Arrived at the trailhead on a Wed afternoon at 3pm. There was plenty of parking in both the day use and overnight parking areas. The restroom was clean and well stocked with toilet paper. I was backpacking with a party of 4, planning to camp two nights at Eightmile Lake and then day hike to Lake Caroline on the second day.

The hike to Eightmile Lake was moderate with the trail being well-marked and free of obstacles. I'm a slower hiker and it took me just under 3 miles carrying an overnight pack. We camped on the campsites at the west end of the lake with a fabulous lake view, easy access to the lake to filter water, and a short walk to the mountain toilet. The campsite was perfect but was a little windy in the evenings. The four of us ended up using two campsite as it was a little tight to find level, rock-free space to fit 4 small tents in one site. We were the only one camping on this part of the lake. The campsite was free of bugs. There was a small ground squirrel who chewed the fabric straps and foam covering of my hiking pole handles in the night, so you may want to keep gear in your tent!

The second day we hiked up to Lake Caroline. As we hiked upwards, we noticed the end of summer flowers and the beginning of fall colors. This hike was more challenging with lots of uneven footing, bushes overgrowing the trail, and downed logs to cross. We were all glad to not be carrying our overnight packs up this trail! The lake was a beautiful place to stop for lunch. It was quite windy at the lake, making it feel rather cold despite being a warmer, early fall afternoon. We saw no one else the entire day on this hike and had the lake to ourselves!

The trail has a few blowdowns that aren't difficult to navigate. The many, many brushy sections on the climb up to the lakes were by far the more annoying obstacle - I was glad I wasn't in shorts. There are colorful wildflowers along most of the trail, with many lower down on their way out, but even those were still nice to look at. The bugs didn't seem too bad when I was hiking, but when I used the toilet at Lake Caroline, they were merciless.

This was the perfect hike to spend a sunny July Saturday with no crowds. I saw only 10 others in my 16 miles. When I arrived back to the parking lot, there were cars parked along the road all the way from the Stuart Lake trailhead, which I guess is where all the people were!

Arrived at the trailhead about 9am and there was only one other vehicle in an overnight spot. The first two miles or so up to the Caroline junction is very easy and pleasant with great fall colors. The trail starts climbing aggressively after the junction and doesn't mellow out until right before the lake. Good views of many Enchantments peaks from the climb up atleast! We saw many piles of fresh coyote scat in this area all up the trail so I assume there was a pack nearby but we didn't see or hear any, only a few deer. The trail drops down a bit to the lake, and you start to see a few golden larches here. I wouldn't consider this a "larch hike" by any means, but they do grow sporadically around the lake. We continued up past Little Caroline lake towards Windy Pass, but hit our turn around time before reaching the pass. Lots of opportunities to refill water. Very sun exposed so I would image it to be pretty miserable on a hot summer day. We clocked 13 miles and 3500' on Gaia. Only saw one other person all day! 

Arrived at the trailhead at 8:30 am and easily found a parking spot. Was a bit confused on the way there because the WTA coordinates for Cashmere Mountain are in the middle of the road, when it actually starts at the Eightmile Lake trailhead. We didn't end up summiting Cashmere Mountain because we started too late and ran out of time, but it was still a gorgeous hike!

Trailhead to Little Eightmile Lake: This portion was uneventful save for a few easy stream crossings with slippery rocks. There is beautiful fall foliage, ripe thimbleberries, and plenty of wildflowers still blooming.

Little Eightmile Lake to Lake Caroline: The trail becomes more steep, dusty and exposed in this section. It's overgrown in sections and felt more bushwhack-y than I would like. Once you cross the ridge line and start descending to the lake it's instantly cooler. Crossing the ridge you are immediately in a lush shaded forest. We filtered water at the lake.

Lake Caroline to Windy Pass: This section transitioned from forest to meadow to rock tundra. The meadows are surprising lush and green with beautiful fall colors. There is one nice stream crossing the trail before Windy pass that's your last water source leading up to Cashmere Mountain. We filtered water again here. 

Windy Pass and ridge: Windy Pass was gorgeous, with views of Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Sloan Peak, Colchuck Lake & Peak, Dragontail Peak, and much more. The views don't stop from here on out. We traversed the ridge headed east towards Cashmere Mountain, following a climber's trail. This part was rocky and we started hitting some steep scrambly bits with loose scree. We hit our turnaround time right before reaching the saddle and decided to head back, vowing to come back to get the summit by starting our day a bit earlier.