• Getting to the trail was a bit challenging our car was a Honda Civic which doesn’t have much clearance and the road is really bad if it needed to be graded. We started out before noon and hiked a lot. The first part of the trail was pretty interesting with a couple of massive caves the cathedral falls was outstanding! After we took the left fork that eventually leads to deadman’s lake, We did a lot of uphill which was pretty grinding the forest was dismal shaded with very little underbrush. We hiked until 630 or 7 and we’re so beat that we decided to bivouac alongside the trail about 2 miles shy of the lake. We saw very little wild life! The next day we arrived early at the lake it was beautiful. We were greeted by half a dozen camp robbers who evidently had been expecting us the previous night they were very impatient! After leaving the lake the trail was much more interesting a lot more underbrush including huckleberry bushes and and the berries were plentiful. We hiked till mid afternoon and set up camp near the lake which is described as hard to reach. Only one little trail offered a look at the lake it was surrounded by dense underbrush. But water was plentiful. The next day was pretty hard on our knees for the hike was mostly downhill. It was much prettier with lots of green. Call me as we were finishing our hike did we bump into someone a single hiker with two dogs. As we reach the end suddenly there were 6 to 10Hikers just getting ready to start out.

I did this as an out-and-back, from the trailhead close to Cathedral Falls, up to the summit(s) of Tumwater Mountain -- or Tumwater Peak, as the signage appears to call it, although the sign is in disrepair. So, while I didn't do a loop, I'm tagging the Goat Creek Loop, since the info on the trail up on the mountain will be relevant.

The falls are beautiful (despite the graffiti UGH!), although the flow is pretty light presently. There are a few other, smaller falls after that, and the creek itself is often lovely alongside the trail.

The first real water crossing is at ~1.6 miles. Having read up on this route, I brought along sandals to swap into here. The ultralight/thruhiker types among you will undoubtedly forge ahead in your quick-drying trailrunners, but I feared my hiking shoes would have stayed waterlogged for the next 10 miles.

The second and final water crossing of note is only 1/2 mile later, so if like me you're changing shoes, you might just want to keep your water shoes on until you cross both, but I did change footwear back and forth each time in both directions.

After that second ford, the elevation gain begins in earnest, rising 2,300 feet in the next 2.5 miles. Although there's been some obvious trail work done (thanks, crews!), there was a significant amount of lumber on the trail. I cleared many, many limbs and smaller trees, but there are still a number of large trees down. None is particularly difficult to surmount, but some are a slight pain and/or obscure the trail.

After this steep section, according to both the Gaia map I was following and Cal Topo, the trail is supposed to form a loop of sorts up top, skirting the seasonal tarn on one side, and crossing the highpoints of Tumwater Mountain on the other.

I was surprised to find significant patches of snow near the tarn, although there’s very little on the trail itself, and not for long, I’m sure.

I never saw what should have been the first fork, before the tarn, on climbers right. However, having read some trip reports on Peak Bagger saying it involved a fair amount of bushwhacking, I followed their advice and continued on past the tarn to the second fork, which itself was pretty obscure and a little bushwhack-y. You'll want to have your map handy. I'm afraid this summit spur/loop trail is being lost.

Take the sharp right to double-back to Tumwater Mountain. The first (east) summit, which is supposedly the higher of the two, is treed in, although there is a view over to Rainier, and you can see Hood just before this highpoint.

The second (west) summit is the one you really want, though. From here, I had clear views to Rainier, Adams, Hood, St. Helens and much more. 

After a snack up top, I doubled back the way I came. All told, it's about 12 miles roundtrip, and 3,700 feet of gain to the summit. Save a little gas in the tank for the last couple of miles. It was steeper on the way back out from the creek than it seemed on fresh legs on the way in!

I did a single night overnight at Vanson Lake, stopping at Vanson Peak on the way in and again on the way back out.  I didn't do the loop over to Deadman's Lake or Tumwater Mountain, so I don't have any information on that section of the loop trial.

The trail was generally in great shape, thanks to a couple of friendly bikers who had logged the trail the day before and were working to brush it out.  There was a section by Cathedral Falls that was a little sketchy - wet, slippery clay.  Poles were useful. 

There are also some steep drop offs.  The trail was flat and sufficiently wide in these areas, but a trip or a startle reaction when encountering bikers could have consequences.

The river crossings I encountered on the way to Vanson were fine with poles. 

The river crossing just after the junction heading over to Tumwater does indeed require a ford, but it wouldn't be bad.  Maybe mid-calf?.  We spent a bunch of time lounging and foot-soaking there on the way out.  I neglected to complete the ford, which was a missed opportunity because I think there's a giant waterfall just around the corner from that crossing.

Pretty difficult but absolutely beautiful!

We did the loop clockwise and camped at Deadmans Lake which was gorgeous and very comfortable -- maybe one of my favorite places I've camped. The water is clear and surprisingly warm, definitely suitable for wading or swimming, with lots of fish and salamanders. The wildflowers were also spectacular on this whole loop. There will probably be a ton of berries on this trail later in the summer, too, judging by the number of berry bushes. Bugs weren't too bad (a few clouds of gnats but nothing aggressive, and there were some mosquitos at the lake but once we lit a campfire the smoke got rid of them entirely). Weather was pretty much perfect. I'd say this was an ideal time of year to do this hike. There is one great view of Mt. Saint Helens, several views of Mt. Rainier, and one spot where you can see both Rainier and Adams.

Now for a couple of warnings. First, you are definitely going to get wet on a couple of the creek crossings. There is one crossing on the first day where your only option is to ford it, and another one just before that where the rocks you step on are so slippery that you might be better off fording it, especially with a heavy pack. The water itself isn't too treacherous, it's just a little annoying. There are also a LOT of downed trees. Like, more downed trees than I have ever seen on a single hike in my entire life, mainly on the first day. It got to the point that any time we lost the trail, we could reliably find it again by looking for a downed tree. It was like there is some kind of cosmic rule on this trail that if a tree falls, it will magically fall directly over the trail.

If we were going to do this hike again we'd split the first day (the 11.5 miles from the base to Deadmans Lake) into two days, since the climbing on that first day left us pretty wiped out and made the second half of that day more miserable than it needed to be. There's a lake near the top of Tumwater Mountain, right after you finish the worst of the climbing, that we later regretted not camping at. Overall though, I'd definitely recommend this hike -- it's a tough one but well worth it!

Drive

The drive was uneventful. The road is mainly paved; only the last half mile is gravel, although the pavement is rough. Watch out for the dips.

On the trail

I did a counter-clockwise loop starting from Goat Mountain Trailhead on Rd 26-12. If I were to do it again, I think I would start from the Green River Horse Camp as it would even out the mileage a bit and make it so that you don't end a long day with a short but strenuous uphill.

Some earlier reports mention many down trees on the trail, which is no longer the case, and it has been logged out. I only walked around a single tree on the spur trail leading to Vanson Lake, which would be easily surmountable by either a bike or a horse.

Berries were ripe or ripening. Flowers were blooming but past prime. The amount of bear grass would be a grand spectacle in full bloom.

The bugs at the lake were a minor nuisance but nothing that kept me holed up in my tent.

And while there were two other parties camped at Deadmans Lake, I saw nary a soul while on the trail.

This trip's highlight was spotting an owl alongside the trail. The view of the surrounding volcanoes from the ridge was grand. I love big trees, and the short section of old-growth forest did not disappoint. Both lakes were teaming with fish and salamanders!