I almost feel bad dragging my poor father-in-law out since he's not a regular hiker, but it all ended well. We planned on just hiking to Twin Lakes on the Cold Creek trail, but when that took all of about 15 minutes we looked at the map and decided to do the loop around the lake below Tinkham and Silver Peaks. Unfortunately, we went clock-wise which is clearly the wrong way to go if you don't want to trudge up some 34 switchbacks, but once we got to the junction with the PCT at 4,500 feet it was an easy downhill back to the lake. There were some great hidden gems just above the trail along the way. In two cases we indulged in a bit of exploring and found crystal-clear mini-lakes only 20 or so feet above the trail. Unfortunately, they were full of mosquitoes so we didn't linger, but my dog definitely enjoyed a quick swim. I had my four month old daughter with us so we didn't try to go up to Silver Peak, but I, at least, will be back to tackle that later. I think a better approach is from Mirror Lake or where the PCT crosses the road in Olallie Meadows, though. The section of the trail from the lower of Twin Lakes heading up toward Mirror Lake is a bit overgrown with some devil's club poking through. There are a couple of very small snow patches on the trail north of the Mirror Lake junction, but nothing to worry about. The trail from the Mt. Catherine trailhead down to Twin Lakes is a bit muddy as well. Some pictures can be found at http://www.moosefish.com/cgi-bin/package_display.pl?package ID=62

The dirt road from Hyak to the trailhead took another 30 so it wasn't until about 8:15 that we were actually on the trail. Of course, that was only after we drove past it and into Olallie Meadows and realized we weren't supposed to cross the PCT. Oops. (The actual trailhead is somewhat overgrown with only a small, faded, wooden sign that says ""Trail"" on a tall stump on the south west side of the road. It's .25 miles from the PCT crossing.) Once we got onto the ""trail"" (it was more an overgrown logging road) we made quick progress up the hill. The road became an actual trail soon enough and in a very short while we were cresting the hill. Done? Ha! Not yet. The first false summit was followed by a second and a third false summit. Ugh. The final approach was very steep and passed through a huge field of mountain blueberries which were, sadly, not quite ready for eating. Two weeks more and you won't need a lunch. At the top we were treated to 360 degrees of spectacular views under a barely cloudy sky including the rough mountains to the north and Mt. Rainier to the south. The mosquitoes were fairly brutal all along the trail and there were some small patches of snow left, but nothing more than needed to entertain the dog. There's a fair amount of equipment left from the beacon that used to function at the summit which might be a useful excuse to head up the mountain if you need a reason... Pictures can be found at http://www.moosefish.com/cgi-bin/package_display.pl?packageID= 59

Mount Catherine: To get to Mount Catherine one goes east on I-90, takes the Hyak exit and still going east on your right start looking for Hyak Drive East. Go through the sewer plant gate (was told this stays open all the time, and I have found it to be so, go straight ahead and follow road to Twin Lakes hike, you will go over a bridge and just stay to your right, do not go off on and little roads that will wander off on your left, you will then come to a rocky starting of a road going uphill on your right, you'll first come to a small one, continue on to the next one, it will have a parking space for two to three cars right across the road. Just follow this rocky uphill beginning of the hike, you will come before too long to an arrow pointing up the hill where it gets confusing about where one goes, then you will have a foot path to follow the rest of the hike. It's a beautiful 360 view if it is a clear day, you will see Mt. Rainer, and whatever else is going on, we saw a wildfire start after lighting struck, didn't last long, as the rain that soon followed must of put it out. The top of Mt. Catherine is not real wide so you do not want too large of a crowd, or if it gets windy you need to be careful. As I mentioned I had done this hike before, and have always been able to find it, however if you have never been there, it can be tricky, so I hope this helps. For a Sunday and after the other writeups about Mt. Catherine, I was surprised we did not see more people, other than Jeff, and his dog Chuck that was it. AND DO REMEMBER YOUR BUG REPELLENT.

The Mount Catherine trail is lightly used, despite being near busy Snoqualmie Pass. The trail leads to a 5000' summit, an old lookout site, which provides a spectacular vista of peaks near and far. The trail is only about 2 miles long and takes just a few hours to hike. To find the trail, drive up the Cold Creek road from Hyak almost to Windy Pass. Look for a rocky, narrow spur road branching off to the right (uphill) and park nearby. Walk up the road, which is actually the unmarked start of the Mt. Catherine Trail. The hiking is initially tedious as the road climbs up through a recent clearcut. However, views of Tinkham Peak's massive northern cliff helps to make up for the heat and lack of shade in the clearcut. After a quarter mile, you leave the road behind and begin hiking on real trail, which switchbacks steeply upward out of the clearcut and into shady old growth timber. The trail is in surprisingly good condition despite years of neglect. With a little tread work, cutting of a few downed logs, and a bit of brushing, this trail could be made quite nice again. At length the trail tops out onto a ridge, and the grade relents a bit. The next section of the trail follows the ridgeline; the walk along the ridge, forested with large old-growth mountain hemlocks and grand firs, is exceptionally pleasant. A few patches of snow remain in places, not enough to be any problem for hikers. In winter, the plateau-like ridge top could be a great place to ski tour, if you can find a way up the steep, avalanche prone slopes below. After a rolling climb along the ridge crest, the trail breaks out onto blueberry covered slopes, with great views in every direction. The trail passes a flat spot with rusty junk scattered about ( an old cabin site?), then climbs steeply to the rocky summit of Mount Catherine. Right on the top of the peak, a lone, unusual (for here) whitebark pine braves the tough growing conditions. Sit back and enjoy the view, if the newly hatched hordes of mosquitos will let you.

Well, this is a nice, sweet hike when you are short of time and want to get a quick workout. The fog today helped to keep oneself cool while hiking. Wouldn't have wanted to do it yesterday when it was so hot. Remarkably, a couple of weeks ago, you couldn't even get to the T.H. because of snowpack across the road. Now with all the warm weather, the snow is melting fast. The trail was relatively dry until about 4,350' where you hit patchy snow. Then the patchy snow became a moderately heavier snowpack of about 1' in depth at ~4,500' up toward the flat area before the final climb. Some of the bigger patches obscured the trail where it was hard to follow. Once you hit the north side before ascending up to the top, the snow was quite heavy. My partner felt uncomfortable with this, so we turned around at this point. Since it was quite foggy, we didn't get the wonderful views of Silver, Abiel, & Tinkham that you often get on the top. You can even see Mt. Rainier on a clear day. We noticed that the bugs are starting to come out as well. Also looks like there might be some nice berries along this trail in the fall!