There were three of us going for our first-of-the-year backpack. We were not disappointed! It took us about 3 hours to drive from central Seattle to trailhead. Easy to find a parking spot on Sunday around noon. Dirt road was passable with a few avoidable and large potholes.
We were so distracted by the multitude of blooming flowers that it took us four hours to hike to Pete Lake! Probably could be done in 2 or 2 and a half. Small, manageable spots of snow on trail. Mosquitos ranged from not bad to annoying at campsite and on trail back to car on Monday. Passed by several overnighters going to the parking lot. Crossed many streams. Poles are handy and all of them had fallen logs over them making crossing them potentially wet free- if you have good balance. Some "bridges" are from large old-growth trees and some from small trees. If you have vertigo, you may have a hard time crossing the bigger streams on the large trees.
A Western Tanager pair must have lived near our campsite, as we saw them several times- such a treat! We also saw a Varied Thrush and heard several more species of birds. Look for Fairyslipper along the trail as well as Glacier Lily, Trillium, Vanilla Leaf, Penstemon, Paintbrush and many more flowers.
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