Union Creek to Falls & Mesatchee Creek Chinook Pass area Today I was scoping out campsites for next weekend and threw in these two hikes. I didn’t see a sole on the trails today. Chinook pass is still covered in snow and only saw two skiers in Naches Loop area. Union Creek to Falls is fantastic, smells wonderful right now, only small patches of snow at the trailhead and then nothing after that. You have to forge a log to get to otherside, which made my heart jump a little going over, and water rose quite a bit on my way back. Wildflowers are starting to poke out. I caught a rainbow in the falls. Water is really rushing over falls right now, lovely area, I didn’t do the whole loop, but I was probably pretty close. Hiked a couple of hours and turned around. For the first time ever I used my i-pod for return trip, it was nice. I usually start counting my steps, and singing was much better I discovered.. Next was Mestachee Creek There is more snow in this area, but nothing too difficult, it’s melting fast. I was not sure of the area but read there was a falls on this side, I never did find it. But got another 2 hours or so in and didn’t see a sole or any wildlife. A few trillium in the area and 3 huge ant hills. River was gushing. Very nice day to be out. Next I am hitting Crystal Lakes. If anyone has been here, please tell me snow conditions of trail. I saw 2 cars there today so I know people are hitting it.

Note that there is road construction on Highway 410, just north of Chinook Pass. Not too much of a delay, though. There were two other cars at the trailhead when we set out on Tuesday, and one when we came back - all waterfall tourists, so we had the rest of the trail to ourselves. Just in case, we wore our "don't shoot me" orange, but saw no evidence of hunters. Either apparent trailhead from the parking lot will get you to the trail, but only the signed trailhead has a supply of permits. The trail is in good shape, although quite dusty in the sun. There were just enough small creek crossings to keep the dog watered. No bugs at all. Good mix of sun and shade. About 5-7 minutes from the trailhead you need to ford the river (ankle deep) or cross on a motley collection of logs. In another 5 minutes, there is a turnoff on your left that takes you down to the waterfall. This trail is pretty straightforward. There is another trail in another 5 minutes that requires a good deal more trepidation, but takes you right to the waterfall pool (where it is windy and cold!). The waterfall trail leads straight off the main trail and downhill. The main trail switchbacks to your right and heads uphill. In another 10 minutes or so (these are all slow hiker times), there's a camp on the left with a view of the biggest shelf conk I have ever seen (on a large snag to the right). At this point the trail is switchbacky and steep - it gentles out after a mile or so. The North Fork Union Creek crossing is about two miles in. It has a nice log bridge. Our dog is fearless about these things, but some dogs might find the narrow bridge a bit alarming.* There is also a horse ford near the bridge, and a horse camp just beyond. We camped at the first site we saw once the trail dropped back down to the creek. The site is large and easily visible from the trail, but required a fair bit of cross-country travel and blowdown limbo to reach. Lots of puffballs at the site (tasty!). Guy and dog saw an elk the next morning. We identified lots of plants, although very few of them were in bloom, except for the occasional pipsissewa. The Oregon grapes seemed ripe, but were too tart to eat out of hand. We also saw (among other things) vanilla leaf, baldhip rose, queens cup, lupine, foam flower, twinflower, rattlesnake plantain, woodland penstemon, thimbleberry, cow parsnip (the squirrels seemed to be enjoying the seeds), whortleberry, baneberry, fringed grass of Parnassus, and several kinds of wintergreen in addition to pipsissewa -- one-sided, white-veined and pink. *We have learned from experience to follow a strict bridge-crossing protocol when hiking with dog. First, take the dog off leash. The leash is just too dangerous on narrow bridge crossings. Next, on one-critter bridges, Person B holds the dog while Person A crosses. Person A calls the dog across the bridge and holds her. Person B then crosses the bridge. Failing this protocol, the most likely scenario is: dog runs across the bridge; Person A follows; while person A is mid-span, dog observes that Person B is not following promptly enough, so dog returns across the bridge to fetch Person B. In this process, Person A, dog or both end up in the drink. (It doesn't help that dog has no concept of how wide she is in her panniers.)

We couldn't show up at Soda Springs Campground until 2:00, so we burned some time and met at the Union Creek trailhead at 10:30 for a quick photography-oriented hike. The footbridge at the first creek crossing is out. There's a fairly wide tree to cross about 10 yards back, or you can do some stone-hopping. The creek was about shin-high at it's deepest. No major blowdown and the trail's in good shape. I think we saw four people all day. After setting up camp and greeting others we went to Whistlin' Jack Lodge in Cliffdell for dinner. They were very kind to a dozen unannounced sweaty hikers, and we enjoyed a great meal served by the best waitress ever! I highly recommend the elk steak medallions and bumbleberry pie. Not so much the $4.59/gallon last-chance gas!

Two of us spent 2 nights on Union Creek. About 2 miles in from Hwy 410 there are some waterfalls and quite a few people. Flowers are blooming. Some little streams are running across or down the trail. A few blowdowns. There is a great campsite next to the river at about 4 miles in, but access to it is restricted by many fallen trees. We set up there for 2 nights. There are some areas where trees seem diseased and groves have fallen. Many elk and deer prints on the trail and they have created their own trails. We didn't see any, though. We may have been the first humans to go as far as we did past the falls this season. No footprints anyway. The second day we day-hiked to Cement Basin. This is a lovely meadow with a stream flowing through it. It appeared snow had just melted and glacier lilies were everywhere. There were patches of snow covering the trail entering the meadow. This should be gone very soon. Our high point was about 6000' and there was little snow on this south-facing hike. We went as far as the gap looking out over Lake Basin.