We started on Weyerhaeuser land near Vanson Peak, then hiked down Goat Creek to the Junction, then up Tumwater and around to Deadman's Lake, and back to start--about 18 miles.  The trail below the small lake on the Goat Creek Trail, down to the junction at Goat Creek, and up to the top of Tumwater has about 20 logs (some oldgrowth) across the trail, with some harder to get around blowdowns. These trees (some of which are partially cut out for hikers) make it impossible for horses and difficult for bicycles to complete this loop.  Hikers will have no real problem.  Get water at spring near the top of the Tumwater climb because the pond on the tope is drying fast.  The trail is recently cleared between the open rock viewpoint on top of Tumwater Ridge, Deadman's Lake, and Vanson Peak and partway down to the small lake on Goat Creek Trail.  Plenty of mosquitoes at the lakes and between Deadman's and Vanson Peak.  No flies yet.

Great hike, went left at the Y  but once getting to around 5000ft the Tumwater mountain trail pretty much disappears into thin air and the bypass trail around to the unnamed lake still has a lot of snow and is nearly impossible to follow.  Decided to turn back there but no hard feelings, still got over 12miles in and a couple glimpses of Mt St Helens while exploring for the trail.

Two day one night counter-clockwise backpack of the loop. Stayed at Deadman’s lake. The trail is in great condition with few down trees on the north section. Absolutely beautiful! I don’t recall any water sources after the lake until you are a few miles from the trailhead.

We arrived at the Goat Creek trailhead mid-morning on Friday, July 23rd. We were the first vehicle. We did the loop clockwise (along trail 218). The first day was pretty uneventful, but it is a fairly long trip to Deadman's Lake. You do get peek-a-boo views of Mt Rainier, but don't expect to otherwise be blown away by the scenery. A fine hike in, but nothing outstanding compared to other hikes in the Cascades. The area near Tumwater Mountain has A LOT of downed trees and some areas are very hard to pass. Expect slow going for a couple of miles at least.

When we approached the junction to go to Deadman's Lake, the mosquitos were horrific. The worst I've experienced in Washington. Bring a lot of very effective mosquito spray and be prepared to live with them. The lake was otherwise scenic and there was a nice sunset, but the mosquitos were a lot. At this point, we'd seen no other people until a mountain biker approached asking about camp. Later a few more came through, but not a lot of people overall.

On our second day, we took a day hike East along the Goat Mountain (trail 217) toward Ryan Lake and the Goat Mountain trailhead. Again mosquitos in the morning were annoying but not as bad as the previous evening. After a time (a couple of miles) the mosquitos thinned out and we enjoyed our climb out of Deadman's Lake. We had some views along the way of Mt. Rainier again, but things don't really open up until you reach the true ridge and then you get a 360 view of the whole area, which is stunning. Sadly at this point, the flies started and they never stopped.

During the rest of our hike along the ridge any time we stopped we were overwhelmed with flies. So much so that it was hard to take a break to eat lunch. As we got closer to Ryan Lake we could now see Mount St. Helens and surrounding mountains. Truly beautiful and classic Cascades mountain/valley views. As we began to descend to Ryan Lake we decided we'd had enough of the flies and figured we'd seen the best of the area so we headed back to camp. We saw many more people on this second day (as it was Saturday), but overall the traffic was not bad at all. The trail was clear and easy to navigate, although expectedly dusty. Wildflowers blooming everywhere.

Happily, when we returned to camp there was a nice breeze that seemed to have kept the mosquitos at bay, but whenever it let up the flies would come. We took a dip in the lake and enjoyed the serenity for most of the night. The flies came and went here and there, but by dusk, we were mostly fly and mosquito-free for a few hours. As it got later the mosquitos returned and we went to bed.

On day three the morning mosquitos were tolerable, but perhaps we were just getting used to our new friends. We broke camp and hiked out toward Vanson Peak/Lake. We found this southern route (trail 217) much more enjoyable than the northern route coming in. There were still some areas of downed trees, but not nearly as much and we found the forest, streams, and waterfalls more pleasant than much of the northern route. I would suggest (if you don't mind out and back hikes), to just avoid the northern part of the loop down to Deadman's lake and take the southern. Then do the side day hike to Goat Mountain and return to Deadman's Lake. The next day hike back along the southern route.

I would rate this trip a 4 star with a small detour to Vantage Point that only adds 1 more mile to the trip. The trail was quiet and had Deadman's lake campsite to ourselves.

Be aware this trip was done right after a thunder storm so everything looked like a battle zone. On the way up to the trail head there was some fallen trees and branches on the road but you can get around them. An interesting thing to point out, there is no sign indicating you are at the trailhead so just know when you get to the end of the road, the trail you see is Goat Creek Trail.

Early on into the hike you will come across a large cave-like structure that is impressive and would make nice short day hike for some folks. The trail is not the best in the cave area that is narrow, sloped and is slowly eroding away.

The current condition of the trail makes for an adventure as just within the first few miles you'll encounter over a dozen fallen trees. Most are easily passible. Over the course of the entire loop, you'll crawl over or find detours around over 2 dozen fallen trees.  This trail is apparently popular for mountain bikers but the few we came across must have had fun navigating the trail. There was only one really bad muddy spot that was tricky to cross without getting muddy. You'll also get to cross multiple river/streams.

There were multiple waterfalls and fortunately the day cleared up on day 2 so our side trip to Vantage Point was nice and clear to see Rainier and Adams, could see St. Helens because of trees.

Bugs weren't a problem, not a single mosquito bite. Deadman's lake has fish but is shallow so would require someone to wade out like 50' to be able to cast into the deeper part of the lake.

Some negative things were caused be irresponsible people. Came across a dozen dog landmines and at the campsite there was TP all over the place. It looked like these were left by the ladies.

Tip: when at the intersection for Goat Creek Trail, Goat Mountain, Road 2612 and Vantage Point, the entrance to Goat Creek Trail has a massive pile of fallen trees and the sign has fallen over so easy to miss but we had GPS so we knew trail had to be there. Back track like 75', then carefully climb down the embankment to get around the trees to continue your loop. This is when you are going clock-wise on the loop. This is the same intersection to go to Vantage Point that's a quick view opportunity and worth the short hike if skies are clear.

Overall, nice challenging backpacking trip with some unexpected minor detours from trees trees and washouts. I would recommend waterproofing pants and shoes as dew from plans soaked us and were fortunately able to get a fire started to dry them out. Also avoid having your foot slip into a stream during the multiple water crossings.