We did our first backpacking trip of the season at McCall Basin. We hiked to tieton pass 2023 Memorial Day weekend as a day hike and counted about 95 downed trees across the trail- with a lot of them being super difficult to cross. Luckily with this trip, we counted 45 blowdowns, with only a few being pretty difficult to get over. The first few blowdowns would be very difficult/if not impossible for horses, but hikers will be fine. There was some snow patches once we hit the PCT and the junction for McCall basin, with most of the meadow covered in snow- the horse camp in the meadow was snow free though, where we ended up camping. Super beautiful trip! 

Trying to beat the smoke moving in for the weekend (and from the Goat Rocks Fire), I decided to head for a new spot in Goat Rocks that promised to be free from crowds, McCall Basin under the northeast face of Old Snowy Mtn. 

Starting at the Scatter Creek Trailhead, the hike follows the North Fork Tieton River trail (#1118) for about 2 miles through forest burned in the 2018 Miriam Fire. The forest is recovering rapidly and new growth of flowers, shrubs and trees is vigorous everywhere. Do be careful, though, as on the way down during windy Friday (9/9) a burned tree trunk fell down with a very loud "WOMP!" After 2 miles you pass quickly out of the burn and enter beautiful forest with many creeks flowing surprisingly well this late in this hot dry summer.

At about 5 miles at Tieton Pass you'll join the PCT and follow it south with only gradual elevation gain for about 1.5 miles. This is where I met nearly all the other hikers in the 2 days I was out, with half being thru-hikers on their way north. At 5200' you'll meet the Y junction for the trail dropping a bit down to McCall Basin, marked with a placard down the trail reading "McCall Basin Trail - Dead End."

McCall Basin has a few progressively larger connected meadows with many large campsites. The basin is also used by stock, with plenty of evidence for that. haha.  Follow the trail through the basin to the final campsite near the river and climb about 100' up the well marked trail south through the forest within earshot of the waterfall. There, you'll enter a much bigger 1/2 mile long meadow that appears to be the remnants of an Ice Age glacier outwash plain. The upper end is very rocky from seasonal flooding but the lower end of this meadow has many suitable grassy areas for camping. The views are spectacular, but unless you're camping on the far right side of the meadow, Old Snowy's summit will probably stay hidden from view. Still, the entire ridge leading up to Old Snowy is visible and this is where the PCT traverses going north after climbing out of Lily Basin on Goat Rocks' west side.

This huge basin affords much to explore, including lots of waterfalls and high grassy areas with lots of evidence of elk and mountain goat.

Tried to come Sept 1 but access closed due to Schneider Springs fire.

With the burn from a few years ago, the views open up along the way near the beginning.  Then thick forest again once past burn to forested Tieton Pass.  Blowdowns have been cleared. Plenty of water along the way to filter if needed.

Our group found this hike to exceed our expectations in every way! Getting up to Elk Pass was very doable for someone in moderately good shape, even for me 15 weeks pregnant, and the meadows and views were incredibly worth it.

We started at Scatter Creek trailhead off highway 12, to NF-1200 and then NF-1207. The roads are paved until the last 5 miles or so where it is gravel but easy for any vehicle. There were several cars there at 9:30am on a Saturday, but not too busy. The outhouse was usable but had no toilet paper.

Just after leaving the parking area, the trail splits and we went right to get on North Fork Tieton trail towards Tieton Pass. We were on this trail for 4.7 miles. Overall fairly easy and gradual. Several miles of the trail were burnt out recently, so it can get pretty hot without the shade. There area few easy creek crossings. We saw lots of blackberries that would be ready to pick in a couple weeks.

At the pass is a trail junction and we headed south on the PCT. Just after the pass we came across a recently fallen tree that was a bit difficult to get over, but we made it with our packs on. The next three miles take you slightly steeper upwards to get over a ridge and then somewhat steeply down to the large creek. You're in and out of the trees during this, with some views of the Goat Rocks.

There was a snow bridge over the creek that we used to cross just fine, but it was getting visibly thin and after melting for another week or so we worry that it will break with weight on it. Not sure what the best way to cross is at that time. If you did get stuck on this side of the creek, we saw nice camp sites in the meadow but of course you could not make it up to the big views.

Now you're in open meadows with unbelievable colors (lupine, indian paintbrush, yellow and lavender daisies, western pasque, dandelions, heather, and many more). Just up from the large creek is a flat area where we found a well define campsite near a small group of trees. It was a total of 8 miles to get here and took us just under 5 hours. There were plenty of small creeks around to get water from and surprisingly few bugs. I attribute this to the intermittent winds and lack of standing water.

After setting up camp, we continued on for just over a mile up to Elk Pass. This trail was slightly more difficult, with fairly steep sections, a couple small snow patches to cross, and areas where you really have to watch your footing. We did not need spikes on our boots. But boy are the views worth it! First you just enjoy the amazing flowers, then Mt. Rainier becomes visible to the north, and finally coming around the corner you have glorious views into the McCall Basin and the surrounding Goat Rocks.

At this point, I turned around back to camp, but two of our group went on for two more miles up to the peak of Old Snowy. This trail is steeper and goes along the top of a razor-back ridge with a short scramble at the end. There was no snow at this point. At the top are views of Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens to the south.

We saw plenty of other hikers on the trail (probably mostly PCTers) but we were the only ones camping in the area. Sunrise views of Mt. Rainier and the flowers were unbelievable. The next day we made it down uneventfully but with sore muscles and feet. Definitely recommend this hike at this time of year for anyone yearning for flowers without the crowds and bugs on Mt. Rainier.