Followed the route in vtelgarsky's excellent trip report- https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report-2020-08-31-1243252923 for a 3 day/2 night trip. Camped at Dewey Lake and Cougar Lake.

Trail conditions:

• Road to Mesatchee Creek trailhead has a few sizable potholes but drivable with care.
• The Dewey Lake trail and trail down to Mesatchee had a lot of blow downs and involved climbing over/under/around some big trees.
• Bugs are unrelenting on the Dewey Lake Trail and in the Dewey and Cougar Lakes areas. Repellent didn't deter them and they bit through bug netting and long sleeves. 
• Couple of campsites with awesome views of Tahoma (see pics) along the eastern shore of Dewey Lake before the creek.
• Quite a few Campsites along Cougar Lake were closed for restoration. 
• Nobody on the trails except for the little stretch of PCT after Dewey. Could hear people and dogs at both campsites.
• No running water source on the way back from Cougar Lake for about 7.5 miles until the trail crosses Mesatchee Creek.

Bug warning! They were alive and well today on the Dewey Lake trail. We went past Dewey and got to cute little Anderson Lake (1.5 miles from the east end of Dewey on the PCT) and then back up to finish Naches Loop for a 11 round trip. The bugs weren't too bad on the Loop but MY GOD they were terrible on the hike down to Dewey, around it and all the way (and back!) from Anderson. Not as bad if you kept moving but if you stopped for even a second (lunch was fun...) they swarmed all over you.  I sprayed several times but I still got eaten alive! But...it was a gorgeous day, the wildflowers are amazing so if you take the bugs out of the equation, it was a great day! 

Arrived at about 12:15 pm at the main parking lot by the lake, was full, got one of the last spots. Set out about 12:30. Met many very happy and friendly hikers, but there weren’t too many of us. 

The Naches Peak Loop is a beautiful trail, easy and well-maintained. We hiked down to Dewey Lake and back as well, that doubles the length and vertical meters up and down. It’s not hard, though. It took us 4 to 5 hours altogether, at a leisurely pace with plenty of breaks to admire the scenery. 

After turning down to Dewey Lake there were very few people on the trail. By the time we got back up to the Naches Loop there wasn’t anybody on that trail anymore, either. 

One very important warning: THE BUGS WERE BAD. We forgot our repellent and suffered because of it!

I have done Naches Loop a number of times and always admired Dewey Lake from the ridge but yesterday was the day to finally make a proper acquaintance.  We parked at Tipsoo Lake and took Naches loop trail up to Chinook Pass and then over the wooden pedestrian bridge and around the north side of the loop to the Dewey Lake junction.  There is compact ice/snow on this section, and as a minimum poles are a good idea.

After the junction the PCT to Dewey Lakes is in the sun and was snow free as it drops down via first a rocky then lovely soft tread over a long switch back to the lake basin.  Once at the the lake basin there was again compact snow (more than ice) in shaded areas.

We had decided to try and hike around the larger of the two lakes and I had read the trip description but still made several mistakes so you can learn from us.  We did not see the "crossroads" junction mentioned in the description and took the first obvious junction to the left on reaching the basin.  That sent us through some campsites and then on to the north "beach" area so all good.  We were then able to find and take the "boot trail" along the east side of the lake.  It's easy enough to follow although a couple of times it splits and then rejoins itself.  This is obviously a favorite of animal and lots of scat of different types but no sightings.  You can still see the lake through the trees most of the way round.

At the far end of the lake we stayed on this boot trail (ignoring spur trails), thinking it would dump us out on the Dewey Lake trail coming up from 410.  As we lost sight of the lake the trail started to lose elevation but it was still pretty boot-like so we kept going.  We passed a waterfall and figured we would meet the trail below that where it crosses the creek but still no joy.  Not wanting to climb to far for home we decided to give it up and just retrace our steps. Of course when we did that we saw our mistake.  We had actually joined the Dewey Lake trail without realizing it.  I've included a picture looking north where that happened so you can see that if coming down the trail you need to be looking for a sharp "spur" trail where you almost double back as soon as you get close to the lake end.

Back on the correct trail we crossed the outlet on the footbridge (great view up to Mount Rainier).  Next up at a strange dog leg turn we thought we wouldn't be fooled twice and took the spur trail towards the lake, wrong again but wow more great views.  There is actually a trail sign on a tree here so if you do as it directs you all will be good.  So again back on track we followed the Dewey Lake trail mostly through gentle forest tread until it T-bones obviously into the well signed PCT.  Then it's turn right or north for home.  The trail gets close to the lake shore as it skirts under a rock face with nice view to the east and soon you are back in the upper lake basin.  We then passed the trail junction mentioned in the description, we just had not hiked far enough south the first time.

The area between the two lakes is lovely there are many trails leaving the main trail here (leading to campsites and lake side spots).  Lots of little ponds and water ways - I can see why summer bugs love it here.  We returned to the north of the main lake and had lunch in the sun on the sandy beach there.  Then we explored a trail that lead to upper Dewey Lake for a gorgeous lake view.  Lots more to explore here and I think there is a way around the upper lake, but we will leave that for next time.

Then it was off for home, stopping only to remove layers as it was still warm in the sun on the climb back up.

Notes: Out-houses at Tipsoo Lake open and stocked, mask wearing pretty low as you approach Tipsoo Lake.  Wait time for the 410 detour zero minutes in the morning, and 50 minutes at around 3:30 eastbound.

We arrived to an empty parking area at Tipsoo Lake at 9:35. The pit toilets were open, clean and well stocked. The skies were filled with high thin clouds and blue patches were breaking through.  The temperature was a warm 46 degrees after the 20 degree temperatures over the weekend.  We hiked the Naches Peak Loop in a clockwise direction.  The trail in the shade is snow covered with thick slippery ice in places.  Mircospikes were in order for the first part of the day.  This was the least crowded I have ever seen this trail. Our group saw only 6 other hikers on the trail for the entire day.  Heading around Naches Peak the trail started to melt out and frost heaves made several places uneven footing.  On the PCT gazing down at Dewey Lakes we made a spur of the moment decision to head on down to the two lakes.  Upper sections of the trail were snow free, but once you descended into the trees there were several more super slick spots.  We took the left spur once in the lakes basin and found the beach on the North end of the lake. This was our lunch/rest break spot at 11:55.  It was so peaceful and the water was flat as glass.  It actually felt warm when the sun would break through.  We were thoroughly delighted to have such great conditions for a late fall hike with snow dusting the surrounding peaks.   The only wildlife sighting of the day was the mob of 7 camp robbers Jays that quickly noticed us.  You could tell they were used to being feed by humans.  We also saw a lone pika building it’s midden beneath a boulder.  We packed up and headed back up to the Naches Loop at 12:30.  Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams were out in all their glory at several view spots as we completed the Loop back down to Tipsoo Lake.  Climbing up from Dewey Lakes we all shed layers and it felt warm in the sun.  The trail again was very icy in the last 1/2 mile down to the road. When we arrived back at our vehicles just after 2:00 it was 58 degrees.  Another fabulous day to be out enjoying nature.