, and with the hot temperatures, the snow is melting fast! I got started later than I'd hoped (I knew it would be a HOT one), but still it was grand, not crowded at all and easy. There's mushy snow/slush for the last 1000' or so, and I'd still recommend an ice axe for some spots. Besides, it makes glissading down so much more carefree.

Wildflowers are just starting. Go now.

The road to Mowich Lake is closed about six miles from the lake due to snow. However, the Paul Peak Trailhead is located right before the closure, just 1/2 mile after entering MRNP.

The first 3 miles drop straight into the valley below and are completely dry, if not somewhat uneventful. Some of the trees along this route remind me of the Grove of the Patriarchs, some 5-6 feet in diameter. After the easy 3 miles, I took the left fork to make my way up to Mowich Lake. It's roughly 2000 ft. in about 3 miles and the trail is snow free until you get within viewing distance of the lake. The closer you get to the lake, the more avalanche lillies appear along the trail.

There is about 2-3 feet of snow around the lake and there was still sections of ice floating here and there on its surface. After leaving the lake, I took the Mowich Road back to the Paul Peak Trailhead Parking lot. There is still patchy snow along the road to the lake and I don't think the road will be open for another week or two, due to the volume of snow still at Mowich.

I thought the trip back on the road was going to be boring, but there were so many waterfalls and flowers along the road that I kept the camera advancing. I didn't see anyone during the hike, except a ranger that was making his way from Mowich to Golden Lakes. A very private hike... ...for probably another two weeks.

Thanks to Garth for his report which gave us the idea to go up there! The blowdowns are all singular trees, easily circumnavigated. A few mudspots (which could become deeper/wider with the weekend traffic), but not bothersome. Just a few snowspots at the S-end of Dorothy, again nothing to even mention. Trail crews finished up the bridge railing there this morning.

No problems to Bear Lake either. Just a few snow fields which you can see the undermelt easily enough to avoid it. (Stay on the most elevated areas of the snow). One relatively large snowpatch about 3/4 of the way up to the highest spot prior to descending to Bear Lake was big enough to obscure the trail exit and we had to walk along the edges to find it. No major inconvenience and no postholing.

Bear/Deer Lakes 100% open, N-facing shorelines have snow remaining. Tried swimming in Bear Lake - I do this a lot in mountain lakes and this was the coldest water I've encountered in a long time (i.e. the pain just never went away...).

One warning to all: At the lunch spot, my wife found two ticks (!) on the log we were sitting on. Didn't think they were distributed that high up, but the 100% Deet came out in a hurry. Otherwise, a few no-see-um bites moslty at the trailhead and at the N-end of Dorothy. A Mozzie or two were successfully dispatched and that was about it as far as pests go.

Great weather, great hike - have fun!

The Bare Mountain trail is snow-free and freshly brushed out by the WTA (hooray!) for your hiking pleasure.

The initial part of the trail consists of an old road which is badly washed out. After a bit of a climb, the road crosses Bear Creek next to a beautiful waterfall and plunge pool. The bridge is gone, making for a tricky creek crossing.

The road turns to trail at another crossing of Bear creek. Here, a picturesquely rickety bridge gets you across the stream with reasonable safety. Past the creek, the trail climbs into an sunny, meadowy valley with views of snowy peaks and waterfalls.

I did not go up the final switchback climb up Bare Mountain, which begins at the 2 mile point, and therefore can't comment on the current condition of the trail up there. The climb occurs on a south facing slope that has lost all of its snow (good), but is hot, hot , hot (not so good). Great views are guaranteed.

The drive up the North Fork Snoqualmie road to the trailhead is long, but at least the road surface is decent, unlike the jarring Middle fork road.

Great day for a bike ride to the Monte Cristo townsite.

After 1/2 mile, there is a 75 yard stretch of ankle deep water on the trail followed by another of equal length with 4-5 inches of water.

No problem for bikers (fun trying to stay on as long as possible) or hikers.

Awesome views at the townsite.

Enjoy!

What can I say about Green Mountain that hasn't been said before- this is truly one of the best hikes in the Cascades. Right now it is even somewhat of a scramble. The trail is completely snowcovered from the tarn basin to the summit. Tarns are beginning to melt out- be careful for collapsing snow bridges. For the summit-ascend directly up the ""gully"" on the main southwestern slope. Bring axe. The views- extend forever! Only ones up on the summit with us were mooching chipmunks and chubby ground squirrels. Heading down was a real treat- sitting glissade for about 500'- yeehaaw! Hurry soon if you want to partake in this fun- I imagine in about two weeks the glissade runs will be mud. Watch out for scampering marmots on your descent.

Road is clear. Trail is in good shape. The winter trail is not good right now. The summer trail has snow on the upper 1/4 still. Many people are turning back due to unexpected snow. It is still worthwhile to bring your ice axe. Nice early season wild flowers.

A great day to go hiking. The trail to upper Crystal Lake was in excellent condition and snow free all the way to the top. About two miles up was an awe inspiring view of Mt. Rainier and the White River Valley. The view was clear and smog free. The Upper Crystal Lake basin was beautiful in the sun today. The weather was warm, but with a refreshing cool breeze coming down from the ridge top. The flies were out, but it wasn't too buggy. Thank goodness there were no misquitos. The most enjoyable aspect about the hike was that there wasn't too many other hikers on the trail or up at the lake. There may have been only a half dozen people at the lake while I was there.

A really great little hike with lots of little problems - hundreds of mosquitos. There are two steady uphill miles with no water on the trail - I neglected to bring a dog bowl because the trail report at the trailhead said lots of water on trail. Thankfully, there's a really nice creek with a great campsite at the top of the hill, so my dog didn't die of dehydration. And then the wonderful snow, which was a lot of fun and some kind soul marked the way with red flags so you don't get too lost. As I approached the lake, a man hurried up to me, a frenzied look in his eye...""Do you have any OFF?"" Sadly, I did not. The lake was pretty - what you could see of it through the teeming swarms of mosquitos. The were bad enough that we didn't stop for lunch - even the dog was getting bit.

If you continue up the trail, you come to a fork - the right takes you along Nason Ridge and to Alpine Lookout, while the unsigned left take you above the lake to a really fun scramble with nice views of Glacier Peak and the valley below. It would be a pretty fun place to explore, with lots and lots of DEET.

At one point, I thought the mosquitos had finally left, but I turned around to make sure and found 20 of them clustered on my shoulder. We still had a lot of fun playing in the snow and getting muddy. If you want to go, drive Hwy 2 17 miles east of Steven's Pass - there's a convenient sign pointing out the left you'll want to take, and then it's around 1.5 miles up to the trailhead at the end of the road.

Canyon Lake Creek Community forest trailhead was easily reached off Canyon Lake road from Mosquito Lake Road through a gate that opens at set hours. The trail was well maintained and easy in its lower half and easy-moderate in its upper half. If you do not know the trail, watch out for a sapling lying across the trail about half way to the top, and if you see it look behind you to the right for two cairns which mark the trail continuation since this switch back continuation is not obvious. A little snow present near the top of the logging road was easily passable. The “Old Growth” trail loop had more snow patches, which were easily crossed. The residual snow obscured short stretches of the “Old Growth” trail, which were, however, easily followed by an experienced hiker. Spectacular panoramic views at the trail ends of Baker and the Sisters. The views of the snow covered mountains are so clear across the forested valley that you feel that with a running start, you could jump from the trail end and land on Baker! Some biting insects. So bring Deet.

I got out of work in Interbay at 6:45 pm and decided to do a little leg-stretcher. This trail was mentioned in that day's PI as sharing a trailhead with Annette lake, the ""pick of the week"". By the time I got to exit 47 of I-90 it was 8 pm, still plenty of time to do this short jaunt. There are numerous huge trees and a well-maintained trail that does a little loop thru the woods. I did the loop in both directions to lengthen the trip a little. At the first stream crossing about 100 yards from the car a large tree has smashed the old log bridge. After crossing the new bridge, head down the old bridge and climb onto the fallen giant. You can then head upstream on the log to the rootball. On the other side of the rootball is a very nice little waterfall. This trail is worth a look if you're already in the neighborhood.

Here's the low-down- 4200 vertical feet in 5 miles. Not quite as steep as Sourdough, but certainly in the same class of trails. Hard workout but fantastic pay-off. Why this trail doesn't get more use is beyond me. It is in very good shape and leads to some incredible and lonesome high-county. And the Views! You can practically spit on Glacier Peak (Okay it's not that close-but close enough). The trail is dry but there is still plenty of snow from about 5400' on. Bring axe just for mobility- there are no exposed sections. Blazes easy to follow where snow has covered the trail. The ridge is snowfree and beginning to flower. Great view down into Sulphur Lake and the Sulphur Creek drainage. Heather and I are strong hiker-runner types- it took us almost 4 hours to get to the summit ridge. Some blowdown, but nothing difficult to negotiate. Bugs tolerable. This is a great choice for escaping the crowded adjacent trails. Just remember- you have to work hard for the views- they come only at the very end-but they are worth it.

Backpacked into Marten Lake on July 10, 2002 and hiked out the following day. Fishing was slow, mosquitoes numerous, and the weather hot!

The Middle Fork Road has not improved over the years. Drive warily; the potholes are large and deep. The trailhead is located at the end of the road. Hike about three miles to Marten Creek. This is a good place to rest, have a bite to eat and take on water. Let me say that again get water!

The trail is just before the wooden bridge on the uphill side of course. A lot of people use this trail at first and then break off to the creek for better views of the falls. As a result there are many false trails. The rule is if you find yourself turning right and approaching the creek you are off the main trail. Eventually you will reach a large boulder at this point the trail gets nasty. You will find it wet and slippery in spots, and steep enough to require handholds. The trail climbs along the edge of an avalanche slope. This area is overgrown with Vine Maples, which present only a small obstacle to day hikers, but is the bane of overnight campers. This vegetation overhangs the trail and catches all external frame backpacks, thus arresting forward motion.

The lake is very beautiful, and quite cold. If you want a refreshing dip, find your way over the logjam to several terraced waterfalls. Here the water is much warmer and quite refreshing. Take bug spray, don’t’ pick too hot a day (it was over 85° when I went), children and seniors probably won’t ever hike with you again if you drag them up this trail. I’m 64 years old, but am in pretty good condition and knew what to expect, and still found this hike to be quite a challenge.

Enjoy the lake, catch some fish, and have a great hike.

Snow begins on Hannegan Pass trail just after Hannegan Camp. Also many creeks to cross, running high with the warm weather, but no major problems. Found a lovely snowfree campsite on the knoll above the pass. Climbed Hannegan Pk the same day, mostly snow to top but trail beginning to melt out. Next day climbed Ruth on easy snow. Then continued on to Icy. Conditions good. Glaciers not yet broken up and make for easy travel. Climbed both peaks of Icy, both fun class 3-4 rock scrambles. A great trip with spectacular views into the heart of the North Cascades and the impressive north side of Shuksan. Heard ice falling down the East Nooksack Glacier all day!

You want a perfect hike for an afternoon stroll- or one just right for a neophyte, child, or ""veteran"" woodsperson?- Try Sulphur Creek. A quiet trail at the end of the Suiattle River road- in remarkably good shape. Beautiful old growth and plenty of great spots for gazing at the flowing creek. Hold your nose in places where the sulphur is quite pungent. We followed the trail for 1.6 miles to the obliterating blowdown- soaked our feet in a neat but toe-numbing pool. Watched the dippers- enjoyed the tranquility of an unblemished wilderness valley. Check out Karen Syke's new book for the description of this hike. Consider camping at nearby Buck Creek- one of the prettiest campgrounds in the state.

