Dewey Lake — Saturday, Jul. 28, 2012

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

Took advantage of one of the first truly summer weekends to revisit a hike I haven't done in over 30 years. The trees are a lot bigger now than I remember! Even though it was nearly August and Chinook pass was clear, Tipsoo Lake is still mostly frozen over. We hiked up Hwy410 from the parking area to connect to the PCT. It was covered in snow nearly all the way to the junction with the Natchez Loop (where you get your wilderness permits), but was relatively easy to follow as there have been a lot of day hikers up here recently. The descent to Dewey had spots of snow on the trail and lots of soft, wet trail. Mosquitoes weren't too bad, and the fishing was great. On the hike out we opted to take the Natchez loop back to Tipsoo Lake. Less snow on that trail, but not by much!