We did a through-hike on the Thunder Creek and Panther Creek Trails, via the Fourth of July Pass. We parked the return-trip car on the east end, near the Panther Creek trailhead (at the East Bank Trail parking area, about 300 yards west on the Highway), and started hiking the trail from the west end, at the southern tip of the Colonial Creek Campground.

The trail along Thunder Creek to the Fourth of July junction is well maintained and relatively dry, despite the on-and-off showers. The forested nature of the trail definitely helps to shield us from the rain.

The climb starts soon after the junction. There were many stream and waterfall-crossings in this part of the trail, but none were excessively deep nor difficult to cross. In fact, the cool breeze from these were pleasant as we sweat our way up 18 switchbacks shortly followed by another 20.

We passed by about a dozen overnight hikers coming out in the opposite direction. The Fourth of July campsites were empty by the time we reached there at around 1 PM; the weather also cleared up at this point, opening up a view of the rest of the Thunder Creek valley.

The actual Pass is not very distinctive: There was a small cliff-side vantage point near the top that protrudes out slightly from the forested trail; I didn't think much of it and skipped it entirely! It's surprising how quickly that first 5.6 mi went by.

Continuing on the Panther Creek trail, the decent begins quickly and steadily after the Pass. We met up with a backpacking couple, who told us to be careful when crossing the thinning ice bridges over one of the streams coming down an avalanche chute from Ruby Mountain. Well, seeing is believing; the passable ice bridge is about 3 ft think at its thickest point, and is about 20 ft above the creek. Crossings may not be possible when this ice bridge finally collapses, as the thick snow pack on the east bank and the raging Panther Creek further downstream prevent other safe crossings.

The air further along the trail smelt like a sauna (the smell of wood, not sweat), with the scent of freshly cut cedar emanating from the area around the lone trail maintenance worker clearing out some large blowdowns. He's got his work cut out for him; half of the bridge across Panther Creek is out, and a detour has been constructed around it. It looks like work is only just starting to replace the broken half. The sound and fast-moving water only add to the excitement of crossing these log bridges. Side: One of the log bridges had this comedic piece of rope along it, ostensibly a handrail.

True to the trail descriptions, the trail climbs a good 900 ft out of the steep valley near the end, before losing a majority of that elevation gain coming down to the trailhead (at around MP 139).