Hiked about 7 miles in, to just past the cascade creek trail junction. Many trees over the trail farther in, but easy to get over or around. No snow on the trail, though there may be some farther up. The creek is raging, so fording across to access other trails is not possible yet.

Stopped for lunch and a bit of a nap at the falls creek trail junction and had that feeling of someone coming up behind me, expecting to see another hiker, instead it was a beautiful black bear. A quick, assertive "Hey Bear" had them turning around and heading away. If overnighting here, I would make sure to have a bear can or bag.

Although I think they're common on the first part of the trail, I did not see any rattlesnakes. I did sing to myself while crossing the rocky sections where they hang out and that seemed to be an effective way of scaring them off. 

Wildflowers were incredible in both number and diversity. My favorite were the delicate calypso orchid. Also saw many mushrooms and a deer. I ended my hike with 257 photos, I just couldn't help myself. 

in good condition; two downed trees to step over

Beautiful blustery day with sunshine and occasionally windy.

Flowers starting to peep should be peak trillium soon as they are everywhere plus new ones popping up. Beginning of lupine bloom. Lilies are out. I think peak bloom will be in a couple weeks, but it's lovely now. 

Patchy occasional snow started just before the camp 5+ miles in, mostly in chillier locations. The campsites are melted out and snow is infrequent on this side of the creek No other human tracks beyond camp, lots of elk and some paw prints.

  I turned 6+ miles in at 47.44987, -120.784747 3550 elevation where a large tree has fallen across a small ravine and right along the trail. It'll take a posse to clear this one. I'm sure a determined hiker can get around it, I just didn't try.  Stream crossings no issue. Overall lovely hike. 

With the west side forecast for rain, it was time to head to the east side for a dry hike. With the low snowfall this year, maybe Ingalls Creek would be melted out early, like in 2015? We were surprised to see only 3 other cars at the trailhead. The vault toilet was open, clean, and stocked with TP. The winterization for the trail sign and fee station had been removed.

Yes, spring has arrived at the trailhead with the initial bloomers for the spring flower show in this area. The flowers got sparser as we hiked up the trail.

The trail is in good condition with just a couple of stepover logs. At about 4 miles, two logs create a sharp s-turn that is not a problem for hikers, but is difficult for stock. Most of the secondary streams are flowing over the trail, requiring various easy methods to get across.

The snow patches start at 3 miles.  At 5 miles, a few steps had knee deep postholes.  By 5.6 miles (Falls Creek Trail Junction), snow covered about 50% of the area, trail and tent areas. We turned around at this point.

All the campsites in the first 4.5 miles are dry and usable.

There was plenty of animal sign on the trail, coyote and bobcat scat, deer and moose tracks in the snow.