Day-hiked from the Scatter Creek trailhead to Tieton Pass and then up to Elk Pass and the PCT near Old Snowy. Elk Pass is magical, but takes a bit to get there. 20 miles and 4700 ft elevation round-trip on the day.
Easy gravel road (5 miles) to the trailhead. I was the only vehicle there and didn't see anyone else on the trail all day. North Fork Tieton Trail 1118 burned in the Miriam Fire in 2018 but has had some recent maintenance to clear deadfall and build a new bridge at one of the creek crossings. I did this same hike in July this year and the trail is in better shape now than then. The first couple miles are fire-scarred though with new deadfall waiting to tumble soon I'm sure.
The North Fork Tieton Trail connects to the PCT at Tieton Pass, roughly five miles in and then a couple more miles on the PCT finally takes you out of the tree line (so plan on 7-8 miles in the trees before any substantial views start). I hit patchy snow at 5300' and a short stretch of steady snow on the trail at 5600' that had me post-holing to my shins sporadically. No other recent boot prints in the snow.
Once above the tree line I scrambled cross-country directly up to Elk Pass on a mixture of rock and ice/snow. Rainier dominates, but there are also beautiful views into McCall Basin and the surrounding Goat Rocks Peaks. Also St Helens and Adams if you continue on. You could also get to Elk Pass by continuing to follow the PCT looping around to the north - I took this PCT route on the way back down though and it was very, very icy anywhere in the shade, often with injury-tempting runouts below. Ice axe and foot traction essential. In hindsight, I would've scrambled back down the way I came.
The PCT near Elk Pass is mostly melted out still, and a fun ridge run, until just below Point 7210 where a stretch of thicker ice over the trail turned me around for the day. There was also a little rock fall actively kicking loose in the afternoon sun above the trail here.
So a great hike right now if you're tolerant of a bunch of forest miles and are comfortable scrambling on snow/ice to earn your views.
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