Downey Creek — Wednesday, Jul. 26, 2000

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

I took a small group of middle school students on this trail with the intention of attempting the Bachelor Creek trail up to Cub Lake the next day. Well, we never even tried as the kids were burned out by the hike to Six Mile Camp. A NOLS group was camped on the north side of Bachelor Creek, so we stayed on the south side. I wouldn't have wanted to have the kids ford the creek with packs anyway. Although there is an easier log crossing to the west side of Downey, we never saw the Six Mile Camp. In the morning we followed a trail to the confluence of Downey and Goat Creeks, but didn't see a clear trail after that. There is very little elevation gain on the Downey Creek trail, but I think the trees took a toll on the group (we counted 36 obstacles on the way out). The trail is clear for the first two miles, and there is a lot of recent regrading work on that section of the trail. I have come to the realization that after a hike with overnight packs, kids don't want to go anywhere. Thank goodness we had a couple of really nice day hikes earlier in the week, including a surprise helicopter landing on Mt. Pilchuck on Monday. Snohomish Search and Rescue gave a lift to a fella (and his supplies) who had spent five days fixing up the lookout.