We hiked from the Paul Pk. parking area to Mowich Lk. and then beyond the lake toward Knapsack Pass. The road is snow-free most of the way to where the Grindstone Tr. begins, and the trail is largely snow- covered to Mowich Lk. The Knapsack Pass Tr. is about 90% snow-covered, with short patches of trail visible every so often. Ice axes are definitely needed. As this trail is not shown on the USGS or NPS maps, it's hard to find under the snow unless you already have a good idea where it is. From car to lake, it's about 2 miles. To the Pass, about another mile. We got within about 0.2 mi. of the Pass, and ran out of time. Bugs weren't a problem at the lake or above, but many deerflies circled us as we hiked the road.

Lake Dorothy was beautiful as always. The road sign for Miller River Road was missing at the turnoff south of Money Creek Campground. The logging road is in excelent shape all the way to the trailhead. The few bugs there were didn't seem to be biting. There was one blowdown mostly blocking the trail just below the lake. With all the fresh snowmelt, the water is a bit cold yet for long swims and the outlet streams are as high as I have seen. Trail crews have done quite a bit of work up to the lake lately & were seen at the south end of Dorothy. The trail was wet & muddy (typical) to the lake but can easily be done in tennis shoes. We rafted to the south end so have no info on the trail along the lake. The eastern most island at the south end of the lake has a pair of hawks taking care of several babies in a large nest on the very top of 80' broken off snag. They should be quite visible from the trail. From a group heading out, I heard the trail to Deer & Bear lakes still has snow and the lakes are mostly frozen over. Snoqualmie Lake was thawed.

Like the proverbial one trick pony, I keep going to the same places again and again-there's about 12-13 lakes in the area N of the White Pass that I fish and I try to get to each of them at least once a year and some of them many more. The snow is melting fast, the Dumbell Trail between Cramer and Dumbell Lakes is still choked with snow and is several feet deep-a lot of snow is left from the south shore of Dumbell Lake to the top of Cramer Mtn which overlooks the lake, but the snow was melting fast yesterday and will be diminishing quickly in the hot weather. The heat was stifling, virtually no wind, and that meant the mosquitoes were able to swarm constantly about me-they're really bad right now. I caught fish at Dumbell, nice cutthroats and some smaller ones at Otter Lake. No trail maintenance has been done yet, so a number of deadfalls mar the trail-nothing too bad for hikers, but a couple on the Cramer Lake trail would be major obstacles for horses.

Well this was a weird trip. Eric and I were planning to head up to Hannegan Pass and Ruth Mountain for a couple days for the photography of Mt. Shuksan and to get a little practice on a very simple glacier in preparation for our trip to the Canadian Rockies next week. We found out though at the Chevron at Maple Falls that Highway 542 is closed everyday from 7AM to 4PM at three miles past Glacier for repaving. I don't know how long this will be going on and I don't think they would be doing this on weekends, so whoever plans to head up to this area should call the ranger station first. This was a bummer at first because it meant we would have to wait about five hours to get in and wouldn't be able to get out until 4PM the next day. I think it was Eric who mentioned first, as a joke, that we could climb Mt. Baker (neither of us have any experience on glaciers). As soon as he said that we gave each other a funny look as we realized that we had all the equipment necessary to do the climb. So on a whim we decided to give it a try.

The road was in great shape for the most part, except for a few large potholes where the pavement meets the gravel repeatedly. Trail conditions were pretty good, a little muddy in places. There is one creek with a snowbridge over it that is fine and solid right now, but will be collapsing soon. Also there is a large creek crossing about two thirds of the way up. Be prepared to get your feet, or at least your boots wet here. It is fairly wide and shallow, so there is little chance of getting swept into the waterfall directly below, but this hike is not for little kids yet! There is no snow on the trail until where the official trail ends at 2 miles. From here it's pretty much continuous but treeline is reached soon and Heliotrope Ridge (the Hogsback?) is seen directly above. The climbers trail up the hogsback to the popular climber's campsites at the toe of Coleman Glacier is mostly snowfree.

We got to this point really early in the day so we roped up and continued up the first thousand feet of Coleman Glacier to the camps at about 7200 feet on the right side of the glacier. We hung out here for a LONG time and finally went to bed at about 9:00.

We got up the next morning at about 4:00 as first light was just starting to be seen to the east. As it was still extremely warm in the morning, the snow was not very hard (it was so warm that, except for the windy part above the saddle, I did the whole thing in my T-Shirt!) Still we cramponed up just in case and started up the moderately sloped (easy) Coleman Glacier. Crevasses are starting to make an appearance for sure and the ""highway"" did a little bit of wandering to get around a couple of them but there were no suspect snow bridges or anything. All in all this is a very good time to go. We made good time passing people left and right and made it to the saddle in about an hour and 45 minutes. From here came the Roman Wall section which is supposedly somewhat steep and difficult, but really wasn't at all. We were a little slow and I had to stop a couple times but that was just because of the elevation. Soon enough, we made it to the strangely flat summit plateau and very soon to the main summit. I think our final time campsite to summit was about three hours, maybe a little more. Views were grand because of the very clear skies and Mt. Rainier, the Olympics, Vancouver Island, the southern BC Coast Range, a large portion of ocean, and Vancouver BC were all clearly visible.

The way back down was uneventful, but by then the snow had gotten extremely slushy and the lower bowl of Coleman Glacier had gotten extremely hot. The hike out was quite hot as well as it reached 89 in Seattle and probably warmer inland. It didn't help things that I had a terrible sunburn and Eric's truck doesn't have air conditioning. Arghh...

Went to visit Lake Laura and Lake Lillian. We went the backway to make the trip shorter (only 1 1/2 miles one way and 1100 ft.). It was a beautiful day- sunny and hot back there and the waterfalls were amazing. The trail has snow at the top in a couple of places. Lake Laura is surrounded by snow on all sides and Lake Lillian is frozen over. Everything seems to be melting out quickly, though. We were able to skirt around the snow and make it to a couple spots on the lake that were snow free where we had lunch. My guess is that this lake won't be snow free until the very end of July. If you do decide to make the trip, an ice-axe is advised as well as a great camera (so beautiful in white).

Getting to the trailhead is half the fun. The Middle fork road past the Taylor river bridge is as bad as ever; plan on 45 minutes to travel the 5 miles to the Dingford Creek trailhead. You will be happier if you have a high-clearance vehicle, but someone made it in an old Dodge sedan when I was there.

The Dingford trail is as neglected as the road. It starts out badly eroded, not much better than a creekbed. Past the wilderness sign, the trail levels out and improves quite a bit as it enters the hanging valley of Dingford Creek. The glorious old growth forest in the valley is quite a sight, and a worthy destination for a shorter hike. Long stretches of the trail are in remarkably good shape in the lower valley.

Past Goat Creek and the Hester Lake junction, the trail deteriorates markedly, becoming an unending series of blowdowns and mudholes. And crossing the voluminous creek coming down from Nimue Lake makes for entertaining sport. But in compensation, the scenery becomes increasingly alpine as you approach the craggy walls of Big Snow Mountain. Not much snow is encountered until near Myrtle lake (3700'), where heavy drifts remain around the shore. The lake is completely thawed.

No snow, no fuss. There are, however, a few puddles of snow just before you reach the lake but they're limping away in today's heat wave. And no bugs. So plenty of fun can be had trilling around the trillium patches at the lake. When I started at 6:30 AM the trail along the creek was cool - but from then on the air was warm despite the earliness. Watched the sun break lazily across the lake. There is still snow in the chutes on the mountains lining the area. Only saw three groups of hikers - all coming to keep the lake company after I had left its soltitude.

Myself and several friends backpacked from the Canyon Cr. traihead 9 miles to the Chancellor townsite. The trail is in very good shape throughout it's entire lengh. Only minor blowdown, no difficult creek crossings, no bugs. The only tricky section is a washout immediately south of Mill Cr. that involves an exposed step-down. We removed our packs and passed them accross this section to ensure a greater level of safety. The exposed section is only a few steps across. We found it more difficult going down this section than comming back up. The road in from Hart's pass is still closed, so there were no vehicles at the northern trailhead. We were the only people camped at Chancellor.

Small snow patches start at 0.5 miles, 3350 feet elevation. The trail is mostly clear of snow to the ridge crossing, where there is less than a foot of snow. The lake is nearly completely snow-covered. There are a few trees across the trail, mostly on the switchbacks between 1.7 and 2.4 miles of the trail. Dewberry, salmonberry, vanilla leaf, bleeding heart, false Solomon seal, yellow violet, trillium, penstemon, glacier lily and heather were in flower. Hairstreak butterflies and a mountain garter snake were seen. Sky was clear with moderate temperatures.

Trail is about two to three weeks away from being mostly clear on the north-facing part of the ridge.

First mile or so was very nice. From that point on the trail was like walking in a stream (very wet). Lost trail at one point but was easy to pick back up. Was still a great hike to Boulder Glacier!

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2002 – EIGHTMILE LAKE / LAKE CAROLINE GT MAP Chiwakum Mountains

I’ve long wanted to hike up into this area of the Icicle Creek region as I’ve hiked so very little over in these parts. The upcoming bridge closure over Icicle Creek which will block access off to this region after the 15th was reason enough to finally get myself there for a very perfect hike. To beat the heat (and to get me back home by a 3:00pm curfew) I was on the way to the trailhead at 3:15am and was hiking up from the trailhead in the cold 5:40am air. To say the least the trailhead was pretty quiet with only one rig there from overnighters I saw later on. As I started hiking, I pondered why Eightmile Road, Eightmile Creek, and so on are not called “Eightmile-and-four-tenths” Creek since the turn-off is 8.4 miles up the Icicle Creek Road. I came to the conclusion the creek must enter Icicle Creek eight miles up, or the surveyors 100 years ago didn’t have satellite based GPS units to help them : )

The steep trail the first ½ mile is in constant ear-shot of roaring Eightmile Creek. The flower display began almost immediately and was constant for the entire day! I think the first thing to pop me in the eyes were some stunning masses of tiger lilies, some over five feet tall! This initial open area also was active with three woodpecker species: Hairy, Downy, and Norther Flickers. A later sighting of a more uncommon Black-backed Woodpecker near Little Eightmile Lake gave me a four woodpecker day. The trail to Little Eightmile Lake went quickly and is in fine shape—sure, some masses of thimbleberry clog up the trail when laden with early morning dew, but who cares. Just after the view of the lake is the junction with trail #1552 that heads up to Lake Caroline, and if it were not for the sign on the tree marking it I would have NEVER found it. This trail was so overgrown right in the first 300 yards I actually had to LOOK for it even after seeing the sign. This first climb from 4400 feet to 5000 feet was the worst part where the eight years since the 1994 fires burned the tree canopy has allowed thick undergrowth of native shrubs to thrive! Pretty for the flowers and smells, hard on keeping the trail. I hope this first mile of the Lake Caroline Trail can be listed to get work soon or I fear that another five years will really make it difficult. The views across Eightmile Lake with increasing elevation through the silver snags of dead trees was magical. Each stand of living trees was an island of bird life within it too! Half a dozen of them supported very active flocks of Western Tanagers—I must have seen 20 during the day! Hummingbirds were almost on me all day as well since my red shirt got them all hyper. Twice I had one almost land on my shoulder! The trail was very clear and open from 5000 feet to the 6300 foot pass above Lake Caroline with only one log to step over. There was still a couple small snow patches heading down to the 6104 foot lake but not on the trail, and past the lake only patches of snow existed. Windy Pass would have a few large snow areas but nothing difficult. The reflection of the mountains in Lake Caroline was magical while a mating pair of Common Mergansers slowly eased across the waters. Photography was exceptional!! I ate a slight “lunch” here at 9:45am while listening to the Clark’s Nutcrackers move through the tree stands looking for food—they have long been one of my most loved birds of our high mountain zones! Hiking back out I spent more time photographing more flowers that were too breezy in the earlier winds, and I startled a Ruffed Grouse who went up into a tree only 30’ from me. I photographed the rascal for 15 minutes while it waited for me to part ways! I slowly backed away then, and within 30 seconds of leaving it was casually on the ground again. A good encounter for both of us!

