Great hike with beautiful waterfalls along the trail and even more if you follow smaller trails off the main trail. Along the water, we found a lot of blueberry bushes. As you start to gain elevation the bugs get pretty annoying so bring bug spray and be ready to reapply. When you get higher up you will also encounter a bunch of downed trees. Some have been cut so you can navigate the path more easily, others are still in the middle of the path and you'll have to be a little creative to get around them. 

Did the loop June 23-24.  Trail was fine all the way to the Vanson Lake trail junction - fair amount of snow in the trees along the way, but do-able.  From the Vanson trail junction back down to the trail junction leading back to the trailhead - nothing short of horrendous. 

In the upper reaches of the stream "canyon" where the trail is high above the stream, with a precipitous and deadly slope on the very edge of the trail, the trail is sloughing off into the stream (many feet below where you would be standing) - and in one particularly unhappy spot, the trail has completely sloughed away - about a 4' section - no way around it unless you feel really lucky and are a good jumper.  Even then, the trail leading up to the gap is also sloughing off so jumping would not be possible (and if you miss, you're dead).  We had to ascend a nearly vertical wall with full packs, and with the help of tree roots to hang onto, to bypass this gap.  But that was just the beginning. 

While there is lots of blow down on the upper part of this trail, the main event is down farther.  Looks like this lower area may have suffered some sort of micro-burst or other cataclysm - hundreds of very large trees blown over in a dense jumble that extends for approximately a half-mile.  Trail was largely obliterated.  This stretch is all but impassable.  We spent over two hours picking our way through it - dragging our packs and crawling on our stomachs under trees, around upturned root balls, balancing on branches when we were suspended above the ground, testing every step and move.  When we emerged, we were encrusted with dirt and our packs were unrecognizable.  But it was either this or reversing course and going back the way we came - many miles, too many.

The irony, of course, is that this loop, with a few exceptions, is quite unremarkable.  For us it will be memorable -- for the suffering.  So the point here is that unless and until the trail crews spend many days cleaning this up and repairing the trail - if you're considering doing the loop, DON'T DO IT.

I should also mention, for the more intrepid among you, that if you look at the photos of blow-down in earlier trip reports here and think "it doesn't look THAT bad", don't be seduced.  Those photos don't even begin to depict the actual conditions - either the size of the trees, the depth and jumble of it all, or the extent.

Parked at Goat Creek Trail #205 on road 2750.  Easy to find and road suitable for all vehicles.

The start of the trail is a little muddy, and there are some small water crossings.  I recommend wearing boots if you don't want to get your feet wet!  The waterfall near 0.75 miles in is quite lovely!

There is a junction and the trail splits after 1.5miles.  I could not navigate more than 400m in either direction.  To the right is an uphill that I could not navigate because there are too many trees/blow downs.  To the left is a stream, which I found impossible to cross.  

I tried to hike Vanson Peak for my first day of my first research trip of 2019, but unfortunately, the very last section of Road 2750 is under construction. Because the “Road Closed” sign was off to the side of the road, with room cars to pass, I took a chance and headed up, but two miles in ran into a guy running a tractor.

He was nice; saying I was welcome to park on the other side of the Road Closed sign and hike up the road, but that would have added 9 miles to an already long hike with a very late start, so I opted to switch to my Tuesday itinerary instead.

What I did see of the road looks great. Exciting that this road is getting some attention!