We arrived Monday morning around 10am and parked on the side of the road, the parking lot isn't accessible but it doesn't add much of a walk. We camped at Copper Lake the first night, and Copper Creek the second night, then hiked out.
Our GPS had the mileage a little off from WTA. From the TH to Copper Lake: 12.3 mi, From Copper Lake to Copper Creek: 16.4 mi, From Copper Creek back to TH: 7.9 mi
A couple notes:
-There are TONS of ripe blueberries right now!
-The hike up to Copper Lake had a lot of elevation gain, but the view at the top of the lookout was worth it. No water up there though, so be prepared. Next time, we want to figure out a way to spend a night at the lookout, the view was incredible--this was definitely the most scenic part of the whole hike.
-Copper Lake itself had a partial view of the mountains, but the view of the stars was incredible. After leaving Copper Lake and once down all the elevation, the rest of the loop was heavily forested and there were no views to be seen.
-The river crossing was not so bad for us. Make sure to bring water shoes. There is a current so poles were also helpful. We walked down closer to the log that was damming the river a bit, it was shallower there. It's harder to see the depth of the water if you're coming from the other direction. We ran into some hikers that were up to their waist in the river coming from the other way.
-DO THE CABLE CAR, IT'S REALLY COOL! There's also a suspension bridge which was a fun surprise for us.
-Bugs weren't too bad, but we had a Thermacell.
-Didn't see any bears, but saw a couple hunters carrying a bear carcass out, they said they shot it Monday morning :(
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