I hiked quickly out the 2.8 miles on trail #1554 to get back to the trailhead by 12:15pm. Just then in the last mile did people start really showing up. Surprising for a weekday, but all were doing as I in getting in to this area while the getting was good! Flower species for the spectacular day included tiger lily, Jeffery shooting stars, small-flowered penstemon, red columbine, queens cup (carpets of it along the Eightmile Creek area!), asters, stonecrop, glacier lilies, balsamroot, pink monkey flower, nine-leaf desert parsley, paintbrush, two species of lupines, fireweed, thimbleberry, wood rose, bluebells, cow parsnip, Columbia lewisia, twinflower, creeping Oregon grape, and “a bunch of yellows I can’t remember”. Flowering shrubs included vast areas of red-flowering current, deerbrush, mountain ash, and oceanspray. Oh, and the butterflies were thick as the skeeters in wet muddy areas of the trail! Alan L. Bauer 07/09/2002

Trail is very well maintained. No snow, a little mud, a few bugs, a few small creeks to step through, but all problems are easily manageable. A lovely hike on a weekday when there was only one other small family hiking the trail. I hate to imagine what it's like on a weekend. The drive from Cle Elum involves a lot of freshly oiled/gravelled roads, so don't take your brand new car if you don't want any paint chipping off your nice finish. Be sure to stop at the drive-in burger joint on the middle/west end of the main drag in Cle Elum - they have incredibly good milk shakes.

This trip was July 6th thru the 9th. Well, two days wasn't enough to explore Strawberry Point and Toleak point last time, so I tried again in four. I started late Saturday due to driving, etc. I made it in as far as the beach right before Scott's bluff. I had total isolation and a nearby water source. Sunday I wandered down to Toleak Point and set up camp right on the tip. At about 7 pm, a rain squall moved in and then stalled, dumping heavy rain for three or four hours. I had a good two-man tent, so nothing got wet. Monday I day hiked across Goodman Creek to the beach that ends at Mosquito creek. I had lunch about halfway down the beach and then returned to Toleak Point for one of the all-time great sunsets. Tuesday was spent on the long haul from Toleak to the Third Beach trailhead. The mud holes on the overland crossings were extra muddy, the rope ladders had broken in several spots since the last time I was there, but it is all worth it. From Sunday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon I saw nobody. It was like Robinson Crusoe. This is now my official Favorite Place (until I go somewhere else really nice). A week at least would do justice to this hike.

This incredible loop hike is now putting on an awesome flower show. In fact I'd probably say that this is the best flower display that I've ever seen. I decided to go up the Bean creek trail and return on the Beverly Turnpike so that the return would lose elevation more gradually. The trail to Bean Basin is in good condition. The entire Bean Basin is carpeted with Jeffery Shootingstar. The trail proper dissappears about 1/2 way up the meadow. I choose to go clamber up to a shallow saddle just east of Bean Peak. Bean peak is a red jumble of boulders straight up the end of the valley. It's the rightward most of the 2 red colored peaks. The view of the Enchantment peaks is enchanting. The easiest way up Bean peak is to skirt your way around the South side of the peak and then ascend the south west corner. It ends up being easier than it looks. Hands needed in only a few places. The dog could make it to within 40 feet of the peak and then had to wait for a bit while I took in the great views. Next I followed the trailless ridge due north to Tooth Saddle. Tooth Saddle is just south of the prominent black volcanic rock peak near the north end of the ridge. Trail 1218 traverses wet meadows adorned with tons of Glacier Lilys. Unfortunately the trail has been torn up in places by horses. It only takes a few horses to trash a trail in such a sensitive area. A left on Forth Creek trail quickly intersects Beverly Turnpike and completes the loop. There are cools flowers, plants and scenery from beginning to end on this hike. There were a few black flies in the wet meadows but no mosquitos. The entire route is snow free. Good water available now most of the way except of course on the ridge. The flowers are mostly right at there peak. Many of the Lupine will be peaking in the next few days. This weekend flowers should still be spectacular. RT ~8 mi, 3100 ft.

For my Tuesday night walk with the gang I chose Squak Mtn since it is my back yard. We started out of the Foothills subdivision and walked up and over Squak to my house. We encountered one other person on the trail the entire 2 hours we were walking. The trail treads were in great shape, but it needs brushing everywhere really. Coming off Central Peak, the trail was a tunnel through the brush. Beware of nettles and the occasional giant devils club bushes. Other than that, the East Ridge trail was a pleasure and the breeze on the ridge was welcome. Currently there are signs at all the intersections, but if you are not familiar with Squak Mtn it is a good idea to take a map.

The cloudless, deep-blue skies in the morning where too much to handle. I knew that the cleansing rains of Sunday would offer spectacular views today so I set off for Commonwealth Basin to make a solo climb of Red Mountain. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised at the trail and snow conditions throughout the hike and climb.

I was ready to hike at around 10:00 a.m. The venture began with a very swift walk on the PCT into the Commonwealth Basin. There are three easily navigable blow-downs. (Note: After using the abandoned trail a few times, I have found that the general times of travel are equivalent considering that the hiking on the PCT is much easier and you don’t have to deal with overflowing streams.)

The much ballyhooed snow in the basin is reached soon after leaving the PCT at 4,000 feet. I imagined I would be post-holing to my waist, but the snow is only a couple feet deep in most areas (I only fell through once). Generally, stay away from the smaller streams and hike along the south side of the primary creek. The snow section is about a mile long. Eventually, I saw the trail (the old PCT) on my left across the stream. The crossing is manageable with care. From this point to the summit of Red Mountain, there is really no significant snow except for near the small pond below the pass (not even in the route). The trail is in great condition gaining 1,000 feet in elevation fast.

I mistakenly began my ascent of Red Mountain from the small pond and was later forced to traverse over making things harder. I found that beginning the climb before the pond is a much easier route (my descent route). Anyways, I reached the summit (5,890) with no problems and ate lunch with Thompson, Lemah, Chimney Rock, Snoqualmie, and Lundin in the foreground and Rainier, Adams, Baker, Glacier, Stuart, and the Monte Cristo/Columbia area in the background. All four major volcanoes in WA visible!

After enjoying some of the best clarity I have ever seen, I began my descent which was straightforward. However, be careful of the copious amounts of loose scree and talus that move very fast on the red slabs of rock. I reached the car at about 2:30, 4½ hours round trip. I was pushing hard in both directions, so expect a leisurely climb to take around 6-7 hours. The trip is about 8 miles round trip, but seemingly longer with the varied terrain.

Red Mountain is in great shape and a good choice for a day-climb objective that still puts you atop a prominent peak offering excellent views into the heart of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. What’s more, it’s only a short jaunt from the suburbs.

The fisherman's trail to Rainy Lake starts as soon as you cross the bridge from the Middle Fork trailhead first turn right as soon as you leave the bridge and continue downstream toward Rainy Creek. Once you hit the sandbar the trail starts to climb and traverse towards the creek, cross the creek and start climbing. The trail for the most part is easy to follow and the first half is fairly easy grade. At approx. 3200ft cross the creek resume climbing. Here the pitch steepens and is much more sustained. The trail crosses the 3900 ft mark before descending to the lake. There is some snow ringing the lake, but is ice free. The bugs weren't too bad, all and all a great day!

Well today I felt like a hike that did not require any skill whatsoever, and the weather to the west was not so great (although clearing). So I went east to the Teanaway area and to Navaho Pass which I haven't visited in a couple years.

The road conditions were good although they're repaving or regraveling or something on the North Fork Teanaway Road for a few miles before 29 Pines Campground. The road up Stafford Creek is a little crappy (large bumpy rocks in the roadbed) but I think it has seen attention since two years ago. The trail conditions are great with just a couple small blowdown, very few bugs, and no snow to the pass. These six miles should go very quickly as the trail is very moderately graded.

Once at the pass, we were hardly worn out so we decided to go for the peak. The peak is not a difficult climb; it has what amounts to a trail up to its summit. The one thing you have to be careful of though is not following the county line trail. You can follow it for a little while from the pass, but soon you must gain the ridge and stay there. There was only a couple short snowpatches on the route to the peak and they were close to the top, not a problem.

The trip down was quick and uneventful. We did the whole trip, all 14 miles in about six hours but we were moving fast (because we didn't feel like getting up early and didn't get started until about 2:30.

We decided to spend two nights at Mystery Camp and explore the area beyond Marmot Pass. The trail to the camp is in good condition and the camp sites are free of snow and dry. There are small snow patches from the camp to Marmot Pass - no problem at all. We hiked several miles on the Tubal Cain trail with only a few snow patches to cross or go around. Someone had brought horses up from the other end so it must all be passable despite some blow-down. We made slow progress due to the wonderful variety of flowers which we had to identify. We also poked along the ridge south of Marmot Pass but the trail below looked like it had several dicey snow slides left. The weather was great. We saw only five other people in the three days.

Trail clear and dry beyond Snowshoe Falls. Snow on the trail becomes heavy near Hemlock Pass with the trail obscurred.

Rapid snow melt is leaving large holes and possibly fall through hazards.

Lower Melakwa lake was frozen.

The weather was great in the mountains compared to the Puget Sound area.

Thanks the the WTA crews for their great work in repairing the trail.

Took the Round Mountain trail up to Alpine Lookout on Nason Ridge in the Lake Wenatchee area. Round trip length 10 miles with a 2400' gain to a high point of 6200' at the lookout. Patchy snow where the Round Mt. trail intersects the Nason Ridge trail, but the trail is pretty easy to follow. No ice axes required. The peaks were hidden by clouds so getting bearings was a little difficult. The side trail to Alpine Lookout is well marked with a sign so don't take any of the paths to any of the false summits unless you're curious. No water, take plenty. Skeeters were left on the lower elevations and the breeze on the ridge crest would have blown them away anyway. Great views even on a cloudy day.

I took a great five day trip over the 4th of July to the ridge area between Ingalls Creek and the Stafford Creek drainage. I started up the Iron Peak trail, encountered quite a bit of snow at the saddle, and camped on snow the first night just beneath the saddle. The next day was a quick trip down to the junction between the Beverly Creek and Fourth Creek trails. There was some wayfinding to be done, since some of the upper parts of the trail are still snow covered. The trail from that junction into the Bean Creek Basin area is clear and easy to follow, and the wildflowers in the upper meadow at Bean Creek Basin are spectacular, like a big purple carpet. From here the trail climbs about 1000’ to a saddle in the ridge between Bean Creek and Standup Creek, and a great lunch with clear views of Mt. Ranier and Mt. Adams to the south. There is a great camp at this saddle, clear of snow for the most part, bring water from below. After lunch, it was down another 1000’, traversing a broad slope of yellow wild flowers, to Standup Creek. The trail fades in places here, but occasional cairns mark the way well enough. Up again to a saddle on the shoulder of Earl Peak, another great (but dry) campsite, and a thrilling view down into the Stafford Creek drainage. Just below the saddle there is a lot of snow covering the trail for about half a mile, and I found it difficult to relocate the trail below where it begins crossing the many seasonal tributaries of Stafford Creek. The real trail is clear once it emerges from beneath the snow, and once you find it. The next day was a day hike up to the saddle at Navaho Pass, clear of snow all the way up, and passing a fantastic meadow with good camping, and more good camping on the barrens above, just below the ridge. I followed the ridge left from Navaho Pass, up another shoulder coming off of Earl Peak. All along this ridge walk, you are face to face with the entire Stuart Range and Mt. Stuart, across the valley of Ingalls Creek. Oh, yeah, and Mt. Ranier again to the south. You really cannot beat these views. The next morning brought a quick walk out down the Stafford Creek trail in light rain, and a ride back to my car thanks to some friends, and the trip was complete.

