The entrance to Staircase is currently closed. 

Trail was in great shape with minor windfall to navigate. No snow to Flapjack and good selection of spots including hammock camping. Mosquitos out in force mornings and evenings. People with head nets were unbothered. 

Day 2 was a day hike up to Gladys Divide. This is a must-do if you have the time. The payoff coming over the divide and looking down on the next lake is spectacular. 4-5 small snow fields to cross to the divide with no post holing (all of us just in trail runners with poles.

Made an attempt to get to the top of Mt Gladys. It’s much steeper here and microspikes would have been helpful. Ran out of time and turned around at the halfway point.

Trail was empty coming back. Found a note on our car that the area was being evacuated due to fire. Drove just past the pay station and had some firemen escort us for about a mile past the hillside where the Bear Gulch fire was burning. What a way to end it. 

As what's becoming the norm for me, starting with the found: July 2, I found an item of value in the middle of the Gladys Divide trail that afternoon around 5pm when I did a day hike up to the Divide and across three snow fields. Reach out to describe and possibly connect for return.

The lost: July 3, I left behind a 60 cm yellow rock climbing Dyneema sling I'd hammocked from at the campsite beside the melt stream off the Gladys Divide flowing into Flapjack Lakes.

Note to self for next time: It would be good to research how you know if you've actually reached the end of the Gladys Divide trail. It is beautiful, but too easy to find yourself ill-prepared in the snow fields, and lured by what's over the next hill, or around the next bend.  The hike to the lakes itself is quite vigorous, worth the memory-making experience, and the bugs made me glad I stayed one night only.

I followed the advice of a ranger to save my knees and avoid the trail up to Black and White Lakes and then a steep arrow down  to the North Fork trail near Big Log. Instead, per the ranger's advice, I back tracked to Spike Camp. I got a peek at part the ranger was recommending against, and I spoke to others who had also undergone the shorter bushwhack climb: shorter is not always easier.

Much better conditions along the river for peaceful time away from holiday fireworks noise at Nine Stream. In the morning, I found shortly after a neighbor and his party continued their way up to First Divide, that the hammocker in the party had left his Atlas strap attached to the tree he'd hung from. I left his name on it. I wonder if the owner ever  got his strap on the way back down.

I was ill-prepared for food, so I cut my hike short and made it out the night before the fire closed the Staircase entrance.

Made it to Glady's Divide today.  A lot easier than other reports make it seem.  8:20 minutes total time including breaks, 19.1 miles traveled(lots of extra playing in the snow at Glady's divide).

Skok trail is well described elsewhere.  Flapjacks trail is mostly good, several blowdowns that are very easily navigated around.  You want to get water at the waterfall near the beginning of the trail, and drink your fill or pack some extra(especially if its a hot day like today), because there isn't much else for quite a while.

The lake is awesome, bugs weren't too bad, no snow, and there are lots of campsites and they are nice, I was surprised.  Many back country camps don't have very many spots, this one was great.  I passed 5 groups coming down and 1 solo and there was still 1 group and a solo set up(that I saw).

Trail to the divide was nice and simple, then eventually it was all snow up to the top.  I did it with no spikes/crampons and no poles, with ease.  There are dangerous places that the snow is melted out underneath, mostly close to the rocks that are sticking out... so you know, I went around them.

I would rate this hike 3 out of 5 for difficulty, 5 out of 5 for mountain and lake views.  Really fun overall.  I do want to say that I find difficulty ratings to not be so reliable, as difficulty is subjective.  I'm 6'3" and mostly legs, so my rating is from that perspective, keep in mind.

Have fun out there!

The road to the trailhead is wide and well maintained. There is a long gravel section and no major potholes. 

There are two bathrooms at the trailhead with toilet paper. 

The trail starts flat and runs along the North Fork Skokomish River. The scenery is gorgeous, and salmonberries are beginning to ripen. This is wide and well maintained. After 3.7ish miles the trail junction to the right heads uphill to Flapjack Lakes. Unfortunately this is narrower and less well maintained. There are multiple blow downs that we had to climb up or crawl under. There is one spot to filter water near the end of the initial switchbacks (approx close to 47.54623, -123.37254 -- the trail curves left facing uphill, and if you take a right instead you will see a large sitting log and the water source). Surprisingly there aren't many other places to filter water heading uphill towards the lakes. There is a large waterfall at one point, but to approach it involved a steep downhill climb off trail, which looked too dangerous. Avalanche lilies are in bloom and most abundant at higher elevations right before the lakes. We also saw purple trillium. 

