Hiked the Cow Creek Meadows/Larch Lakes loop as an overnight. Left the Entiat River trailhead around 11a, hiked up to Myrtle Lake for lunch then on up to the meadows. The work trail crews have done is nothing short of remarkable. Hiked Cow Creek Meadows in 2019 and got stopped there by snow, but I must have gone over/around over 100 blowdowns and witnessed 2 while hiking. The trail is totally clear now so thank you crews!!!
Camped at the Meadows. I love this campsite…it has a view of the Meadows and is surrounded by a small grove of live trees. But the bugs were bad…like biblically bad. My poor dog got so many bites her eye and nose swelled and I had to give her Benadryl. I got over 100 bites and we spent the evening in the tent.
Hike up to the Garland Peak trail was nice. After around 6000 ft you start encountering snow patches. On the Cow Creek Meadows side, they are mostly melted out and serve only to get feet wet. After the connector to Larch, there is one slightly dodgy crossing, but we traversed it fine in trail runners. There is intermittent snow all the way down to lower Larch.
Bugs weren’t quite as bad at Larch Lakes, although still present. Continued on down the Larch Lakes trail to the connector. The Cow Creek and Larch Creek crossings were totally passable over logs. We chose to wade Larch because the log was a bit high and my husky is not great at log crossings. The hike from Lower Larch back to the trailhead was a bit of a slog. It’s so exposed in the beating sun. Definitely better done in the early part of the day rather than peak afternoon sun.
I saw no one on the trail from just before Cow Creek Meadows on through the rest of the trip, so if you like solitude, this is a great option! I definitely think that the Cow Creek Meadows route is more interesting. I wouldn’t want to do the Larch Lakes trail up and back. It’s got 2+ miles of steep, exposed switchbacks with no great spots to stop and rest. While the waterfall views are nice, I prefer the Cow Creek trail. Nice overnight, but would be a good 2-day trip too.
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