Yes, it is possible to find solitude on a trail in the I-90 corridor in July; providing it is a rainy Monday. After going up Dickerman on Saturday, I felt the need to 'stretch' my legs a bit. My natural tendency is to go up, but I chose a long walk instead. The trail to Pratt lake is a beautifully maintained, easy to follow route that hikers of any ability can enjoy. There are several routes that split off along the way, but they are clearly marked. This trail is a shining example of why this area is called 'The Alpine Lakes ' region. You pass Olallie on the way, and could visit Talapus if you wished. Farther on, in about 6 miles you reach Pratt. Today I hit patches of snow on the trail at about 3 miles. The numerous stream crossings were fine. In the basin just before Pratt lake,I smelled first, then saw a black bear. He (or she) and I regarded one another for a few moments, then I went on my way. I pressed on a bit and reached Lower Tuscohatchie. The rain stopped for me to have a short break, then I retraced my steps and ambled back to the trailhead. A fine walk indeed.

Dave Knibb - a good friend and I explored a mine in the WF Miller drainage on June 15. The 4-bys had carved the route around the jersey barrier well before then. I commented to my friend that that barrier was a joke, and that some clowns will drive this road no matter what. We marveled at how bad the road is getting, with a LOT of water running down it in numerous places. Much later in the day we were on our way out, and I was flabbergasted to see that someone had already driven clear to Coney Creek, AND had climbed over avalanche debris and shoved a 40""-thick tree bole out of the way to do it.

I won't elaborate on the trip, as there is already a trip report written by Trail Pair.

Note: The Iron Gate road leading to the TH of this beautiful place has received attention this spring, and is now accessible by almost any car. However, once it's rutted after rain showers, the ruts will harden, making it not so accessible again. If you have ever been turned off by the Iron Gate road, now is the time to go.

No bugs yet, either - but that only means they could hatch at any time. Flowers will be at their height in approx 1.4 weeks.

Another note: no matter when you go, it will always (without exception), snow and sleet while you're setting up camp. Best to boil up some soup and put in a thermos at the TH and sup on that once you pitch camp in the freezing rain and wind 'cause your fingers are too cold to deal with the stove. The 2nd day will be hot with a cool breeze.

I guess this is a trip report.

Though not an official hike, the 360 degree mountain views from Slate Peak are worthy of mention. It's best to hike the little trail which runs parallel to the road behind the guard station at the Meadows CG intersection and then road walk when the trail runs out. I have never seen so many glacier lillies, as it was wonderful to walk amongst them on the trail. Millions upon millions in acres upon acres of yellow glacier lillies! Tons of lupine and shooting star, too. The flowers are at their height here.

Meadows CG still under snow.

Dead Horse Point has been worked on, and the Slate Pass road is practically no challenge at all any more, and almost no fun, except if you're lucky enough to be the one who must back up 1/2 mile if someone is coming from the other direction, all the while hoping no one is coming up behind you around the blind curve.

I swear, all the good roads have been, uh, how should I put it - sterilized, or 'neutered.' Harumph!

WHAT A GREAT ADVENTURE!!

Mileage: 4 days and 45 plus miles

Let's start with trail conditions: The trail begins on the So Quinalt river road where the gate is closed at the junction bridge with the No. Quinalt. This is due to a large washout about a mile or so up, and tacks on a monotonous six mile road march, but beautiful just the same. The suspension bridge is out at Graves creek and requires a ford around 21/2 feet deep with mild currents...just keep moving and it is no problem. The second ford is done just before you get to the meadows on the Quinalt and is marked with cairns. It is easier than the first ford, as the river is braided into smaller streams. The blowdowns on this trail are like none I've seen before...I mean we are talking two and three tree combinations that are not easy to get by or over without some trepidation. Some of these trees are easily six feet plus in diameter. The trail is in pretty good shape but needs some minor maintenance in a few spots. I went up the valley towards the the Anderson pass junction and the trail up to that point is in very rough shape, with total wash outs in some spots and snow around 3000'...I was told by another hiker that the snow is negotiable if you go right at the junction, but not Anderson Pass. A final note on the trail: on the way down from the valley we ran into a trail crew that was doing repairs on the trail and it was clear past the Pony Bridge, so by the time you get up there it should be cleared up much farther.

Wildlife: We must have been the only group in the valley to NOT see bear. Everyone else we talked to reported them. There was a hiker lost up in the area and a helicopter was floating around all day on the 5th, so we thought it may have scared away some of the wildlife (Luckily, he later bushwhacked out and made it down safely.) There are signs everywhere, so take the necessary precautions. We did see some park deer (too tame) and a few elk up by the Quinalt crossing. The greatest sighting was a Bobcat up by the Horse Camp!! At first we thought it was a Cougar, but when it stopped, we saw pointy ears, a bob tail, and a furry face. I thought it was a Lynx, but maybe just a little too big for that. Plus, the volunteer at the ranger station said there are no Lynx around there. Oh well, a great sighting any time you see a cat in the wild!!

There are numerous sights to camp all the way up, so you can take your time getting up to the valley, or do the nearly nineteen miles in a single day. The meadows in the valley ringed with numerous waterfalls cascading down the nearly 4000'cliffs is truly breath taking. Sunset changes the valley by the minute and if being up there doesn't make you forget about all your troubles, nothing will. A truly beautiful, inspiring wilderness.

Excellent 14-mi round trip hike with all kinds of variety. Trail starts in deep dark old growth along the aquamarine Dungeness River, climbs up through hemlock & yellow cedar of Royal Creek, passing thru meadows and gnarled silver firs before reaching Royal Lake in Royal Basin at 5100'.

Camping at Royal Lake is excellent, with outstanding mountain scenery, meadows, wildflowers, rushing streams, waterfalls, lake & bogs. Lots of opportunities for rambling among rolling hills of upper basin & scrambling of surrounding peaks. Campsites are very limited though, so strongly recommend reservations through Olympic National Park. Note, they are now recommending bear cannisters for camping in Royal Basin.

Trail conditions were excellent on this trip in early July 2002. Snowline was approx 5500', at the bog in upper basin above Royal Lake. Early wildflowers such as Jeffreys Shooting Star & Avalanche Lilies were just starting to come out at Royal Lake. Mosquitoes were terrible at Royal Lake; worst I have ever experienced in the Olympics.

Note on the drive to the Dungeness Trail there is a road closure. If you look at your map, taking Palo Alto Road from Hwy 101, there is a fork in the road just prior to reaching Dungeness Forks Campground. Used to be you could take either fork, as they rejoined a few miles south. The east fork is now closed, and your only choice is to take the west fork [which passes the campground].

We hiked this trail on July 7. Getting up the road was not a problem with 4x4. Loved it, even if the views of Mt. Rainier were only partial due to cloud cover. Plenty of avalanche lilies, and quite a bit of snow at the higher elevations. I found the elevation gain relatively easy to negotiate. But the snow made the going somewhat difficult.

The lake was still partially frozen, and it was difficult to find a dry spot for our lunch break. We encountered some people, but it was not crowded by any means. Plenty of water everywhere, and promises of beautiful mountain meadows (maybe another month?).

Overall I really enjoyed this hike.

Goat Peak Lookout/Mazama Area- Round-trip 5 miles, elevation gain 1500 ft.from 5500'-7000' Started the drive up FS Rd. #52 around 9:20a.m. Passed a couple of cows along the road. High clouds cooled things down from the day before. Left trailhead at 10:00 as it began to sprinkle half-heartedly. Thought I'd give it 1/2 hr. to clear off & that was the best decision. Rain and thunder stopped as the clouds began drifting west. Trail passes through several lovely meadows. Lowest ones are drying out but the upper ones reward the traveller with paintbrush, clematis, glacier lily and shooting star. Trail is steep and it is wise to bring plenty of water as there is none on the trail. It is dryer than I recall from years past at this time (July 7). The creeks running through the meadows were rather low in volume. There is typically a snow cornice where the trail intersects the ridge to the lookout where the ranger & his friendly dogs play host. The snow is easily side tracked on a social trail but it is not difficult or dangerous(it should be re-routed cuz people will just shortcut it anyway). The last 1/2 mile to the lookout is above 6500-7000' so it takes a bit of puffing. You are rewarded all along the way with improving views of Silver Star, Mt. Robinson and the Methow Valley below. Had a great lunch at 11:30 by the lookout but had to put on a longsleeve shirt to avoid the biting flies...no breeze today.

The trailhead for the old Lennox Creek trail is still back on the road where Bear Creek has washed out near the bridge. The bridge is intact, but rotting, and sits up 5 vertical feet or so from the washout. This adds about 1.75 miles to the hike, and is a good 45 minute warm-up.

Lennox Creek Trail #1001 starts at the end of the road at about 2600' - no trail marker, just a lonely Trail Park Pass sign hidden in the new alder growth. The trail is a bad one, with rocks, awkward steps, water, and mud. Only a few blowdowns though, and not too much brush. It climbs steeply though the forest with views out towards Goat Mountain to the west, and Bare Mountain to the north. Once past the spring at 3600' the tread is drier and easier to follow. I reached solid snow at about 4100' after about 2.5 hours hiking, and the trail was lost. The summit of Dog really wasn't my objective, and besides, I had forgotten my ice ax in the back of my truck. I turned around and had lunch at an open spot on some large talus blocks.

I descended back down on the trail to where the spring originates (and messes up the trail). This shows on the topo map of the area, and the Pine Marten mining claim was supposed to be 100' north of it. So from the spring, I clawed through brush until I was hanging over a cliff. Sure enough, down at the bottom looked like mining debris. And below that, I saw the roof of an old cabin. I remembered that this cabin is mentioned in the 100 hikes series. I would have to go lower to get to it, as I was about 400 feet too high.

Going up and down, I finally figured that I could bushwhack over to the cabin from an east-bearing switchback that has two logs lying at the corner. 10 minutes later put me at about 3230' and the front door of the cabin, which was built in log-cabin fashion, with a large lean-to roof of corrugated aluminum. It surprised me how large it was, with a main room and loft above, some crudely built furniture, an Olympic stove and some sort of oil heater. The cabin door, once locked was now torn off, and the whole structure has suffered since it was occupied in the 60's (a guess). I stepped inside and heard the ominous cracking of the rotted flooring. I didn't go through, but the next person might. As I carefully walked on the beams, I heard stirring noises from something underneath that still calls the place home.

Outside, I wandered around the back of the cabin, and admired the priceless ""back patio"" view down to the Lennox Creek valley that the miners once had. It wasn't hard to imagine them eating dinner out back in the evenings, watching the sunset. I then climbed the slopes above the cabin towards the cliffs where the miners certainly must have worked. As I neared the top of the rocks, an aluminum sign on a tree warned me away, stating that this was private property belonging to the Devils Canyon Mining Company. Someone clearly had drilled away portions of the cliff here, at about 3430', but the only real improvements I could see was the start of an adit, only about 2 feet long. After looking around the claim area for a while, I carefully made my way back down to the cabin, and to the trail.

I started back down the trail, running into a couple of other parties on this humid day - other than that, it was very isolated. I saw no sign of the cutoff trail to the Devils Canyon prospect, this will have to wait for another day. I also looked very carefully later down on the roadway, for the way trail shown on the map that makes it's way up Cougar Creek, but saw nothing.

