Arrived at the trailhead at 8:30 am and easily found a parking spot. Was a bit confused on the way there because the WTA coordinates for Cashmere Mountain are in the middle of the road, when it actually starts at the Eightmile Lake trailhead. We didn't end up summiting Cashmere Mountain because we started too late and ran out of time, but it was still a gorgeous hike!
Trailhead to Little Eightmile Lake: This portion was uneventful save for a few easy stream crossings with slippery rocks. There is beautiful fall foliage, ripe thimbleberries, and plenty of wildflowers still blooming.
Little Eightmile Lake to Lake Caroline: The trail becomes more steep, dusty and exposed in this section. It's overgrown in sections and felt more bushwhack-y than I would like. Once you cross the ridge line and start descending to the lake it's instantly cooler. Crossing the ridge you are immediately in a lush shaded forest. We filtered water at the lake.
Lake Caroline to Windy Pass: This section transitioned from forest to meadow to rock tundra. The meadows are surprising lush and green with beautiful fall colors. There is one nice stream crossing the trail before Windy pass that's your last water source leading up to Cashmere Mountain. We filtered water again here.
Windy Pass and ridge: Windy Pass was gorgeous, with views of Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Sloan Peak, Colchuck Lake & Peak, Dragontail Peak, and much more. The views don't stop from here on out. We traversed the ridge headed east towards Cashmere Mountain, following a climber's trail. This part was rocky and we started hitting some steep scrambly bits with loose scree. We hit our turnaround time right before reaching the saddle and decided to head back, vowing to come back to get the summit by starting our day a bit earlier.
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