Day 1 - Hatchery Creek to Augusta Lake.
This trail is an absolute mess, the amount of blowdown, burnt blow down, exposure, lack of water, route finding... A note at the TH said "766 down trees, yes we counted". It may actually be more than that. Another said "it was the worst hike ever," I agree, it really was the worst hike i've ever done. Another note, "Falls Creek is Dry".
Surprisingly there was water at 2mi in. I almost called it and turned around until this point. I filled everything I had, cooled off and recalibrated the trip. Seeing that note about Falls Creek was dry, I wasn't sure when the next water source would be if any until Augusta.
A fellow hiker I passed on the way up, I ended up running into 3 days later, now headed the opposite direction on Icicle Creek. He said he thought he was about to get heat stroke and turned around and called for a ride out. Which got me thinking, if you did have an issue on this trail, search and rescue getting in and out with all the blowdown would be a really bad situation.
If you want to try this, start really early AM, and/or on a cloudy cool day but hopefully now you have a better expectation of the embrace the suck for the first 5 miles.
Day 2 - Augusta Lake to Mary Lake
The ridges are great, but everything below the treeline is slow going. Big descents and ascents, trail is very overgrown at times, blowdowns causing re-routes. Lots of very helpful cairns, Gaia GPS was fantastic for me. Really once over the ridge from Augusta to Chatter Creek it's just slow to get through the valleys and brush. Edna is incredible. I'm terrible with heights so Cape Horn took me a minute to focus enough to scoot around the corner. Camped at Lake Mary.
Day 3 - Mary Lake to Susan Jane
Woke up to a flat mattress, couldn't find the leak in the lake. Otherwise, Mary Lake to Susan Jane was pretty straight forward, some fun steep sections traversing along the ridge. Lower Doelle might be my new favorite alpine lake. Once I got to Josephine I saw several closed for restoration and day use only signs so I kept boogying to Susan Jane.
Day 4 - Susan Jane to Stevens
Yep, mattress still flat, butt pad under the hip, sleeping on clothes, still got some shuteye and could hear the winds picking up. A slight sprinkle woke me up around 6:30am and got me packed fast and on the go, but with a dead mattress I threw in the towel at Stevens and grabbed a ride home.
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