The Goat Lake trail is in great shape, thanks to recent work. There are some small and easily navigable mud spots on the upper 1/3 of the trail, but otherwise clear and dry. One smallish (10"" dia) tree across near the top (1/2 mile from lake or so) but easily stepped over. No snow. Bugs were only an issue at the trailhead, and they were not committed to feasting. Some small waterfalls and some run off along the way, but all across the trail were very easily crossed. The lake was very pretty and there was snow up above the lake, opposite the lake outlet, which made for beautiful sightseeing. All in all a great hike - good scenery all along the way, the trail is in excellent shape, and it's an easy hike.

A bit of snow at the trailhead, then more or less snow free up the switchbacks. A couple of significant blow downs on the trail; crawl under, through, or over the trees. Patchy snow going continuous at about 5000'. I continued on up Sahale Arm all the way to Sahale Peak. The glacier is crevasse free, but won't be for much longer.

If you are a hiker, wait a couple more weekends and hike to the Pass. If you are an experienced snow traveller, don't wait much longer and go all the way to Sahale Peak. Axe required.

I went to the top of Chinook Pass to run the Naches Peak Loop. Unfortunately there was at least 4 feet of snow on the ground. I saw a trail to the north that was clear of snow, I checked my map, and found that it was the PCT from Chinook Pass to Sheep Lake. It is about the same distance and elevation gain at Naches Peak so I went for it.

From the parking area at the restroom stop at the top of Chinook Pass (not open, use the honey buckets at Tipsoo Lake if you have to go) to the trail requires a very short but slippery travel up a small hill of snow to the trail. Once there, travel N.E. until the snow is gone and the trail appears. The trail parallels the highway for the first mile. Keep a lookout in the valley to the S.E as you pass. I saw a herd of elk in the pasture near the American River. There is some splendid water falls to be seen as well. At 1 1/4 mile the trail turns to the north into the forest. Due to a steep hillside and snow I was forced east to a small stream. I followed it north unit I could intersect the trail again. Once back on the trail I encountered a few patches of snow. At 2 ½ miles the trail will split, stay to the left. If you want to go right there is a great view not far away. At this point you will also encounter some shortcuts. Please so not use them. Stay on the main trail! The lake is less that ¼ mile away. Once at the lake view of the surrounding peaks is spectacular. I found some Mt. Goat tracks and saw a few Rainbow Trout in the lake. If you look to the N.E. you may see hikers climbing up the PCT to Sourdough Gap.

On the way back I encountered a few hikers. As I got closer to the rest stop I passed countless tourists who I hope did not get lost once the snow took over the trail. As always, get there early!

Happy hiking and running

Runs Trails

Went to Leavenworth for some strudel and alpine lakes. All three were snow free: Blue skies, high temps (90 on sunday!), and BUGGY. Don't forget your ""off"". It's getting really dry out there. Amazing to me, the campgrounds were not full-- holiday weekend and all.

J.

The only place out from under snow, they say. We found the trail a stroll, though the streams are high and the crossings a bit difficult for grandmas and 2 year olds. A bit of snow on the trail for fun. The scenery is spectacular, worth the walk for anyone, though the area around the lake is overused. We did not go to the pass - the rain had begun.

Started out in fine weather for a two day trip with the goal of climbing Cashmere Mountain. The way up to Little Eightmile lake was a gradual climb through a partially burnt forest, with groups of surviving trees providing welcome shady spots. After a snack at Little Eightmile Lake (some bugs) the trail switchbacks up the northern side of the valley through the burnt forest with little shade on this sunny face, though the loss of shade is compensated for by the extra views and a nice carpet of flowers. At about 6000' the burnt forest ended and was replaced by the welcome shade of pines and the odd larch. A 6300' pass above Lake Caroline yielded a view of Cashmere Mtn to the northwith a grand view of Stuart and the Enchantment Peaks south. A brief descent brought us to the shores of Lake Caroline and Little Caroline Lake just beyond. Here the bugs were plentiful and hungry, a liberal application of repellent followed shortly. The trail contines beyond to Windy Pass, with a partially snow covered meadow at 6500' making a nice campsite.

The next day started sunny, but ominous clouds were quickly assembling themselves in the west. Heading northeast off the trail we quickly reached the west saddle (8000') and started an uphill traverse on the north face of the mountain across steep, soft snow. Upon reaching the north ridge a straightforward scramble to the summit followed, yielding an outstanding 360 view of the landscape. The summit stay was brief as rain was quickly moving in, and a speedy descent brought us back to the saddle as the rain began. Happily, it cleared within the hour, and was pleasant for the rest of the hike out.

Trail is free of snow, wildflowers are in bloom and the black tail deer are tooling about the trail (I had to wait for a deer to move off the trail on three separate occasions)!

Decided to make a quick snow probe of the old trail. It's in surprisingly good condition for an ""abandoned"" trail. There is ofcourse water in the trail since it is a ditch for long stretches. Snow free until up in the flat among the big trees. With almost no foliage, it's easy to spot the waterfall from the trail. Fairly easy to follow the path across snow to the creek crossing. The log is still in place, but the path becomes sketchy on the other side. Probably lots of opportunities to punch through into little streams. There is not much wind on this section of the hike and bugs are starting to happen.

HikerGirl and I departed from the School Bus Turnaround 1.1 miles east of the Mount Si trailhead at 11 AM. Beginning elevation 950 feet.

We were disappointed by the first 5 miles of wide, rocky logging road and by a general lack of guidebook specificity. The first two miles were a good warm up, rising merely 500-600 vertical feet. The salmon berries are ripe but the thimbleberries still green. After the little falls at mile 2, the road inclines considerably. At 3200', we passed the wide spur to Mount Si, in the West. Thereafter, the bald summit of Mount Teneriffe comes in and out of view. At 3500 feet, the road traverses a steep ridge, offering unobstructed views of North Bend and Mount Rainier to the south, Si's Haystack to the West, and bald Teneriffe to the East. At the top of this traverse, the road bends north into a clear cut valley (15' trees). We were greeted by four baritone bear grunts (distance...200-400 meters), which prompted me to whistle 'Zippity Doo Da' as loudly as possible for the next hour. We passed the G-P shack and proceeded the short half mile to a bulldozed saddle at which our guidebook proved how dangerous poor documentation can be! Q:Why point an arrow through a saddle when the trail doesn't go that way? A:?

Navigational Note: On the return trip I marked the real trail with two sticks and a hastily constructed cairn. I also flagged a small tree in the saddle with pink tape. The trail departs from the middle of the saddle and proceeds east up the ridge.

Anyway, HikerGirl and I went the wrong way. Rather than ascend the heavily wooded ridgeline, we followed a rough logging track around its north side. We didn't realize our folly after walking/glissading three-quarters of a mile. Rather than turn around, we turned to determined route finding and brute force. A topo map would have led us in the opposite direction. We scrambled straight up the 40-45 degree ridge from a cute little snow covered valley which might be good for camping in mid to late September. Straight up. You know you're on the edge when you wish you had crampons and there's no snow under your feet. We discovered the lightly breaded, faintly treaded trail to the summit half an hour later.

The ridge climb to the summit is not as straightforward as it looks from afar. From the saddle it ascends, twists eastward, descends, twists westward a bit, and then ascends again through increasingly thin trees to a rocky, wildflower-covered peak. A great deal of blow down and thickening underbrush block the trail. If you lose it, look for tape on the trees. If you keep the high ground, you'll get to the summit eventually. This trail needs a machete.

The summit of Mount Teneriffe made up for everything; the poor guidebook, missed trail, muggy air, boulder-strewn road, and even Georgia-Pacific. The 360-degree view is spectacular. It has better views than Si and none of the 12-year-old rock droppers. HikerGirl and I lunched on the rocks with the bite less alpen flies, lupine, phlox and countless other wildflowers. With thunderstorms brewing in the West, we decided to leave around 3:30PM. We left in time to avoid the lightning but got drenched by torrential downpours during the final hour of our descent. Thank heavens for the ten essentials. We used all but one. Over the final two miles we saw three deer: two does and one fearless fawn. We arrived at the trailhead at 6:30PM. Total distance (w/ detour): 14.5 mi; Total Time(w/ detour): 7.25 hours; Total Elev Gain(w/ detour): 4300'. No snow on main trail. Few bugs. Good sun/shade mix. Poor downhill footing.

The Mountaineer hike was described as Mason Lake & beyond. The first mile of the route is also the Bandera Mountain route. There is significant trail construction taking place on that route. You can see signs of work even on the first easy mile that goes on a former road. We turned left at the junction, where a sign indicates both the Mason Lake route and the Bandera route.

After about a half a mile of switchbacks, there is an unsigned junction with another trail that seems to go straight up the hill. Both of these routes go to Mason Lake. Neither of them is good, but there is a world of difference between them. If you go left, the approach is more gradual and pretty as if follows the outlet creek, but the trail is a mess. You will encounter roots, mud, devil’s club and large trees across the trail that you have to go under. For a big guy like me, that means crawling, and in one case, taking off my pack and crawling. This route avoids the boulder fields, however, rejoining the trail right after the last boulders.

The straight up route is mostly just that for about a mile. The tread is pretty good, with no mud and few roots to trip you. It also requires about a quarter mile of hopping across and up a significant boulder field. While there is no sign at the lower junction, there is a sign past the boulder field that identifies this route as the main trail. We went up the muddy trail and down the steep trail, and definitely preferred the latter route.

The lake and shores are completely snow free. We decided to continue our travels, but had some difficulty finding the trail along the lake because it seemed to disappear, and there are numerous informal paths that dead-end. We finally realized that the problem was caused by a large tree that came down this winter has and neatly fallen into the trail, concealing it for 30 or 40 yards. Once we were back on the trail, we quickly reached a signed junction that directed us to Mt. Defiance to the left, or Island Lake to the right.

We went left to see if we could get up Mt. Defiance. We hit solid snow in about a half a mile, and eventually decided to halt, as we could no longer follow the route and our group was not equipped for a scramble. We were high enough to have nice views of Pratt and Bandera Mountains during lunch.

When we returned to the junction, there was still some sentiment for more adventure. We split the group up. Three of us went back to the trailhead that we started from, where we would drive three cars to the Talapus Lake trailhead. The rest of the group decided to continue on trail #1009 the six-plus miles to that trailhead. They had more difficulty than they expected following the route over a lot of remaining snow, but eventually came out to meet us shortly before 5:00, and shortly before the heavy rainstorm hit.

WE had planned on an outing from Sunrise, but lower clouds on Sunday prompted us to come up with an alternative. So we headed back down to White River campground, and joined the hordes of climbers and skiers heading up to Glacier Basin and beyond. Trail is overall in great shape. There are 2 small stream crossing that still have some snow in them, making them a little tricky, but doable. Above that switchback at the first set of ruins, more snow is encountered, but all passable. After a brief reain squall at Glacier Basin for our lunch break (which should right now be called Glacier Lily Basin), we followed the climber's trail up to the 6600' mark, as far as you can go without an axe. From our perch there, we watched skiers carve turns with our binocs and climbers inch up the slope towards Camp Sherman. While we never saw the mountain, we enjoyed views down valley. Add that to tons of flowers on the valley walk (paintbrush, lupine, columbine, penstemon, monkeyflower, etc.), really was an enjoyable hike.

Trailhead is very overgrown and concrete blocks/markers hard to see. Trail was mostly dry, but area leading to balcony is overgrown and easy to miss. Look for a ""tee"" in the trail with a flat ""camping"" area off to right complete with ashes from a recent camp fire, although with such a low and heavy tree canopy, I can't imagine who would build one, or even camp here, for that matter.

Big news was driving to trailhead after rounding a blind corner probably less than a couple of hundred yards from trailhead, we surprised a young adult black bear eating berries on right side of the road. Bear sort of just scampered off across the road upon seeing us, but not in any real big hurry so by time we stopped, we were probably only about 20-30 yards away. That, and noticing all the ripe salmon berries just a few yards into the trail, made for an exciting hike.

