American Ridge, Cougar Lakes — Friday, Aug. 19, 2005

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

Left Olympia at 9:00 AM with beautiful weather and a great forecast for the rest of the weekend. Arrived at Chinook Pass around 11:15 AM, was on the trail by 11:30 AM, headed south on the PCT. Encountered many day hikers on the Naches Loop portion of the trail. The dry conditions combined with the volcanic pumice soil resulted in a very dusty trail! Dropped down to Dewey Lakes where we had lunch in some shade along the west shore of the large lake. Lots of people around but not nearly as crowded as the first mile on the loop. From Dewey Lakes, we followed the PCT south and uphill to Anderson Lake where we entered into Mt Rainier NP for a few miles. Anderson Lake is a small but pretty lake right on the PCT but the southwest facing aspect of the draw the lake is in prevents one from viewing Mt Rainier from the lake. Proceeded south on the PCT with views of Mt Rainier to the west getting better the further south we got. Arrived at the American Ridge trail junction about 3:30 PM and turned east, leaving the PCT behind. Arrived at American Lake in about ½ mile, stopped briefly to check it out and snap a picture or two. There were some people at the lake including some horse campers. Proceeded east on the American Ridge trail to the junction with Cougar Lakes trail, turned onto the Cougar Lakes trail and followed it for about 1 ½ miles to Cougar Lakes. Lots of horse use of this portion of the trail and the tread shows it. The last ½ mile is a steep descent down to the lakes. We bypassed the smaller of the Cougar Lakes hoping to camp along the strip of land separating the two lakes, as Dan had some twenty years ago the first time he was here. However, the USFS has closed all of the those site for rehabilitation so we proceeded to the upper end of the larger lake where we found a campsite near the lake inlet stream. The campsite was up in the forest right above a meadow on the lakeshore. The inlet had formed a nice delta with a significant beach from all of the silt deposited over hundreds of years. We setup camp, pumped water, and washed our dusty legs off in the lake. Adam threw some sticks in the water for Joey to retrieve. We had freeze-dried BBQ Beef with Mashed Potatoes for dinner but I added too much water to the mashed potatoes so we ended up having potato soup instead. After dinner, the mosquitos were thick enough and we were tired enough that we retreated to the tent for some reading and iPod-listening. And then we slept the sleep of the just with Joey curled up between us. On Sunday morning, we got up and moved the kitchen down to the beach where the mosquitoes were not so bad. Ate a leisurely breakfast as the sun climbed into the sky. Packed up camp and headed back the way we came. Saw some elk near American Lake. Stopped at Anderson Lake to pump water. Encountered a NP ranger there but she did not say anything about Joey being off leash even after he growled at her when she first came around the corner on the trail. Stopped at Dewey Lakes for lunch again. Lots of people around but fairy well spread out. We got pretty hot on the climb from the lakes up to the Naches Peak Loop trail. Joey especially was hot, stopping at every opportunity to drop to some moist ground in the shade, panting heavily. We found some water for him along the trail and he was better after that. Hordes of day hikers on the loop trail. Were back at the car about 2:00 PM, packed up and headed back for Olympia, stopping in Greenwater for some cold drinks.