Trail is snow-free and logged to Windy Pass. There is a bit of mud on parts of the trail, but it should all be dry within the next couple of weeks. Hot, dry, dusty in stretches. Very nice.

In search of fairer weather we chose the Caroline Lakes as our destination (rather than a planned westside destination) at the last minute. When we got to the trailhead we we were surprised to find we had to purchase an overnight pass at the Leavenworth Ranger Station. (Silly us! We don't usually venture to the eastside and didn't realize this was part of the pay permit area.) Luckily, there were permits still available but we got off to a rather late start in the heat of the day. After Little Eightmile Lake the trail heads uphill very (!!!) steeply. The ""100 Hikes"" book doesn't exagerate. This area was badly hit in the fires of two years ago, but it makes for interesting scenery in its own way and there are acres of fireweed (which were just about to come into bloom). The trail itself was in good shape, though the lack of shade through the burn-out combined with the steepness of the trail was gruelling. We were able to filter water from a small creek about 2/3's of the way up. Our edition of the book suggested that there were better campsites at Little Lake Caroline so we went there. I don't think we would agree with that. After breaking camp in the morning we took a sidetrip up the trail as far as Windy Pass. Well worth it!!!