Fantastic wildflowers along entire route right now, in their peak form. Bugs were worst through 'mosquito basin' on first day heading north but tamed down and manageable with just head netting/long sleeves during the usual feeding times. Abundant lakes to refill water supply from, camp adjacent to. Fantastic views of Rainier by day 3. Challenge of elevation was just right on days 3 & 4 for the relatively beginning backpacker (there were 5 of us who had not done this in at least a decade!). My personal fav was fording the Bumping River to get to Fish Lake; very refreshing. And those berries should be ripe by late August/early September.

Great trail with lots of solitude and knockout views- after a confusing start the Mesatchee trail visits picturebook waterfalls to an unmarked jct atop American Ridge, which then ambles along toward scenic- and miraculously bug free- Cougar Lakes. A snowy exit on little-used trail to another unsigned jct with the PCT, and jaw-dropping views: Tatooshses, Mt Adams, Goat Rocks, Old Snowy, Mt St Helens on the horizon, and the rock and snow wall of Rainier at your elbow- spectacular. An unexpectedly buggy camp high on the ridge above Laughingwater made sense the next day's exit- miles below Three Lakes infested with blood suckers- pretty lakes though. Thanks to Randi of Packwood and her help with trailhead dropoffs & pickups- a real trail angel.

I hiked this very short section from the parking area to Goat Lake. There was up to a foot of snow in sections, but it hadn't melted enough to get really icy, therefore the footing was reasonable secure. As long as this dry weather holds, the trail is still easy to follow.

Hiking with some less experienced backpacking friends and their two dogs. This was a perfect overnight loop as it doesn't gain too much elevation and the trail is 99% clear and easy to follow. Got to Cramer lake trail head at Dog lake around noon. Set out and got to Cramer lake around 2pm for a late lunch. Trail was clear. There is a small stream crossing that was easily traversed on fallen logs after about the first mile. Slight elevation gain through lovely forest with tons of mushrooms. We were a little too late for the boletes which were mostly eaten by worms. A week earlier and we would have had a basket of mushrooms in the first few miles. We ran into two people on horses on Cramer lake trail and a lot of horse evidence. The foliage is starting to change and the colors this week will be beautiful. Arrived at Dumbell lake probably around 4pm and chose a campsite on the peninsula in the center of the lake. We shared this bit of land with a group of fishermen that had rode in on horses, a very friendly bunch. The sunset was lovely and we heard lots of elk noises around dusk. We lucked out with weather the first day, the second day not so much. We woke to cold rain, packed up and got moving to get warm. We headed west on #1156/56 until it met up with the PCT. This area is just beautiful; the mist and clouds through the trees, meadows, marshes, and lakes were just magical. The trail was fairly muddy with a lot of water in the rain, and the horses that road out ahead of us didn't really help. We left the campsite at about 10 am, giving the horse group a head start. We took the Dark Meadows #1106 connector from the PCT back to Dog lake. We did encounter some angry yellow jackets in this portion even in the cold, steady rain. This helped quicken the pace back to the car.