Greenwater Trail to Lost Lakes, Noble Knob, Corral Pass Snowshoe & Greenwater and Echo Lakes — Friday, Jul. 12, 2019

We wanted to do a loop trip this weekend, and had 2 nights to spare. Originally had planned on going to Echo Lake first but the hike to Lost Lake was shorter and we only had a few hours to get there before dark. Total mileage ended up around 25 miles.

The Greenwater Trail parking lot had 8 or so vehicles when we arrived. The road up and parking lot are paved, and the privies were clean enough and stocked with TP. We started at 5 pm on Friday.

Greenwater Trail to Lost Lake
Bugs: Not bad / Trail Condition: Good

Trail near the start is wide and clear, very pretty in the evening light. We saw a couple tents in the Greenwater Lakes vicinity but there was room to spare. There are a lot of bridges and variety. One of the large log bridges near the first Greenwater Lake has slid down the hill a bit, and has some hardware sticking out with pink flags on them.

At the junction for Echo and Lost Lakes, we took a right and headed up the hill towards Lost Lake. The trail is damp but in good shape. It narrows considerably, and has many sections that climb and drop. The forest feels wild here, with thick moss and towering trees cutting out the light. We sped through this section, aiming to reach Lost Lake by 8:30 pm. Quinn Lake is on the left before Lost Lake, and has some campsites. It was very pretty. There is a short section through burn before reaching Lost Lake. We ended up choosing the campsite furthest west, but walked around to the creek to fill up our water. The meadow is lush, a little gnatty but we never felt like we needed repellent. There were at least 4 other groups camping there. We ended up a little dehydrated and went to bed as soon as camp was set up. Everything is damp there, so be prepared for that if you choose to start a campfire in one of the rings.

We hung out at camp in the morning, watching fish jump for bugs in the lake. I would definitely come back to camp here or at Quinn Lake again, the trail is pretty and its quiet. There was some old trash near our campsite, down the hill a bit, mostly broken glass.

Lost Lake to Noble Knob

Bugs: Not bad / Trail Condition: Rough, overgrown in some places (pictured). One tree down 1 mile from lake, easy to step over.

The climb up to Noble Knob Trail was a bit of a slog. The beargrass is blooming which looks awesome, but the grade is often steep and the trail is narrow and bushy. Once we reached the sub-alpine area, there were some amazing views and a ton of flowers blooming. Originally, we planned to do the Noble Knob spur but after the climb we weren't in the mood and the clouds were low and thick, obscuring many views to the south. Soon after following the trail towards Corral Pass, we entered more burn area. Its stark but there are a lot of flowers coming up, and the trail is in good shape. Met some mountain bikers, everyone was sharing the trail nicely. Saw signs of elk and bear, but didn't encounter or see any. There is very little water (just a few seasonal streams trickling over the trail) between Lost Lake and Corral Pass, and the burn can make it warm so plan accordingly. There would have been great views of Rainier without the cloud cover.

We had a late lunch at Corral Pass, which is eerie. There are burned up picnic tables and hitching posts, and the road had more elk and deer prints than human or vehicle. There is a spring-fed trough at Corral Pass but there is better water further down. We followed the Greenwater Trail down from the Corral Pass parking area.

Corral Pass, Greenwater Trail to Echo Lake

Bugs: Not bad until last 2 miles before Echo Lake, then terrible. / Trail Condition: Small tree down .75 and 2.5 miles from Corral Pass. Trail washout 2.5 mile from Corral Pass. Larger tree down around a mile before Echo Lake, had to find a way around.

The first section departing Corral Pass on the Greenwater Trail is pretty. The burned trees contrast with the thick greenery growing around the streams. The footing is soft, and won't stand up to heavy traffic for some time. Runoff has eroded the edges, but its safe. There is a nice waterfall that flows down to the trail 1 mile from the pass. Towards the bottom, we saw an old foot burned footbridge with hardware sticking out. There was one set of boot prints and one set of elk? prints the whole way down. We spied Hidden Lake through the trees, but didn't try to find to trail to it. At mile -- there is a log over the trail, easy to step over, but shortly after the trail is washed out completely (pictured). The ground is very soft, so we didn't risk crossing it. There is a spot uphill a bit where you can safely cross but its still soft. The bugs started getting horrible, literal clouds of mosquitoes following us. We stopped to put on picaridin, which helped keep them out of our face but they were landing all over our clothes too. We both ended up with bites on our hips where our clothing had the most contact with our skin.

There is a large blowdown a  mile or so (may be less but we were fleeing mosquitoes so hard to say) before the lake, its too high to climb over so we had to go off trail to find a way over, which meant climbing more logs, all while waving away bugs. There was a nice breeze when we reached Echo Lake, which gave us some reprieve from the onslaught. A group was camped at the first site on the south side, and there was another good site a ways past that. The trail along Echo Lake is very wet and muddy. We found a site just across from the pit toilet trail, and there was one other group camped nearby, as well as 1 or 2 more on the end of the lake. The bugs were terrible at the campsites, although a campfire helped. Everything was damp here as well, and we eventually gave up and retreated to our tent. Make sure to keep your food appropriately stored, we had a rodent chew through the netting on our tent overnight. We totaled about 12.5 miles for the day.

Echo Lake to Greenwater Trailhead

Bugs: Terrible until out of the Echo Lake basin, then improves. / Trail Condition: Good

After a short but steep ascent away from the lake, we descended the trail most people go up when heading to the lake. Its the hardest part between the TH and the lake, and I was glad to be going down it instead of up. Saw a few groups headed up to camp, as well as leaving. The trail is in good shape and we made quick time heading back, arriving back at the TH around 11:30 am. There were a lot more day hikers out, but the parking lot had a few spots open still. The first few miles of this trail makes a great family outing and we plan on returning with the kids for that section.

Overall, I would recommend Lost Lake as an out and back destination, or even up to Noble Knob then back down to Lost Lake. Echo Lake is just too buggy right now to be enjoyable imo, and the trail on the back end (between Corral Pass and Echo Lake) is unstable and still rough from the 2017 burn.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://jwynnephotos.smugmug.com/Hiking/2019/Greenwater-Trail-Loop/