Hiked the Tunnel Creek trail to Harrison Lake, 5050 Pass and Valhalla Peak (marked Harrison Peak on my map?) as an out-and-back overnight.
The trail was in pretty good condition despite what seems to be infrequent use, with recently removed blow-downs, and mostly soft tread. There are just a couple of spots left of snow, you can almost avoid stepping on them altogether now. I imagine it will be snow-free by the end of this week. There are some steep spots on the trail, with a few rocky bits that required a hand once or twice. This is moreso the case in the upper section of the trail up to Valhalla Peak, which has some very steep spots with loose gravel that is slippery. Poles are a must.
We tentatively planned to look for a campsite at Harrison Lake, with the backup plan to hike up farther toward the pass or peak for a spot. There aren't many camp sites along the trail, with only a few very small tent sites near the Tunnel Creek shelter, and two sites near the lake, which are a good size but not particularly flat. We relaxed at the lake campsites for a while, enjoying the view of Mount Constance on a nearby rocky outcropping, but ultimately decided to climb higher and found a small but flat campsite at 5050 pass. We packed in several liters of water from the creek and lake.
I'm glad we did because it gave us the opportunity to climb Valhalla Peak for sunset—the right choice! 360 views included Rainier, Baker, Constance, many other peaks I couldn't name, Hood Canal, and downtown Seattle visible in the distance.
There were a ton of wildflowers blooming along the trail including beargrass, one I don't know if I've seen before, as well as paintbrush, penstemon, yarrow, columbine, lupine, phlox, and many more. Our birds for this hike included Pacific wrens, Canada jay, kinglets, nuthatches, hermit thrush, band-tailed pigeon, crossbills, evening grosbeaks, Vaux's swifts, amongst others. We were also accompanied by many mosquitos. Our tent was covered when we crawled in for the night—be prepared!
We saw two other hikers, one on each day. Woo!
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