Great hike, hiked to the first fall was gorgeous. continued on hike to second waterfall came across some snow and was not able to continue coming back in a few months to finish hike.

The bridge is out at 0.25 mile. The water level is low so one could wade across. There is a good log to walk for those who have no fear of walking logs! Sad to say for Bob I am not in that group! We spent 2 hours and walked 2 miles trying to find the trail by walking on the other side of Union Creek. We were not successful. I would like to return with my Tevas to wade the creek and hike to the falls! There were many very large ant hills in this short section of trail and every 10-20 feet there were parades of ants crossing the trail!

The trailhead for this hike is found on the north side of 410 right after you cross under the log overpass (shortly beyond Tipsoo Lake). We shuttled cars to the endpoint about a mile past Pleasant Valley campground (milepost 81.5) on the north side, signed for Fifes Viewpoint and this worked very well. The first 8 miles or so of this trail is a fabulous ridge ramble - flowers continue to emerge in bright splendor and views are wide and dramatic. There is no longer a snowfield to cross beyond Sourdough Gap. Watch the signs for successive trail junctions at Bear Gap, Fog City Trail and then just below Crown Point. We turned off the PCT where the Union Creek trail turns north - look for the sign for Union Creek trail just beyond the sharp left hand turn on the PCT below Crown Point, and angle right to descend along the steep slope. This trail has been severely damaged by lots of horse traffic under wet conditions, and in places is sloughed off down the steep hill with barely a tread left. After about a mile of those terrible conditions the trail levels into pretty Cement Basin, with small meadows and groves of trees. A group of elk were spotted in the distance and we passed a group of cows and juveniles in the trees (making funny little mewling noises!). There is a steep climb up from the basin to a high saddle, then a steep descent into the Lakes Basin. After the saddle just look for unsigned side trails going down into the basin, and another turn to continue downhill to the lake. Camps around the trees are horse-damaged but enough flat spaces were found near the fire ring on the nearside of the lake to make a good camp for our group of 7 (5 tents). There was also a camp on the far side of the lake, but it was forested and buggy. Flowers were lovely in the basin and there was a group of about 10 goats climbing around on the crags above us. Total of about 11 miles on this day. In the future, I would recommend staying on the PCT beyond Scout Pass and descending from there to Basin Lake - the Cement Basin trail has lots of climbing and descending and much of the trail is in poor condition. Day 2 we climbed back up to the PCT on the same trail and turned right to continue under Norse Peak. A few of us did the easy walk-up through flower fields to the top following a gully going up from the PCT - excellent views, highly worth it. After descending it was just a couple of miles to a well-signed junction with the Crow Lake Way trail going east. This trail followed the creek through meadows for a short while, coming to a ramshackle shelter with great camps about a half mile from the turnoff. Then we entered forest and descended, sometimes right next to the creek and sometimes away, for about 5 miles. Much blowdown and horse damage on this trail. Periodically the way passed through pocket meadows with no obvious sign of trail, but if you looked carefully you could see the trail going back out the other side in the trees. Several crossings of the creek, getting more and more tricky as we got toward the bottom. Logs and rock-hops were possible but some were a bit more treacherous than I liked. However the group made their way safely across. As we reached the bottom, the combination of heat and vast mosquito populations made the walk miserable. We took a right at a sign near Crow Lake (signed Crow Lake Way) to continue our loop, and from this point the trail climbed steeply, continuing to be extremely buggy. Openings with breeze didn't appear until about 4 miles past this turnoff, beyond the junction with the side trail the Sheepherder Lake...and the openings were fairly small without sufficient water for camping. (Perhaps water in this area is more plentiful early in the season, but we had a tough time finding any. Sheepherder Lake was noted by others as being buggy and we could believe it.) Finally the trail descended a short way to a modest-sized meadow with a small stream; crossing this meadow to the right from the trail there is a nice camp in the trees, and we set up there for the second night under a crag which was home to more goats. This camp remained seriously buggy despite a nice breeze. The next morning we finished the climb to the top of a gravel bald with broad views of the American Ridge to the south, and a walk-up ridge to the east which probably would have provided excellent views to Fifes Peaks. However the group was on a roll and we continued with our sights set on reaching the cars early. After the gravel bald the trail began to descend, gradually at first and then down steep switchbacks about 4 miles to the trailhead. More horse damage all along this section as well. I would not rate the loop worthwhile to repeat as we took it. By all means go to Basin Lake and perhaps ramble on to Big Crow Basin, perhaps making a loop of it leaving a car at the Norse Peak trailhead or elsewhere near Crystal Mountain. However Crow Lake Way had very little appeal to make up for the poor condition of the tread and the serious mosquito populations.

This is a very long day loop with ~27 miles. I went clockwise starting up from the Union Creek trailhead (on HWY 410). The signpost says the bridge is out, only 1/4 mile in or so. Indeed it was out but it was easy to cross on an obvious log. in fact, I completed the entire loop without getting my feet wet by way of logs or rock hopping. There are a couple nice waterfalls at the beginning of the trail, then it climbs gradually along the creek for several miles. it is really only steep the last part, and more exposed there too as you climb up on the ridge to the Basin Lake Trail. I followed this trail north to a saddle that looks down on Basin Lake. The trail continued on down the saddle but looked like it also went up the ridge so I followed that route, at least until it dispersed. It was worth the side trip however because when I turned around I saw 2 dozen goats perched just above the saddle I had been standing at, only I couldnt see them from that angle. I hiked down from the saddle but opted not to take either of the side trails that went to Basin Lake as I preferred the view from above. The trail joins the PCT for a brief while until the intersection of the Crow Lake Trail at Big Crow Basin, which thankfully is signed. Just down the trail there is an old cabin in the basin. Then the trail goes into the trees, occasionally coming out into a meadow where the trail disappears but magically appears on the opposite side. This trail has more horse traffic than the Union Creek Trail, especially on the lower half. I took the short spur out to Crow Creek Lake, but it was nearly impossible to get to as it is in a big marsh. there were too many mosquitoes to even stop for lunch so i retreated. I missed the trail to Marsh Lake completely, even though i was looking for it. The trail to Sheepherder Lake was more obvious, and clearly a favorite stop for horse riders. there is no sign there however. This lovely turquoise lake is worth the side trip. There were several people there fishing for cutthroat and doing well. Expect lots of water crossings on the way down, great for my dog. The main trail always leads to a horse ford so I had to look around for logs to cross. The trail down is dusty and rocky, typical of horse tread. The last mile or so drops steeply with a series of endless switchbacks. I was glad I hadn't gone the opposite direction, as I prefer more gradual climbs. The trail comes out at a sno-park area and I had to climb around a horse trailer and go between the horses tied up on the Pleasant Valley Trail (999). This trail follows the road for ~3 miles back to the Union Creek trailhead parking. The Union Creek crossing on 999 bridge is out, but there again were good log crossings. And a great place for a post-hike soak.

Reports from recent years talk about the bridge across Union Creek (1/4 mile into the trail) being out; it still is, and the trail sign sounded like it will continue to be out for the foreseeable future. If you want to try the hike anyway, it looked like you had three choices: 1) ford the creek (running pretty rapidly right now), 2) walk across a log over an even more rapid-running creek section just downstream (it's a big log, but in current conditions it wouldn't be good if you fall off), 3) park just on the other side of the creek on highway 410 at a gate, follow the creek, and try to hook up with the trail. We didn't try any of these.