Thanks to Bill Sunderland, whose excellant report on this trail got me interested.

The trail started in about 15 minutes of rain, enough to cool off and refresh all the way up 3k feet of switchbacks. Over the remainder the sun showed up more and more. (West-siders got January-volume rains all day I am told.) Nonetheless I appreciated that the trail favored the forest over nearby sun-exposed slopes.

Flowers are at their peak now so go before summer heat turns everything brown. Views from the top are also worth the effort although there are other spots in the area as grand with less work.

This was the first trip where I actually appreciated blow-downs. This is a motorcycle trail first and foremost so retaining the blow-downs is a must for hikers. No gas-burners were encountered all day but their signs were everywhere - fresh trashing of vegetation where they went around blockages, trail at times slanting and narrowing to a v, and exposed cinder blocks.

This is a trail worth reclaiming for hikers. There are many other trails in the area for the motorcycly-insane.

I made pretty much the same round of lakes, Otter, Shellrock and Cramer that I did about 10 days ago-still a significant amount of snow on trails, but clearing enough to camp at any of the three lakes. Fishing was good, I caught 3 big ones and lots of little ones-the mosquitoes are out in force. I talked to a guy who had been camped in there for the whole week and said that the area to the west, i.e. the PCT, Pipe Lake were still pretty much under snow. Clear Creek was significantly lower making crossing/fording less daunting. No maintenance has been done, there's a couple of tough deadfall on the trail.

The WTA driving and trail start descriptions are not accurate. Follow FS road #2080 about 3.2 miles not 1.6 miles before turning left on #2086. The trail starts immediately at road end--do not follow the old logging road to the right-- stay left onto the trail.

There are 3 patches of blow-down on the trail. Easy enough to get around with a daypack, not so fun with an overnight pack. Snow begins shortly below the ridgeline. Trail is snow covered once you reach the ridgeline. Use a topo from here or enjoy the views and head back. Groups that camped at the lake said it is snow covered but two spots at the shore are snow free for camping. Trail is in good shape overall despite the downed trees. The bugs are out.

Thanks to the webmeister and his gang of bohemian brushbeaters, the trail for the first mile is in great shape. Further up, the huge avalanche debris is all logged out. Still one slightly exposed snowslide to negotiate, and a couple of challenging steps from trail to snow at creeks. But all in all the trail is in good shape to the falls at 2 miles.

We took off there for East Twin Peak. Much of the basin is still snow covered, making for pleasant travel. More fresh avalanche debris all over the place -- what a winter! After crossing the falls on the right side and angling up a ramp to the left, we slogged up a snowfield to the saddle between the Twins. From there it's 3rd class to the easier of the two peaks.

(Note: This may actually be Trail #1072. I used the trailhead off Highway 2. #1002 may be the trail that begins on the Taylor River Road, near North Bend)

Having been raised in another part of the country, it still strikes me funny that here it is, July. Its summer. I'm comfortably attired in shorts and a short sleeve shirt and taking a snapshot of a peaceful lake. But I'm wearing snowshoes and the lake is completely frozen over. Ahhh. . . .hiking in The Cascades!

The hike past lakes Dorothy, Bear and Deer on the way to Snoqualmie Lake is a pretty good ankle conditioner. The trail is populated with rocks and roots with a pleasant topping of mud above Lake Dorothy. The trail is not too difficult in that there is less than 2000 feet in general elevation gain and that gain is spread over a long stretch, topping out at about 3800 feet. The scenery all along the way is wonderful with rocky peaks, raging rivers and creeks and lots of lakeshore to view. Lots of campers on pretty and still Lake Dorothy and the long walk along its eastern shore was almost like a stroll through a neighborhood with the residents coming out on their porches to say hello. The climb up to Bear Lake seems to have discouraged most hikers today and at the saddle between the lakes there was plenty of snow. Bear Lake is still almost completely frozen over and the snow covers the banks. It begins to thin out as you walk beside Bear Lake approaching Deer Lake which is now about half frozen The snow gets patchier here and by the time you reach the saddle overlooking Snoqualmie Lake 300 feet down, the snow is mostly gone. The shores around Snoqualmie Lake had only tiny patches os snow.

The books indicate that the round trip to Snoqualmie Lake is 13 miles, but it felt more like 15 or 16. The views all along the way are splendid and when the day is as beautiful as today was, it is a perfect, tranquil hike. A few minor blowdowns, non-biting bugs at Lake Dorothy and lots of mud and water over the trail because the snow is melting fast.

We were greeted by mosquitoes, black flies and gnats almost as soon as we got out of the truck at about 0900. After applying insect repellent and donning our gear, we headed out.

We encountered bits of patchy snow just after passing the wilderness boundary. The snow became fairly solid about 1/8 mile before reaching Twin Lake. At Twin Lake, there is a clearly marked junction, with the left fork heading to Summit Lake while the right fork is the Carbon Trail, heading toward Bearhead. At this point, the Carbon Trail was still snow-covered, but there were footsteps (probably a day or two old) showing the way clearly enough. The snow persisted for another 1/8 mile past the junction. From there until we reached the turnoff to the summit, we encountered only patchy snow and a few blow-downs. Most were easily stepped over, but at one place, there were two blow downs within 6 or 7 feet of each other. Both were fairly large in diameter and completely blocked the trail. One was short enough, though, that we walked around the end. The other wasn't too hard for Dude and his long legs to get past; Dudette had to do a little more scooting and scrambling, but eventually made it over.

The next junction had the Carbon Trail continuing off to the right, while the trail to Bearhead Mountain summit forked to the left. Here the snow became solid again, with only a few clear patches until we had nearly reached the summit. Once in the snow, we couldn't find the trail, and once again followed the old footsteps up the hillside until we intersected the trail about 200 feet from the summit. The day was overcast, and although Rainier's summit was partially clouded over, the rest of the mountain was clearly visible. The bugs were oppressive at the summit, so we didn't stay long. This would be a great hike in late summer or early fall, though, especially on a clear day.

Trail clear of snow, with exception of 2-3 chutes that are collapsing, to 4,300'. Streams negotiable, even in late afternoon warm weather. Great views of valley to Mt. Ruth snowfield. Heavy snows of 2-3' at Pass but melting fast. Trail from pass to peak not visible, making this a snow scramble. Steep areas require ice axe, and ability to use it. Great 360 degree views from summit. camp sites at pass still snow covered. Groups we passed travelling to pass outfitted in latest tennis show fashions, with no other equipment, children in tow, make one wonder whether they had any equipment ""upstairs"".(As if we had never done anything like that(:))On a positivenote, few bugs were encountered, yet.

Heard that Deception Basin was an interesting place, so decided to check it out. Finding the trailhead is the first challenge (see previous Royal Lake reports); i opted to avoid 2880: for the (longer but easier) route, drive past Sequim, turn left onto Taylor Cutoff Road, which turns into Lost Mtn Rd (keep right). Then look for the ""Dead End"" Sign (since the sign for 2870 is inconspicuous) turn left on 2870, take this decent gravel road and follow signage for Dungeness trailheads (2870 to 2860). Trail starts on the Dungeness trail. Parking area was packed (many people avoiding the Dosewallops washout?). After one mile, Royal Basin trail branches off before a bridge. First few miles are in pleasant woods, then opens up as the trail skirts the side of the valley. Royal lake is 8 miles from trailhead (not 6 as the forest service guide says--green trails is correct for a change!). The Lake and basin are melted out, but for the real scenery head to upper basin, another half hour up, on a trail that climbs south from the end of the lake. I camped at Upper Basin; few campsites, and about 50% snow covered. Talked to the backcountry ranger who told me of several people who recently failed at summiting Mt. Deception. That, plus no obviously easy way up the mtn, convinced me not to try a solo. I reconned Deception Basin by climbing steep snow (ice axe required) to the col between Deception and Fricaba. Good views down to the basin, over to Mt Mystery and mountains beyond. But very steep and loose scree convinced me to stay put in upper basin. The next day (today) i thought id do some exploring, but the clouds streaming from the south and a few drops convinced me to make a quick exit. I arrived at my car just in time for the first clap of thunder! Intersting and remote area, may come back for a crack at the peaks sometime.

The weather was iffy, but we say “To heck with the weatherman, go for it.” And we did. And we weren’t disappointed. We hiked from the trailhead to the ridge above Harrison Lake. As you come up the trail to the lake, look across the lake to the high ridge above the other end. Great views from up there. It can be accessed by following the trail, past the lake, over the ridge, until you come to a “Y”. Take the right fork. Flowers are every where. The view of Mt. Constance was spectacular. Views of The Brothers, Jupiter, the canal and more. The trail to the shelter is quite easy, and the trail from the shelter to the lake is steep but not bad.

The trail is in excellent condition. It is almost BC quality. There are only a few parts you can’t get a golf cart past. My thanks to the trail crew. Especially the guy who hacked a forth of the way through a three foot diameter tree with his pocket knife, then went back out for a chain saw, to cut out the offending part. There are trees down across the trail, but all can be easily passed by going around, over, or under. The forest in this area is some of the most pristine. It reeks of “old”, “wisdom”, and “You should see what I’ve seen.” A wonderful bit of trail, with many great views.

I marked ""Mud-holes"" and ""Snow on trail"", but it is minimal.

Mount Aix is located deep in the rain shadow of the cascades, making it one of the best early season hikes in the Cascades. The view from the top of this high peak is spectacular.

The trail is in good shape. There are only a few snow patches and downed logs on the trail. The trail surface is mostly good, with the main exception being some slumped areas where the trail traverses a steep slope above a branch of Deep Creek. The hike's elevation gain is huge, about 4200', but the trail is well graded, which reduces the apparent effort a little bit.

The final scramble to the summit looks intimidating, but is not too dangerous if you careful.

Packwood Lake trail is well-maintained and very easy to follow and hike. There is no snow and no blowdowns on it on the way to the lake. Mosquitoes galore though. Hundreds. Bring lots of repellent. There is a lot of water the whole way still, good flowing streams. Several good campsites both along the inlet and outlet ends of the lake. The trail (#81) to the inlet end was also well-maintained, with no blowdowns. Once past the end of the lake the trail starts to deteriorate. There are some blowdowns, and several points the trail is washed out for 50 feet. Still, the trail is good for about 3 miles past the lake. Once the trail dips into Upper Lake Creek, it is gone. We followed it for about 200 more yards, then it is completely obliterated by washout and blowdowns. Consider this trail to not exit 3 miles past the end of Packwood Lake.

Attempted to hike Sheep Canyon but turned out to be a bust. Road to trailhead (FR 8123) was closed at Goat Marsh trailhead due to washouts last October. If you want to hike this trail you will have to allow for an approximate additional 8-10 mile round trip to get to trailhead and back to your vehicle. You can either go up 8123 or go via the Toutle Trail. We did neither as we arrived way to late to make that kind of distance.

NOBLE KNOB, Still need to access trailhead from rd 70, 72,7220, to 7222.Corral Pass will be closed because of large snowdrifts in rd.The hike is shorter and gives you more time to explore more. There are five or more blowdowns and three large patches of snow to cross.Snow is hard so easy to cross. The view was great.If you look NW to NE you can see the tip of MT Baker and the the Stuart Range. KNOCKOUT.Make sure to wear longsleeves shirts and hat.The bitting fleas and tics are very bad,Because the lack of rain and goat scat all over.HAVE FUN.