There are multiple campsites around the lake. There are two privies with signs requesting poop only. There is a bear wire at the entrance to the campsites. The campsite map was difficult to read (and not to scale), and we could not find the bear wire that was closer to our camp, so we used the one at the entrance instead. Walking clockwise around the lake, the last campsite (approx 10 o'clock position on the map) was blocked by a very large blowdown that we did not feel comfortable climbing over with full packs. 

After setting up camp we headed up towards Gladys Divide. While there was no snow on the trail up to Flapjack Lakes, there were patches of snow on the trail up to Gladys Divide. Ultimately we stopped around 4580' elevation due to conditions. (There were steep slopes we didn't want to slide off of, and another hiker we preciously passed told us she post-holed and also turned around since she did not bring snowshoes). Even though we didn't make it to Gladys Divide, the views of the Sawtooths were stunning. If warm weather comes, Gladys Divide will likely be accessible in the coming weeks and a goal for a future trip. 

Trails were in excellent shape. On the Flapjack Lakes section, regular treefall but nothing insurmountable or sketchy. And overall a beautiful hike, but I wish I'd saved it for later in the season as the grade was really too steep. Don't let that stop you! But this was only my second backpacking trip of the year and it would have been more enjoyable had I waited a while.

We camped at Spike Camp the first night. Small camp right on the North Fork Skokomish with bear wire and a spanking new privy. Many a woodpecker and sapsucker flit around as we enjoyed some mysterious thrumming from the forest beyond. We suspect this was an owl living in one of the trees on the section of the Flapjack Lakes trail above camp. We had camp to ourselves otherwise. We did make a pitstop at Slide Camp on the way up and if you want a more scenic camp that puts you right on the river, it's a lovely one, though unsure about bear wire or privies there. EDITED TO ADD: On Sunday evening, at Spike Camp, we, too, found a fire that had not been completely put out. Hard not to wonder if the same parties failed to do so a couple days later at Camp Pleasant per this recent report: https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report-2025-06-17.200811110362

Monday was the noted slog up to Flapjack Lakes. Salal, huckleberry, and thimbleberry in bloom or forming fruits abounded on the way up. No snow on the trail but visible pockets on a few slopes and gullies as we ascended. Trail itself was dry. A previous trip report mentioned many mini-waterfalls past Madeline Creek but we did not see them on our outing. We passed a few backpackers headed home on our way up and a handful of dayhikers, most of whom turned around near Donohue Creek. Once at camp, only three other sets of campers, spread out around the lake, and we tucked in to site above the lake closest to Mt. Gladys. 

A few practical notes: signs in the (newly built) privies asking that campers poop only, and cleverly built to prevent men, at least, from doing so. The isthmus: GAIA makes it look like there might be a way to cross, but the creek/waterfall separating the two lakes prevents that. You'll need to hike counterclockwise around the lake on the right to reach additional campsites and the group site. Mosquitos were mildly annoying Monday night but perhaps the cooler Tuesday temperatures rendered them almost absent. 

We remained in camp on Tuesday and after moving to a slightly nicer campsite that was vacated that morning, my hiking companion checked out Gladys Divide. He expected snow on the trail up to the summit but was only able to hike about halfway along the divide as snow remains, including what he described as a narrow, icy looking section that he did not want to risk crossing. 

More sapsuckers and woodpeckers were seen and heard, as well as a solo bald eagle and later a solo osprey making brief patrols over the lakes. Rain overnight on Tuesday thankfully finished up by morning. I think trekking poles are always a necessity for the grades here, and was especially glad to have them for the trip down. 

Despite the popularity of Staircase (and the lack of parking - we could find no space and the ranger told my hiking companion to just park where ever he could find space that didn't block anyone else) there is no transit service to this area and at present the closest bus stop is miles away near the Lake Cushman Maintenance co along the main road, and its shoulders too narrow or non-existent to try closing those miles via bicycle. A girl can and will dream.