Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) - Stampede Pass to Windy Pass, Cold Creek Loop via Tinkham and Silver Peaks & Mount Catherine — Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025

We were aiming for Mirror Lake, but GPS overshot us, and we ended up at the PCT section near Windy Pass. This wasn't terrible until 'I' made it terrible (keep reading). PCT section to Mirror Lake was great. Ripe blueberries at the beginning and lovely fall colors throughout. Views were peekaboo as true to form, Washington's bipolar weather was on full display with alternating rain, sun & clouds. Made it to the lake, which had a nice spot to enjoy the view and snack - do know you'll go down about 400' then also have to come back up, incase you're already tired.

Once you're back up at the junction before heading down to the lake (while researching the map), I realized I could make a loop rather than be relegated to an out and back...
here's where bad life decisions were made. Opted to take the Cold Creek trail down then connect to Mount Catherine back up to FS 9070, where it popped us out just a few hundred feet from where we started. Perfect right? No, only in my mind. When you see the sign to Twin Lakes via Cold Creek trail, ignore it, pretend it doesn't exist (technically, it shouldn't). It was steep, primitive, overgrown, difficult to navigate in places and my "favorite" part was the (thankfully short) but sketchy talus slope I thought I might just be stuck on forever and end up living out my days. Here you completely lose the trail and hope it continues on the other side.

Yes, I realize I should've looked at the description when I pieced this loop together, so now I'm a/your cautionary tale. For lack of a better term, you shimmy down the side of a mountain and it barely gets better once you hit twin lakes until it clears up at the junction of Mount Catherine's spur trail, which was also a bit steep (but far more doable) and overgrown in places but thankfully short! So, just go back the way you came on the enjoyable, well-graded section of the PCT you started on. Map screenshot of said loop of misery included.