Headed up the ridge from the Barclay Lake Trailhead at 7:45 and followed the tread. I followed the route described in 75 scrambles in WA but I went too far SE up the ridge and lost the main trail. Don't do this. It was really steep and I had to manuever up and around cliffs through the bushes. Instead, go straight up to the ridge along the stream. From the ridge, the climb went well. An ice axe was needed to ascend the gully between the north and south peak and up part of the north peak. Crampons were helpful but not necessary. A tough scramble over boulders and snow and you reach the top. Great views of Rainer, Glacier and the surrounding peaks. I could see it raining over the Puget Sound area, but it never reached me. Luckily, I met another solo climber on the way down and he showed me the right way down the ridge.

Started from the Rattlesnake Lake parking lot, onto the Iron Horse Trail and after about 3/4 miles, turn right on the unmarked trail just a few hundred yards beyond Boxly Creek Bridge. It took two hours from start to finish and we worked up a sweat climbing the 900 feet to Cedar Butte, overlooking North Bend and the Cascades. Mosquitos were biting starting on the Iron Horse and continuing up to the Butte. Coming down was easy. Only encountered one other hiker on the trail after we left the Iron Horse. Trail was a bit overgrown but not bad.

A nice moderately strenuous (in parts) hike for a quick trip. Bring bug juice.

July 6-7 loop trip up White River, down PCT, and back on Indian Creek.

Summary: If you want to do this loop, wait a good month. Lots of bugs, blowdowns and snow problems.

Wildlife: 18-20 bear droppings on White River trail; about the same on Indian Creek (I have no idea how recent). Got a good view of a deer on the upper White River (it was by a side stream and the water kept it from hearing me until it was in full view; it bolted, then stopped and looked at me before diving into the brush). Surprised another deer on Indian Creek trail—didn’t see it, but heard it crunching through the brush. Lots of deer tracks (hoof prints—not droppings)—following these tracks helped me over several snow patches. Plenty of birds, a few lizards (salamanders?), a water snake.

Bugs: Mosquitoes were terrible—particularly from the trail head to Boulder Pass cut-off and on the lower Indian Creek. These girls would probe your deet defense until they found access. I got a bite on an eye brow and lower lip (and back of elbows, under hat brim, etc.). A few other little black bugs bit me.

Blowdowns: Lots. Worst spots—White River, after you turn to the west, on the first few avalanche run-outs; upper Indian creek, where it seems like the whole mountainside came down during the winter. Many “interlaced” blowdowns (multiple trees all jumbled together)—these take a lot of time to figure out how to get around, and more time to find the trail again.

River crossings: I put on water shoes once before the White River crossings. All three crossings of the White River require wading of some sort. The second crossing of the White was not fun. The trail hits the water just above a waterfall—a slip would be very bad. Went up stream just a little and crossed via 2 rock bars—still tough. On the upper Indian Creek, there is so much avalanche run-out that most the side streams are buried under snow. Several streams on the lower end require wading.

Snow: Many patches of snow on the White River trail—but until the third crossing of the White River, the snow is no problem. As you start the switchbacked climb towards the pass, the snow patches get bigger and you have to pay better attention. Still though, no significant snow problems until about 4800 feet (starting just after the final switchback on the climb to the pass). Lots of snow on top—I never found the intersection of White River and PCT. I did, however, find a few bare spots on the PCT as I worked my way south (open, west facing slopes). The Indian Pass area is buried—no sign of PCT or Indian Creek trail. Heading down Indian Creek, I was surprised at how long it took to get out of snow (and consequently, how long it took me to find the trail). Occasional patches further down from avalanche run outs—some of these are pretty big, but route finding was not a big problem.

Brush: Bad. The worst is on lower Indian Creek—many times it was above my head. The walk out on Sunday in the rain was a pain. Lots of brush on White River—but it wasn’t raining on Saturday, so it was much more tolerable.

Fellow hikers: Saw one guy who was hiking out on the White River trail on Saturday. He had gone in on July 4th and said he got within 2 miles of the PCT. No sign of any travelers on the PCT. Saw no one on the Indian Creek trail.

Miscellaneous I: Just after the first crossing of the White River, I noticed a lot of smooth “river rock” that was sitting on top of the snow (a good 100 plus feet from the river and maybe 35-40 above the river level). It finally dawned on me that an avalanche had scoured the river bottom and dumped rock on the far side.

Miscellaneous II: The top of Indian Creek is a mess. I was amazed at the snow amounts and debris in the floodplain. There are shattered trees and broken rocks and evergreen boughs everywhere. I was surprised at how far the debris traveled down stream—at times, it looks like the avalanche hit the channel and then went down stream around a few turns (and in places, this “flood” took out trees along the edge of the flood plain). The first 4 or 5 avalanche “fans” (going down stream) all had significant destruction. The lower fans are not as bad. There is so much snow in the flood plain that upper Indian Creek is under the snow more than not.

Miscellaneous III: Because of the snow and debris problems on upper Indian Creek, I had a very hard time finding the trail. At the very top, I wasn’t worried—I just followed the general stream bed because it was taking me down. However, once I ran into the avalanche debris and once the stream started to break out of the snow, I started looking for the trail in earnest. It took me along time and I traveled down stream much further than I had planned. I am not sure where the trail is on the upper portion—if it is in the flood plain, it won’t be cleared for quite some time.

Our trip began at the North Fork of the Quinault at 5:17am. The trail to 16 mile camp was in good condition for this region of the Olympics. As we expected we encountered some mud, but it never became a serious nuisance. I don’t recall climbing over 53 trees between 12 mile camp and Low Divide, but we were moving swiftly. I think the ONP’s report might exaggerate the blowdown conditions. The river crossing at 16 mile camp was easy, about 2 feet deep. Very cold on the toes though! We did find some snow at Low Divide. I don’t recall exactly when, but it did terminate before the Ranger Station. Considering the topography of the divide, none of it was hazardous in my opinion. Although we only carried daypacks and wore lightweight trail shoes. We estimated that we hiked for about 10-15 minutes on snow.

At the Low Divide we saw a black bear, appeared to be a yearling. We had been told there were several in the area, but we only saw the one.

The decent to the North into the Elwha valley was none too short. The Elwha valley was beautiful. And the trail was in great condition, it was refreshing to be in a dryer region of the Olympics. I particularly enjoyed the section between Camp Wilder and Remann’s Cabin. The trees open up a bit and the ground is covered with a moss carpet. One member of our party did find a dry path over the river at Camp Chicago, while the rest of us waded through knee deep cold water. Another relatively straightforward river crossing.

The remainder of the trail was in great condition and is highly recommended. If you’re entering from the Whiskey Bend trailhead on a overnight it’s worth the effort to make camp past Elkhorn. The majority of the backcountry travelers were camping between Elkhorn and Lillian River (to be expected considering the distance). From the Lillian River camp we were hiking in the dark, so I cannot report on that section.

We reached the Whiskey Bend trailhead 11:08pm with some very sore feet, cramped legs, no blisters and great joy. Although we did agree that once was enough.

On July 6th, 2002 my wife wife and I decided to hike to Talapus and Olallie Lakes. Although most of the hike to Talapus Lake is made up of switch back, we found it refreshing to find little patches of snow just 500 feet off the lake. Limited amounts of of mud as well. Talapus Lake was absolutely beautiful and the ground surrounding the lake area was dry. There were about 20 people at the lake around 2pm on this 75 degree day when we arrive and also notices two tents. The trail to Olallie Lake was quite different. From the where the trail continues on from Talapus Lake, we found alot of mud on the trail and the last half mile was all snow and slush. The lake was full and had a few swimmers. There were about 30 people around the entire lake around 3pm on this 75 degree day when we arrive and also notices many tents.

This is a great forest walk. It winds along the lake in places way off and above, then gets back to right along the shore. Mossy trees, ferns,old growth, glimpses of Baker and Shuksan through the trees. At Anderson Point, the signs been taken, but you can't miss it there is a split in the trail and if you head in the direction of the lake, that's the point. There you will see almost the whole of mt. Baker rising above the lake. Walk just north and pop through the trees and mt. Shuksan gives you a fantastic look at it's snow covered flanks. Both veiws, with the green water lake in the foreground are worth the side trip out to the point. If you go on to Maple Grove camp, at about 3 miles, you'll have a pretty flat walk, but will be in and out of old growth, vine maple over your head, moss draped every place, in short it's a great rain forest walk without having to go all the way out to the Hoh or Queets. By the way, you can do this one from the south by way of the Baker Lake dam road or from the north off the Baker River Trail. These 2 trails are joined now and being maintained.

I started on the trail at 10:45am. The parking area was about half full. Passed a few friendly hikes on their way up to Crystal Peak and the Lakes. The trail is in great shape! It has been very well maintained. Once you passed the trail splits between Crystal Peak and Crystal Lakes the trail continues to clime until you reach Lower Crystal Lake. Once there the trail levels out a bit and the wild flowers begin to appear. In a week or so it will be spectacular. I did encounter some small patches of snow on the trail between Lower Crystal Lake and Upper Crystal Lake, nothing to difficult however. The weather was close to 80 degrees and very hot while in the sun so bring plenty of water. On the way down I encountered about 20 hikers and when I arrived at the parking area at 12:05pm there was on parking available. So get there early! Enjoy your hike or run.

Running Trails

I started on the train at 10:45am. The parking area was about half full. Passed a few friendly hikes on their way up to Crystal Peak and the Lakes. The trail is in great shape! It has been very well maintained. Once passed the trail split between Crystal Peak and Crystal Lakes the trail continues to climb until you reach Lower Crystal Lake. Once there the trail levels out a bit and the wild flowers begin to appear. In a week or so it will be spectacular. I did encounter some small patches of snow on the trail between Lower Crystal Lake and Upper Crystal Lake, nothing to difficult however. The weather was close to 80 degrees and very hot while in the sun so bring plenty of water. On the way down I encountered about 20 hikers and when I arrived at the parking area at 12:05pm there was on parking available. So get there early! Enjoy your hike or run.

Running Trails

Fleetfooot,Devlan and I went to Glacier Basin. Park at Barlow Pass, which is about the half way point of the mountain loop highway.We started hiking about 11 o'clock. There were lots of cars parked on the road but very few people on the trail. One couple left just before us. It was a very warm day so we did not hurry. Got to Monte Cristo before 1 o'clock and decided to go to the basin to camp.There were some campers at the tent sites just before the bridge. Also,lots of cars here. Nice new bridge since I was last here. Going through town we saw where everyone was. We lost the crowd as soon as we got to the basin trail. I was very slow till above the falls. Devlan was waiting for Fleetfoot and I on the rock above the falls. We took a nice break here with the cool breeze off the water lowering our body temperature. Lovely flowers in bloom along this section of trail. The trail gets steeper after the falls as there are high steps over the rocks with a couple of long slab sections that can be slippery when wet. On this section you can see 10 or 12 waterfalls on the other side of the creek. Snow is encountered about one-half mile from the basin--patches at first and then solid as you enter the basin. The couple that left before us were camped at the first rock.We camped at the next large rock, just below the route up to the Wilmon spire. We dug tent platforms and put our cooking gear on the rock.The first couple started up to the saddle of the spire while we took a break and watched. A little after 4 o'clock Fleetfoot and Devlan left camp to climb the spire.They were planning on being back by 9 o'clock. I took the camcorder and ice axe to follow them. It was slow going. They were just entering the last chute to the saddle when I decided that I was not going to make it to the saddle.The legs are getting old and I was concerned about getting down as I was almost to the last chute and did not bring my pack to put the camera in on the way down.Dumb-- but not the first time I have done that.Old farts never learn! If I were going to wait a couple of hours and not be able to video tape them then I was going to sit on the rock and have coffee.Very carefully I down climbed until I came to an area that I felt comfortable glissading. I still was not sure I could control my speed but my legs weree gettiing cramped. Ah! It felt good to sit and go. It was a lot faster then walking but the snow was very moist. I got soaked! Nice to sit on the rock and have coffee. After a while I noticed someone down climbing. The other couple were going to climb a different route but did not like the rock.They said Fleetfoot and Devlan were going for it on the other route. I tried to dry out clothes and melt snow while waiting. A little after eight I spotted them in the chute. They were slow down climbing but Fleetfoot did get a glassade in just before the rock.Ha! He got soaked also.They climbed a pitch and a half before deciding to turn around.Lots of loose rock I guess. They also had to down climb instead of repel but they made the rock at 9 o'clock just as they said they would.After lots of dinner we hit the rack.Fleetfoot and I got up around 3 o'clock to see major stars out.We did not look long though because it was cold out. In the morning we watched the sun crest Monte Cristo and drop down to warm our rock. However, it started to drizzle even before the sun dissappeared. We packed up in a hurry and headed for town. Before we got off the snow it quit drizzling and we got hot before stopping at the waterfall to enjoy the breeze.There were not as many people in town as on Sat..After a short break we headed for the main river crossing were we had some cold pop waiting. After finishing our bagles and cream cheese we headed for the car. Home to Seattle around 4 o'clock. A beautiful hike and the best of weather considering the rain we had on the way home.The snow was melting fast but it must have been close to ten feet deep around the rock and three feet at the stream.

