A glorious intro to the PCT trail! If you wish for ~10 miles a day, multi day, manageable elevations, lakes, meadows, berries, wildflowers, mountains, creeks...this might be it!

Distance: 30 miles

Our Schedule: 2 nights 3 days

Critters: Yes. Could hear deer grazing in the night. Saw squirrels, camp robbers, magpies, hummingbird, elk footprints, bear poop, horses and grouse coughing.

Wild berries: Huckleberries, Starwberries but mostly blue berries. Sweet deal!

My self rated Hiker/Backpacker level: Moderate hiking pace (i.e 25-30 minutes a mile in elevation), Beginner+ backpacker (i.e done 2 other backpacking trips prior to this one).

Logistics: We decided to head North from White to Chinook pass. Promised views, moderate elevation gain, sun not in the eyes. We parked a car at Chinook Trailhead (no privy here but available at Tipsoo Lake TH just a few minutes away walking distance). We then shuttled in a friends car to White Pass TH, about 45 minutes of a drive from Chinook Pass. Note that we used the NW pass to park at Chinook TH. We also had an interagency pass and later on the trail regretted we didn't use that instead, just to be doubly sure of the boundaries. We did not get ticketed and were relieved that we had not violated the rules.

Day 1: 7.5 miles

Started at 12:30 p.m. Pitched tent at 7:00p at Snow Lake campsite. Our other campsite options were at Sand, Beuch or Pipe Lakes but we wanted to get in as much as we comfortably could on day1.

Several breaks on the way enjoying the scenery and pretty mellow trail. It was a humid day so we took our time to get acclimatized to the sweatyness. Start at Leech Lake (0 miles) to Sand Lake (at 3 miles) to Buesch Lake (~4.0 miles) Pipe Lake (at 5 miles) and pushed on to Snow lake (at 7.5 miles). Several campsites available here. Met thru-hiker "Red Cross" and section hiker Cramers here. Shared a few trail experiences, went to the lake by the night to catch some Perseid Meteor Shower action and then called it a night. A critter sniffed its nose into our fellow camper's tent but otherwise a quiet night.

Day 2: 11.5 miles

Started at 8:30 a.m. Pitched tent at 6:00p at Two Lakes campsite.

Long day with plenty breaks to make respite for an uphill climb. Again, pretty rolling terrain until you reach the Bumping River Crossing. This crossing is tricky for less experienced. There is a log bridge to cross, about 4.5-5 feet high. But its a bit narrow and bowing in the middle when our friend crossed it. The other two of us decided to ford the river. Two other hikers came by around the same time so we scouted for a shallow spot to cross and forded together. Experienced company builds confidence for sure! You reach a meadow immediately after the river crossing, a beautiful place to camp too. We hiked on, missed fish lake entirely but we weren't planning to stop by there anyways so it was okay. You know you are on the climb to Crag Lake shortly after the river crossing. We had done about 5 miles since morning so far. Our options were to camp at Crag Lake (~7.5 miles from Snowlake) or push on to Two Lakes (10.5 miles from Snowlake) or stretch on to American Lake (13 miles from Snow Lake). We refilled water at Crag Lake and then decided since we had a bit more before the sun starts setting in that we'd stop at Two Lakes for the night camp. You will enter the Rainer National Park boundary and if its a good day, a glorious greeting from the mountain herself. It was a good day for us!! It was a sound decision to stop at 2 Lakes, giving us just enough time to set camp, cook, stow away of bear cannisters, chat with a friendly family of 4 on a summer trip and then call it a day. We got rained in all night. Probably a deer lurking around our tents in the night as we heard gentle munching and grazing. We didn't get out of our tents to check haha. Do note that the Two Lakes is about 0.3 miles downhill from the mail PCT trail.

Day 3: 11 miles. Started at 9:00a, reached Chinook Pass at 5:00 p.m.

Last day on our trip. Met several thru hikers - Zen, Newton, Medic. All were so friendly and answered any questions we had about their journey or ours! We climbed out of Two Lakes Trail to American Lake (in about 2.5 miles). Here we see a sign that inform the distance from American Lake to Dewey Lake is 3.7 miles. Anderson Lake falls just in between and makes for a nice lunch or snack spot. Its mostly a downward trail till you hit Dewey Lake. A gorgeous lake. Its huge and blue. And you walk by the lake shore for atleast a mile, its heavenly. Once you cross Dewey lake its the last climb up to Chinook pass. Many views of the lake but we were also partly socked in the rain and fog so didn't get much of the promised upper elevation views of the mountains. We were still happy with our lot, it was that kind of a giving trail! We made a final stop at the Naches loop viewpoint and then hiked to the Chinook Pass trailhead by around 5:00p.m. If you want to catch the tipsoo lake, take a left to Tipsoo Lake at the Naches Loop junction, instead of the PCT trail. Either way, great views. Just need to be planful on which route to take to align with your vehicle parked at the trailhead!

