Took Scatter Creek Trail to Fish Eagle Pass. Attached is a photo of the Jack ck fire. First 2.5 miles well maintained, one large blowdown - best way around is to the left. After that, other trip reports should suffice - many blowdowns. Avalanche debris and navigational issues might turn back some parties; trail needs a bit of TLC. I suggest checking with the USFS if you plan hiking in this area - if Jack Creek fire kicks up again they may re-close this trail.

According to 'Day Hiking' this trail can be ""brushy in places but is generally easy to follow."" That's true until you cross the creek, I couldn't identify the trail beyond that point and turned around. It's not particularly scenic up until that point, limited views of the creek, Mt. Daniel and Cathedral Rock. I imagine the view at the pass is great if you've got better route-finding skills that I!

was very excited all week because I knew the weather was suposed to be perfect. After reading some weekend trip reports I was even happier to read that someone had already plowed the way to my intended target Fish Eagle Peak (aka Solomon Mt.). As things go my water heater decided to give it up and I spent half my day waiting for the replacement to arrive. Initially I expected it to take most of the day curtailing any climbing plans. I was excited when the repairman called to say he would be early. By the time I hit the road at 1pm I knew I would have to hustle. I parked at the South Scatter trail head and was off. The trail was mostly free of snow until the upper end of the first basin. I had no poblem with the route since it was plainly in the snow in front of me. I can't say I enjoyed the numerable creek crossings with the somewhat swollen waters. I managed to make it through all without any mishaps. By the time I reached the upper basin it was apparent I would make the summit after dark and I wasn't thrilled with the idea of descending by headlamp. I pushed on to Fish Eagle Pass instead. I had never been there so I thought it would make for a worthy destination. The Pass allows for some great views which I did my best to capture on camera. I picked my way along the ridge to get some pictures of Harding for those who recently summitted without much views. It was quite warm on the ridge which suprised me because it seemed quite cool on the way up. I had a quick bite and donned the headlamp for the descent. The moon was nearly full as it crested the Pass behind me which was quite stunning. I had no problems with the descent which was quite memorable by headlamp. Approx 10 miles 3000ft of climb 5:00 car to car

We hoped to be able to hike to the end of the Scatter Creek trail, through the pass, and either hit Harding Mt or connect through the valley to the North Scatter Creek Trail to make a loop. Unfortunately we couldn't find the trail going up to the pass, and worried by bears we returned the same way. FS Rd 4330 isn't too evil. With careful driving any normal car could make it to Scatter Creek. The ford will need high clearance. The trail starts off fairly steeply but then flattens out with lots & lots of wildflowers. Even saw some Calypso Orchids. It crosses the creek 3, maybe 4 times? The creek is running high but each crossing can be done fairly easily by scouting for a good location. Just watch out for the slippery rocks. The meadows become bigger and bigger as you get up towards the head of the valley. The trail can be hard to find in the meadows, but it is marked with enough blazes/surveyor's tape/cairns that you'll see it with some studying. We saw fresh bear scat by the trail in a couple of places, so we made sure to be noisy. Sure enough, we rounded a corner about 0.5mi from the end and about 50m away was a bear. He ambled slowly into the brush, and after about 10 minutes wait we decided to go on. That sighting helped influence our decision to not go off trail over towards Harding Mt. At the head of the valley we saw final cairns, but no amount of scouting showed us the trail up to the pass. We scrambled up rocks at the head of the valley, found a good place for lunch, and decided to turn back. A pity we couldn't make it up a bit higher to get the view. All in all a great hike. Saw no one. Plenty of wildflowers, bugs were of the annoying but not bloodsucking variety, trail is pretty easy walking but plenty of blowdowns in the forest, and very wet in the meadows.