We hoped to be able to hike to the end of the Scatter Creek trail, through the pass, and either hit Harding Mt or connect through the valley to the North Scatter Creek Trail to make a loop. Unfortunately we couldn't find the trail going up to the pass, and worried by bears we returned the same way.
FS Rd 4330 isn't too evil. With careful driving any normal car could make it to Scatter Creek. The ford will need high clearance.
The trail starts off fairly steeply but then flattens out with lots & lots of wildflowers. Even saw some Calypso Orchids. It crosses the creek 3, maybe 4 times? The creek is running high but each crossing can be done fairly easily by scouting for a good location. Just watch out for the slippery rocks. The meadows become bigger and bigger as you get up towards the head of the valley. The trail can be hard to find in the meadows, but it is marked with enough blazes/surveyor's tape/cairns that you'll see it with some studying.
We saw fresh bear scat by the trail in a couple of places, so we made sure to be noisy. Sure enough, we rounded a corner about 0.5mi from the end and about 50m away was a bear. He ambled slowly into the brush, and after about 10 minutes wait we decided to go on. That sighting helped influence our decision to not go off trail over towards Harding Mt.
At the head of the valley we saw final cairns, but no amount of scouting showed us the trail up to the pass. We scrambled up rocks at the head of the valley, found a good place for lunch, and decided to turn back. A pity we couldn't make it up a bit higher to get the view.
All in all a great hike. Saw no one. Plenty of wildflowers, bugs were of the annoying but not bloodsucking variety, trail is pretty easy walking but plenty of blowdowns in the forest, and very wet in the meadows.
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