What a wonderful backpacking trip.
We did this trail for Memorial Day weekend and had such a blast.
Getting to the trail head took longer than expected because the parking lot was so full of people. We were late getting started and did not arrive to the gate until about 2:30pm. The park stops visitors from entering if the parking lot is full, so you have to wait until someone leaves to get in. We had to wait a little more than a half hour.
The trail itself was easy to follow and wide. It was very muddy in sections and not slipping or getting your shoes covered in mud was a challenge. There were also multiple creek crossing where you had to climb over down trees to get across. Some felt safer than others. There were many where you had to climb among many downed trees to get across the creek.
We camped two nights. The first at Happy four and the second at Lewis meadow. Both were great, although we all preferred the Lewis meadow camping area. There is no toilet at the happy four campground so plan to dig a hole if you camp there.
The first ~3 miles of the trail were pretty crowded with day hikers, but once we got passed Mt Tom creek we were hiking on our own.
One of the more exciting things we saw on the trail were ripe salmon berries. It is still early in salmonberry season, but were were able to find a few berries to snack on as we walked. Also some early flowers were blooming, like starflowers and western bunchberries.
The landscape was so lush and beautiful, and the views of the river and surrounding mountains were incredible. So many giant trees.
Really a must see part of Washington.
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