My primary purpose for this report is to give conditions for the entire Huckleberry Creek Trail. The rest gets ramble-y.
This was a 22 mi loop starting from the Huckleberry Creek TH on FR 73, taking the Huckleberry Creek Trail south to Sunrise, the Sourdough Ridge / Wonderland west until the Northern Loop trail north to Grand Park, the Lake Eleanor Trail northeast to the road, and the FR 73 downhill to return to my parking spot.
- Huckleberry Creek: I arrived at 08:10 and there were 4 cars parked along the south shoulder of the road, but none in the pullout parking (3-4 cars) before the creek. There was campfire evidence that this spot has been used for car / RV camping as mentioned in prior trip reports, so I was thankful to find it empty (returning at the end, I found there is a slightly larger parking area on the other side of the creek with room for another 5-6 vehicles). About 100 feet down the trail, two tents were pitched and one was less than 5 feet from the trail... weird to run by. The trail starts incredibly clear, complete with old decaying log bridges over some runoff crossings. One wet section does not have a bridge, but feet remained dry thanks to a fallen tree and some rocks barely protruding from the mud. After the first 4 miles, brushy sections continued off and on for the next 3.5 miles up to treeline. Most of the devil's club has been broken or trimmed back, so the brush was almost entirely thorn-free. Though not a problem yet, there are many small evergreens growing right on the edge of the trail that will eventually make it impassable in a section around mile 5-6 that is already narrow and densely tree'd. The treed and lake section included some mosquitoes that would bite if I stopped for more than a minute. The wildflowers began at Forest Lake and were quite beautiful, then started to thin out as the trail climbs more steeply toward Sourdough Ridge. The view to the north from the top of this climb was incredible. Baker, Shuksan (?), Glacier, and Stuart were clearly visible.
- Sunrise (Sourdough/Wonderland): I connected to these trails around noon, and there were as busy as should be expected on an August Saturday. The trail is wide enough for two lanes of traffic until Shadow Lake, before narrowing to single track. Almost everyone was navigating it courteously and masked.
- Northern Loop: The descent into Berkeley Park had a steadily increasing expanse of wildflowers. Beautiful and significantly fewer people. There was a bear hanging out in the meadow, comfortably far from the trail for everyone hiking by to enjoy the scene and snag some pictures. The trail borders Lodi Creek for a bit, but I believe that was my last water source until Lake Eleanor since the trail then climbs a ridge up to Grand Park
- Lake Eleanor: Completely dry, wildflowers are done, but I had a new experience identifying the ones that had gone to seed. I had never noticed this magic before, but I've been learning to watch for it in my home garden. Lupine and tiger lily seeds were the ones I could find. Not too many people for the first half mile, but then it got busy. As other reports mentioned, hikers have been disrespecting this area. I witnessed multiple groups walking two across (one on trail, one on the side) so they could chat more easily. One unfortunate section was 4 social trails wide. When passing with one hiker who started walking on the side way early, I said "no, let me step off so you're not walking up the whole side." "Oh it's fine!" was the response... "except for trampling all the vegetation" was my attempt at directness. "Well, that's kinda what you get during a pandemic." *facepalm* I was ready to be done with this meadow section and all the reminders that some people actually.don't.care. The rest of the descent to the lake and then trailhead was uneventful. A few hikers were still heading up at 2pm on a very warm day and I let them know that there were no wildflowers to be seen at the top and that I hadn't noted any water sources.
- FR 73: It's a little rough and some sections were narrow enough that I just stood on the side for a car to pass. The yellow flowers along the shoulders are delightful.
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