We did a quick overnight to Old Snowy! The road through Packwood was smoky but open and the forest service road to the TH was bumpy but passable for all vehicles. Not super buggy (and no mosquitos) and berries were at the end of their season. Fall colors are starting to emerge.
We planned on camping at Snowgrass Flats but wanted the views so we pushed on past the PCT junction. The forecast called for clear skies and little to no wind and it was 100% correct. We found an epic spot between the PCT junction and Old Snowy. We dropped our overnight gear and found water at the base of a melting glacier nearby. Water was relatively scarce after the junction and we were lucky to have enough of a snow melt to not have to melt snow to filter. There were two short and easy snow crossings from our campsite to Old Snowy. We cold see smoke from the Goat Rocks fire in the distance but we were not affected by the smoke. After scrambling to the summit, we climbed back down a bit to watch sunset and eat dinner. We hiked back to our site in the dark with headlamps and watched the stars put on an absolute show with the new moon. Sunrise was epic and we headed back down the following morning. Ran into a few thru-hikers but it was a relatively quiet trip (compared to how busy this trail can get). We could see at least a dozen tents set at Goat Lake and heard it was still busy.
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