Eagle Creek — Thursday, Jun. 22, 2017

First time to Eagle Creek and it was spectacular!  Day 1: Hiked in and camped about a mile or so past Tunnel Falls.  Stopped at each of the falls along the way - each one is so pretty and unique, but Tunnel was breathtaking.  It's worth hiking to the base of the falls before going up through the tunnel behind the falls.  You can really get a sense of the scale from here.  We expected crowds here but saw only one couple taking a timed selfie.  Most of the time we had it to ourselves.  FYI: Metlako Falls (which is well before Tunnel) is closed due to a washout that occurred over the winter.  Day 2: Hiked up to Wahtum Lake and snagged a nice spot on the lake (there are not too many campsites right on the lake so recommend getting there early on a weekend day).  The trail up to Wahtum is a lovely constant gentle ascent through forest with many water crossings.  Lots of flowers and a nice patch of elephant head.  We swam in the lake very briefly - it is still pretty cold!  It became windy overnight but the site was well-sheltered.  Day 3: Hiked to Chinidere Mountain by taking a shortcut trail.  First hiked back to the bottom of the lake, over a log jam on the trail, then up a very steep trail to connect to the PCT.  This shaves off some distance compared to going counterclockwise around the lake, but gets the heart racing!  From PCT took the trail up to the top of Chinidere.  This short trail is well worth it as the views of mountains in both Oregon (Hood, Jefferson) and Washington (St. Helens, Rainier, Adams) are amazing.  Lots of flowers up here too, especially on the south side.  Hiked from Chinidere back to the PCT to connect with the Eagle-Benson Trail. We took this 3 mile, 3000 ft descent back to the Eagle Creek Trail.  The Eagle-Benson trail is very brushy and steep - trekking poles were necessary in many places.  Doesn't seem to be well-maintained but there are no significant obstacles.  Near the bottom the trail goes around the top of a falls and the trail here is very very very exposed.  There is no cable and it is not a trail for children or pets!  There's no water on the trail until almost back to Eagle Creek and much of the trail is in the sun so plan water accordingly.  Once back on Eagle Creek, we headed toward Tunnel to find a campsite near there, but ended up back near the trail intersection at a site without good access to the creek.  We were able to get water about 10 min down the trail (toward TH).  Day 4: Hiked out early and saw Douglas squirrels and a small bunny on the way.  The creek and flowers were beautiful in the early light.