Hiked up to Flapjacks Lake Thursday.  The trail is in good condition albeit long and the last 4 miles you gain almost 3,000 feet on somewhat rocky terrain.  The last 1/2 mile felt particularly steep but maybe that was because we were tired.  There's a sign at the lakes that is confusing and parts are inaccurate.  The group site on the east lake is much further to the NE than the map shows.  To access it, it's best to go counter clockwise (past the toilet) and cross a log jam.  If you go clockwise you have to wade through a stream.  There is another sign a little to the west of the one with the map that points further west to a toilet. It's not there.  The toilet is off to the right on an unmarked trail just before you reach the sign/map as you approach the lake.

Friday we hiked up to Gladys Divide.  My partner went all the way to the divide (5,000 ft).  I stopped at 4600 feet.  I had already crossed several sketchy snow bridges and after that it was solid snow to the top and not my idea of fun.   We returned to the lakes for lunch and a very quick dip, then headed down to the trailhead.  That made a 3,800 foot descent for me; quite a bit for a sexagenerian.

One other note:  we picked the Olympics because the weather forecast was 0% chance of rain for Thurs/Fri. There was thunder (no lightning) and rain both afternoons.

Last Sunday did a trail run to Flapjack Lakes and Black and White Lakes.  Trail in great shape to Flapjack, no snow on trail.  A little more rugged up to B&W Lake.  Intermittent snow last 1/2 mile to B&W Lake, not hard to cross, just had to check GPS every once in a while to make sure we were on track.  Still a good amount of ice and snow on the lake.  Did an out and back going back to Flapjack and then North Fork Skokomish trail.

Beautiful loop hike to Flapjack and then Black/White Lakes taking the primitive trail down. Bit of snow in the last 10 min of approach to Flapjacks. Watch the snow bridges, they're pretty thin at this point. Any snow that wasn't bridged was perfect! Just wore trail runners, micro-spikes would have been overkill. 

Connector trail to Black/White was snow-free until the very end. Used TrailForks app to navigate the last bit. Again, snow was perfect for walking on. Lots of grip and minimal sink. Even by 1 pm in full sun it never turned to mush. 

Primitive trail down was....shocker, a little overgrown but still easy to follow once out of the snow. Awesome loop!

This was a day trip to Flapjack Lakes. I suspected to encounter snow near the lakes, but had no information confirming that, but was prepared. the Blow down trees from last year are still there obstructing the trail, but can be managed. there are several new trees you will need to get around. No snow until you get within a 1/4 mile of the lakes. The trail from this point is totally snow covered, at least 3-4ft. This section of the trail provides a path for water runoff, but currently invisible to hikers Beware of thin snow in places as you ascend. It's possible to fall through as melting progresses, there was evidence of others who do so. I was able to use some snow bridges over downed trees and across, what my past Gains GPS tracks indicated was the trail. The snow is melting so be careful. About 50%of the lakes are covered with snow/soft ice as is the surrounding area.

Packed up after work Friday 5/12/23 got to the trailhead around 7:30pm and made the short hike into slide camp. Left slide camp early Saturday morning, it’s an easy uphill grade and only 2 miles to get to the junction with flapjacks. It starts out with some decent switchbacks but they only last 10-15 minutes and about 500 feet of elevation gain. From there it takes you along the ridge line for a couple miles and over the Madeline creek bridge before you start to climb decent elevation. Right around 2,800 feet we started to see patches of snow and at 3,000 feet it became consistent. For the next 150feet in elevation gain it was patchy snow fields that are melting fast and extremely hollowed out underneath. When you get to Donahue creek you completely lose the trail and the patches turn to one solid mountain of snow…. From there it’s important to have the right gear, gps and navigation skills. Finally we made it up to the junction between black and white lakes and flapjack, the sign was visible and that specific area had some good snow melt already (it was nice to walk on solid ground for a second). From that point the snow is 4-6 feet deep in places and again, the snow is melting fast… causing lots of unsafe snow bridges and hollowed out snow fields. We were safety able to make our way up and to the lakes. Had a snack then headed back to slide camp for the night.