Bear Creek Mountain — Saturday, Sep. 29, 2018

First off, YES, the road to and trail ARE OPEN to the Section 3 Lake / Bear Creek Mountain Trailhead off FR-1204. NO WORRIES about fire danger from the Miriam Fire in the next valley north.

This is one of my fav bang-for-the-buck short hikes/backpacking trips. 

The last half-mile to the TH is a rutty, rocky mess, with buried boulders eager to take out oilpans of low-riding vehicles. You may get there, but high-clearance is recommended. You can park short and walk up, too.

Bonus that larches abound on the road up to the trailhead, even lower than 3,000ft. Some groves are quite large, and should be peaking the weekend of Oct 5, 2018. Though once on the trail, larches are non-existent.

We got there just after noon on Saturday, with temps in the 60's despite the TH being over 6,000ft.

The trail is mainly flat, though has a few brief climbs within the first mile. Once after that, it's a near-flat trail for another 2 miles of cruising through old-growth, second growth, and many open meadows. Views don't enlarge until 2.5 mile mark when you start the climb to the best campsites and summit at the 4 mile mark. If backpacking, there is a spring-fed stream about half a mile before the climb, so fill up there, or bring all you need from the trailhead.

Colors are popping, grasses have yellowed, and foliage is yellow/orange/red.

We were the only ones camping, so we spread out on the two large sandy tarn basins at about 6,600ft and enjoyed the silent solitude. 

After making camp, we hiked up the remaining 700ft to the summit. Once at the summit, the views to the west opened up, with Tieton Peak, Devil's Horn, Old Snowy, and others in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, not to mention Adams and Rainier south and north. Huge views.

There are smouldering remnants of the Miriam Fire in the valley north, but nothing of concern with the cooler temps and wetter weather.

We returned to camp for a crisp night and a warm sunrise before hiking back out. 

Only saw four or five other parties, including a few hunters, and we felt like we had the mountain to ourselves.