One reason to hike this trail this year is to witness first-hand the power of a very recent and very powerful avalanche! This one swept from steep slopes of upper Scatter Creek basin, up the other wide, back across the opposite side of the basin and back again - all-the-while breaking gigantic trees like they were toothpicks! The other reason to hike any trail that takes off from the Cle Elum River Road is that the road has been recently regraded and relocated in a couple spots away from the river so that it is in the best shape I have ever seen! Our party of five left the trail-head at 8:30 with the goal of hiking up the Scatter Creek trail, deep into the basin, and then attempting two nearby peaks. The trail was in good shape and mostly snowfree until the fork at which point we headed left, completed two creek crossings without too much difficulty, and then lost the trail due to snow. Soon the lower area of the avalanche came into view and at this point most hikers will be content to gaze in awe. We continued into the basin and then headed up and over Solomon's west ridge where Harding came into view. We dropped down and traversed straight to Harding's south ridge where we enjoyed a long but straight-forward route to its top where a lovely summit register awaited. We then retraced our steps back to Solomon's ridge and headed up the ridge (a little towards the south) to our second lovely summit of the day. After a hearty snack and warm sun break, we dropped straight from the summit into the basin, staying on snow and meandering through the avalanche debris in awe as we descended and eventually found the trail junction. We arrived back at the car at 5:30. This was one of those days that I will always remember. The company was very special despite the long day and unpredictable ever-changing weather. We experienced snow, drizzle, clouds, sun, and a spectacular rainbow! We celebrated with a large Village Pizza in Roslyn as we started planning our next adventure together!

This trip was amazing. Me and my dad were looking for a good labor day weekend hike. We ended up taking the wrong trail but was by far a great mistake. To get to the original hike we were going to do (S. Scatter Creek) you go before the concrete road that water passes through, but we took the one past it which isn't actually on any maps but did say Scatter Creek on it. When we first started it we both were feeling good with a breakfast of cheesy pretzels and iced tea. A little ways in though we realized what we read on this site was not to be true. It was not gradual switchbacks but very difficult path straight up. We stopped a little past a sign near the top that said "alpine lakes" for lunch. We were both stopping every few steps to catch our breath. Once we finished lunch we realized that it actually was a false top and continued up, at about 2.5 miles of hiking uphill we were taken aback at the sudden change in terrain. It was flat and meadowy. The flowers were blooming and not to long in found a small stream. We both stopped to fill our waters and put the iodine in. We let them sit as we looked around. This would have been a great campsite and actually already had a fire ring there. Although when the tablets had dissolved we decided to continue through the meadows keeping that place in mind. The trail started to climb again still in the meadow/valley type area. Note: there are some great rocks to go (a little) off path (still in sight of the trail) and look at the amazing view along the way. We then climbed up and up (lost the trail for about 5 minutes but quickly found it) and found to our surprise, snow! At the top of the meadow area was a small valley cove with a big snow collection. Both my dad and I threw off our heavy packs and ran over to jump on. We both took pictures and then continued on. Only a few steps on and we found what would turn out being our campsite. A sign marked "N. Scatter creek -> Meadow creek <-" We walked down the hill where we also saw snow by the ridge and saw amazing views. We took off our packs and started to put out the tent. This was an amazing spot for views and could see for miles and miles. We climbed up a large orange rock where there was a little flat area and looked out. This is where we later on cooked our food and hung up our bag full of food to keep away from bears, chipmunks, and mountain goats. Then, we came down and just fooled around for a while, played frisbee (Yes, our campground was big enough and flat enough to play frisbee) Took a nap and then finally woke up and cooked dinner. After a wonderful dinner of Steak and mushrooms we made each a cup of coffee and then packed the stove away and put the bag up away from the bears. It was starting to get a little dark then and we climbed down and waited for it to become starry. Although it was getting darker it still was not really dark enough to see the stars so we went and played cards in the tent. About a half an hour later we went out and had a breathtaking view of the milky way and a bunch of shooting stars. The next morning we had breakfast and packed away. The trip down was steep and sliding. It was quite dusty and slippery. Hard work on the quads but made it down in about half the time it took us to get up. In the end a totally worth it hike even though how tough it is to get up. ALSO WE SAW NO ONE ELSE THE ENTIRE HIKE, IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A HIKE TO YOURSELF COME HERE.

This lovely overgrown trail needs more hikers! We had it all to ourselves. The first 2 miles are easy, then the trail nearly disappears repeatedly into fabulous marshy flower meadows. Avalanche debris also obscures the route in places. It takes longer than you'd think to hike the 8.4 miles, 2900', due to all the route finding, but its worth it! Another great thing about this trail is that the rainshadow kept us in the sun on a day when the west side was dreary. Huckleberries and strawberries are ripe along salmon le sac road and lower part of trail. average mosquitos, not too bothersome.

Flickr: http://bit.ly/solomon-mountain My hiking pattern for this week has been...starting late. After spending some time in the Blewitt Pass area a couple of days ago, I was still not ready to get back into Teanaway. Today I ventured into west of Teanaway for Solomon Mountain. Solomon and Harding have been on the back of my mind for a while. I was hoping to do both today as a slam, but since I’ve been starting late this week, I had to forego Harding. How could I forget how treacherous the road beyond Salmon La Sac was? It all came right back to me as I drove to the trailhead. I was the only one parked at the trailhead so it looked like another quiet day of hiking alone in the mountains. There were lots of blowdowns not long beyond the trailhead and all the way to the second creek crossing. A few snow patches at the head of the basin but they were melting fast. It took no time to get from the basin to the ridge, and from the ridge it was a class 2 scramble to the summit. Harding Mountain looked closer to Solomon than Howard to Mastiff. I probably would have had enough time for Harding had I started my hike bright and early. The ridge between Solomon and Harding looked sketchy, not sure if it was possible to traverse that way.

This was not our intended hike today, but our Toyota Camry couldn't make it across the Scatter Creek Ford on the way to the Cathedral Rock/Peggy's Pond hike we planned. So we backed up and parked across from this trailhead about 100 yds from the flooded ford. The Green Trails map says it's 3.4 miles from the TH to the County Line trail, but the 100 Best Hikes in the Alpine Lakes puts it at 2 miles. We agree with Ira. We made it to the intersection of these two trails in about an hour including a few stops to water the dog. And after the 2nd creek crossing, the trail disappears and we ended up wayfinding with our compass to find it again after getting off trail in the woods. And it seems like NO ONE has been up past the creek in a LONG time as the trail is not maintained and gets overtaken by the meadows (which were FULL of wildflowers and gorgeous today). So at the major blowdown I decided to sit and listen to a small creek and birds while Bill & Scout scampered ahead for 10 mins or so. We didn't make it to the pass and really didn't care. We got a gorgeous day, solitude, beautiful wildflowers, a bit of wayfinding (especially after I left Scout's leash behind off trail, on a rock in the woods and we had to retrace our tracks to find it!). Bill explored the County Line trail for 10 mins with Scout and said it was easy to follow. I headed back to the car and took some pics along the way. (Not posted here, cause the files are too big). So, lots of bear scat in the meadows, some western tanagers to see, some song birds to hear. And no people. A perfect day in our hiking book all around.