Trail is clear and dry to ridge and intersection with Kachess Ridge Trail at about 5000ft where one turns right to go to summit.Next 1/3 mile is over packed snow until base of summit below lookout.Navigation a bit difficult and trail signs are faded or broken but tracks and old blazes on trees are helpful.Lookout house not open yet.Wildflowers are at peak and will be over next 10 days.

Beautiful day, sunny and warm. Few blow-downs on Twin sisters trail. Some snow on avalance chutes and near the top, trail easy to follow. Lots of bugs and fisherman at first lake, nobody at second lake. Trail to pacific crest is 50% snow covered, still easy to follow, lots of water on trail. Crest trail to north was also under snow approx. 60-75 %. camped in meadow at headwaters of Bumping River, several large herds of elk, and 2 river otters to entertain us. Bugs out in full force, REI jungle juice saved another trip.

Decided to take advantage of at least one clear day for a backpacking trip. The lower 2.8 miles were lovely, with an amazing amount of trillium just blooming. The last mile to the lake was, as usual, a mess with mud, slippery roots, and an occasional stretch of trail interrupting the creek. Snow melt made one of the last creek crossings interesting but not particularly dangerous (if you don't mind getting your feeet wet). The big waterfall was exceptionally beautiful, and a nice cool misty spot for a snack and some photos. The last 1/8 -1/4 mile was completely snow covered and footprints led the not-so-smart in all directions. Simply following a compass bearing west takes you straight up to the lake, which still has some large patches of ice/snow on it. The prime campsites are snow free and make wonderful camps near the water. Bugs are fairly annoying, but I expected worse. Sunday morning we tried to go up to Alta but part way up the ridge we became the target of some nasty lightning. Alas, it was more important to descend and try again some other day. All in all, not bad for an early July trip.

This may sound crazy,but my son and I tried to hike into Three Fingers for an overnite trip, in spite of the report about being closed due to a slide. Well, the slide at 7.5 miles in on road #41 is a major total washout and would take some serious effort and budget to fix. In talking to Darrington R.S. - they have no estimate of when, and it may not even happen this season due to the budget being spent to fight fires. We road hiked 3 miles after an easy crossing of the washout to the Meadow Mountain tr715 - which is and has been unmaintained for years. We figured that would save us another 6+ miles to the regular trailhead tr641 - and then 6 miles to Three Fingers. After spending 3+ hours bushwacking only a mile or so we had to give in. The Meadow Mtn trail is so bad we were on our hands and knees crawling under blowdowns and fighting the over-growth, losing the faint trail many times. Even my GPS was having reception trouble with all the hills and dense tree cover. So we bailed and headed back to our vehicle hoping it was not all shot full of holes. As we drove in we saw a very trashed Toyota sports car pretty riddled and a total, it was not an abandon as it had been towed or driven away as we did not see it on the way out. So, hopefully the Goat Flats/ Three Fingers will not become obscure - such a nice place.

The drive to Windy Pass, Road 9070, was uneventful, no snow or mud, although there is erosion on one of the turns. After hiking less than halfway up the trail we ran into some patches of snow and couldn't find the trail emerging from the other side. We looked up and down and straight ahead. Having left altimiter and common sense at home and not having the best navigation skills, we turned back, not wanting to turn this normally easy hike into a tragedy.

In hindsight I think maybe the trail switchbacked at this point and we missed it in the snow, but that is only speculation.

We met another party coming up as we were coming down and wished them luck. If you go up and there is still snow you may encounter a lot of tracks that lead nowhere!

We hiked up the basin and camped for the night at Fortune Pass. There is just a small snowfield to hike across near the end (almost level). An evening hike to look at Lake Ann, and a scramble to the 6500 ft. peak above the pass provided rewarding views of Chimney Rock and Mt. Daniels. As we prepared to leave in the morning, it started raining, but not enough to prevent us from hiking to Gallagher Lake and out on the Deroux trail. In light rain, we hiked down on many switchbacks to the jeep trail in the valley below Mt. Hawkins. Then we hiked up 500 feet to Gallagher Lake, which, along with adjoining meadows, was very pretty. I expected to see jubilant 4-wheelers shrieking and spinning out in the mud, but we had this whole stretch of trail to ourselves, possibly due to lingering snow. We hiked down to the pretty vale below the lake, and the sun came out as we hiked around a swath of avalanche debries that buried the trail. As we approached the car, dayhikers appeared. Once at the trailhead, I hiked up the road 1.5 miles to get the car at the Esmerelda Basin parking lot. A fun easy loop trip! Go soon, before the shrieking and the spinning out commence!

Saturday, four hopeless old geezers and one fine lady met in North Bend and we headed for Dog Mountain. We drove to the end of the North Fork Road (57), which is about 1/3 mile past the Bare Mountain trailhead, where the bridge over Bare Creek is closed. Walk the road to a junction, in about 1 mile, and go straight ahead. You’re at the Dog Mountain trailhead when you see the sign stating that a Northwest Trail Pass is required.

Trail 1001 has not been brushed out in several years, and there has been no trail maintenance in decades. The first quarter mile is more stream bed then a trail. Beyond, most of the trail is dry except where streams cross the trail; here the drainage channels have all filled in. There are mud holes that will swallow your entire boot. There are the remains of log bridges over swampy areas, which are very slippery. The bug density is about two bugs per square inch of skin. Above 4000 feet the trail is in good condition. Amazingly, there are only a few blow downs, many of them on the abandon road leading to the trailhead.

At about 4200 feet there is continuous snow on the trail, but the tree line is only 200 feet above this point. An ice axe beyond this point is an absolute MUST! Proceed up, but more to the East, until have gone about a quarter mile East, then generally straight up to the summit. This route will miss most of the cliffs and very steep snow. The best route is still steep and watch for moats and bergschrunds near rock walls

The summit is melted out and is well worth the effort it takes to get there, but it’s not for the casual hiker.

Finished a six-day trip from PCT Stampede Pass through Mirror Lake, Snoqualmie Pass, Snow Lake, Taylor River, Snoqualmie Lake, Deer/Bear Lakes and Dorothy Lake this past Saturday at about 1:00PM. Was it too early in this high snow/cold spring year for this trip? Quite possibly, but we did it anyway.

The first day out we were able to navigate the snowy portions of the PCT fairly quickly as I had scouted the route the previous week and we made good time to Mirror Lake. The lake was 98% frozen over and beautiful; we were the only campers.

Day 2 started out in sketchy snow with no other visible tracks; we missed the cutoff to Cottonwood Lake completely and then lost the PCT abvout half way up Tinkham Peak at about the 4100 ft.level. Some intense bushwhacking led us to the top of the ridge @ approx. 4500 ft. but apparently some distance northeast of the trail. More intense bushwhacking and map work took us down the back side of the ridge with very slow progress and no possiblility of rejoining the PCT due to cliff placement - this route is not advised for the faint of heart! We finally made it to the most easterly of the Twin Lakes and bailed out on the Mt. Catherine road (which I know well from skate skiing in the winter). Still don't know if the PCT around Tinkham Peak is hikeable or not, but the snow had good texture for kick-stepping (would recommend taking an ice axe). Camped along the Alpental Road after getting in at around 9:30 PM after an epic 12 hours of hiking/route finding.

Day 3 took us up trail #1013 to Snow Lake (posted as having snow on trail after 1.7 miles and all snow on the back side to the lake - this was pretty accurate). Many people on the trail on July 3rd, but most stopped at the ridge and went back down. We glissaded the back side down to Snow Lake and camped (the only time I've camped there in years due to summer restoration projects) - signs of 1 other skier and a few hikers who ignored the FS warnings of possible 5 ft. snow breakthroughs on the way down. Hard rain and some snow fell during the night - a very cool campsite around the ruins of the old stone shelter.

Day 4 was down the ""back"" way from Snow Lake on #1013. I've been to Snow Lake over 30 times and had never hiked this trail, and from the looks of it my experience is pretty typical, it probably gets 1/100th the use the front side does. With the snow cover, you need to find your way over the ridge from the east end of the lake (it helps if you know where the trail to Gem Lake goes, but if not try to do this in clear weather). You need to go east of the knob before the outlet rather than stay by the shore - if you get a clear view of the valley below you should be able to see the trail about 400 or 500 ft. below running off to the NE through a rock slide. The trail itself is magnificent and magical; the upper portions bring to mind parts of the Inca Trail, all stone with moss growing undisturbed by footprints over the trail surface. The middle section conjures images out of a Tolkien novel with the way easily discernable but totally overgrown with vegetation. Unfortunately, as you approach the Middle Fork Trail the lack of use and maintenance becomes more than a casual nuisance - there are probably 40 downed trees of problematic size blocking the way. Still, if you have the fortitude, one of the most beautiful trails I have seen in the state and a better workout than the ""frontside"" way from Alpental. The Middle Fork Trail #1003 is clear and was full of peop[le on the way to Goldmeyer on the 4th, though VERY muddy. Much FS work is being done as we speak. Came across several very polite and muddy mtn. bikers who insisted on torturing themselves on this ride (hey, I'm a biker too, but I know when to switch tools).

Day 5 took us from the Taylor River Trailhead up the logging road that is Trail #1002 to Snoqualmie Lake. Quite a bit of traffic on the trail on the long holiday weekend, but most people took the flat road to Nordrum Lake rather than go up the hill. When the trail crosses the Taylor River headwater stream about 1/4 mile from Snoqualmie Lake, follow the rock cairns up the creek bed rather than the ramains of the old bridge which lie straight ahead. Snoqualmie Lake is about 80% clear wiht just the sourthern end still iced over. A few good campsites are clear as well. Went up another 500 ft. and camped at Dear Lake on the snow - again, no other campers (but some at neighboring Bear Lake on the night of the 5th) - below freezing again at night.

Day 6 was past Bear Lake and over the ridge to Dorothy Lake (plenty of people and tracks in the snow going nowhere; it is a bit tricky finding the route but by this time the preponderance of the tracks should lead to viable trails on either side). Dorothy was quite busy with hikers, kids, fishermen and what not - we beat it back down to our rides at the Dorothy Lake Trailhead.

summary: An epic and memorable trip, made more so by the routefinding difficulties - we had no company at most of our campsites and very few bugs due to the cold at altitude. Good map and compass skills, excellent hiking or mountaineering boots and ice axe or at least hiking poles for balance are highly recommended for the next couple of weeks. You may want to leave the ski pole baskets on the poles as well to deal with the snow. Be ready to camp and travel on snow if you want to avoid the crowds and bugs, it pretty much always works!