All in all, a great trip! An excellent intro to backpacking, lakes, meadows, mountains, critters, climbs, fording, wildflowers, apline berries. 

This was my first multi-day backpacking trip. I know understand how to deal with blisters...and wear the right socks. Anyways, it was a really awesome hike/experience! My boyfriend and I left from White Pass around 10:30am on Sunday morning after leaving one car at Chinook Pass. We hiked a pretty mellow 10ish miles to Snow Lake and rolled in around 4pm. We tried to fish but had no luck. The next morning we left around 10am and arrived at Fish Lake around 12 where we relaxed and fished some. Yet again we didn't catch anything, probably because it was noon! Around 12:45 we started our climb! Which was tough for my boyfriend, who doesn't have as much hiking experience as me. We took quite a few breaks for him to catch his breath. The smoke was awful so once we made it to the top our views weren't as nice as we had hoped. We took a longer break at the top and then continued on to American Lake which we arrived at around 6:30. I'm not entirely positive on the distance but I believe it was around 12-13 miles to American Lake from Snow Lake. Both of us were pretty tired and I had some blisters (ugh! bad sock choices for my overly sweaty feet) so we just sat up camp, had some dinner, took a quick dip in the lake to rinse off and then hit the hay. As we were laying in the tent we did hear gun shots in the distance that kept echoing of the mountains around us. It was annoying and made me somewhat nervous. Despite being pretty tired and the gunshots, it was probably my favorite lake of the entire hike. It was so beautiful and we had the lake to ourselves. I woke up around 7 and watched ducks dive for fish and listened to the water flow into the lake and then out through the creek near our campsite. It was wonderful! We finally left around 10am and finally got some great views of Rainier! The hike to Dewey Lake was pretty mellow. We got there around 12 and took a little break, got some water and then started up the hill. It didn't seem hard but my already tired boyfriend didn't agree. We passed quite a few hikers but we arrived at the car at Chinook Pass around 1:30! We were both pretty excited to have completed the trip and our longest backpacking trip! It took us awhile to get to White Pass because of road construction which was frustrating. From a beginner backpacker's perspective this was a really awesome learning experience for me! I'm looking forward to future trips.

Bugs and smoke! This was a wonderful hike, lots of wildflowers in bloom and amazing views of Rainier, but the mosquitoes were a constant annoyance. We started at White Pass with family, unfortunately one of my nieces got sick the day before, so my son and I stopped at Sand Lake and waited to see if the rest of the group would catch up. Next morning hiked to Snow Lake and ran into a WTA/PCTA log crew heading out to White Pass after a weekend of trail work. Thanks for a great job! Trail is in very good shape! We only had to go around one down tree just before we met this crew, and I'm sure they cleared it on their way out. Great swim to cool from the heat! Day 3 we stretched a bit and hiked about 13 miles to American Lake. Quite a climb from Fish Lake over Carlton Pass, but worth it to get great views of Rainier on top! Note: Green Trails maps show side trails to Two Lakes and Cougar Lake, but we couldn't find the southern end of either trail. So don't rely on taking these like we did! Next morning at American Lake the smoke rolled in. We didn't know at that time where the fires were, so decided to skip Cougar Lake and head north to Dewey Lake and the Chinook Pass. Later found out this was smoke from the fires in BC that cover the whole state! Tried to get a sunset pic of Rainier from Dewey, the whole mountain was totally covered in smoke. Met up with my brother and nieces (yes she had recovered by then) at Anderson Lake, spent the last night together at Dewey, then out to Chinook Pass. A great hike, but you might want to wait for cooler weather, less bugs and no smoke.

Excellent three day hike. Started at white pass around 11am. First big break at pipe lake seven miles in. We were ready for a swim then and pipe lake was the spot! Then about a three mile push to snow lake for another break. Finally a 2.5 mile push to the campsites at the large creek crossing with wooden bridge. Great camp spot. Arrived around 5pm. The next morning we got started around 745am after filling our water pouches from the stream and headed down to the bumping river ford. There is a large tree trunk you can use for the crossing about 100 yards east of where the trail meets the river. I used the tree last year...won't do it again. Too risky. This year we pitched our boots and crossed with sandals on. No prob. After the river, it's climbing for hours. After the climb, you're treated to beautiful views of Mt Rainier. We stayed the second night at Two Lakes about 0.3 miles off the trail. Nice spot. Got in early...around 145pm. Plenty of time to swim and relax. The third day we got a later start around 9am. The small stream running down the hillside and into Two Lakes was a great water source to replenish before heading out. The first two hours or so we were treated to off and on views of Mt Rainier. We lunched and swam after four miles at Anderson Lake. We swam again at Dewey lake. Then there's a bit of climb out of Dewey lake followed by a long downhill to chinook pass. Great weather. Only a 30ft stretch of snow to pass just prior to Dewey lake. Bugs were a significant problem. Cover up and bring bug spray. This is a great starter hike for those that want to build up to doing longer section hikes.