My friend and I went out for a one-nighter at McAllister hiker camp, up Thunder Creek Trail. The trail itself is beautiful, undulating among old growth cedar and douglas fir, with the creek always audible if not visible. No big obstacles to overcome, other than some wildfire smoke that settled in the valley. The trail is forested most of the way, so we never needed our hats; I rarely used my sunglasses. 

Our Gaia recordings clocked McAllister Camp about 6.4mi from the Thunder Creek trailhead, with about 900 ft ascent and 140 ft descent.

• The hiker camp is well marked by guideposts and beautifully constructed. It has two big cook areas with nice logs to sit on or use for tables.
• We chose the 'left' cook area, and discovered 4 perfect tent sites nestled into the trees beyond the cook area. They're only big enough for one 3-4 person tent or 2 singles, but they're very level and nicely spaced apart for privacy.
• Along the path that divides the two camp areas, there is a bear wire to hang food, but there are also plenty of trees if you're opting for an Ursak.
• At the end of that path, there is a lovely little privy
• The water source is a creek that you pass on the way in (but not terribly far from camp). 

We only shared the camp space with one other party of 2. Due to the spacious layout, we had plenty of privacy and peace within our area. 

4 day back pack from colonial creek to Stehekin high bridge.  Trail crew had just finished work on the trail and it was in excellent shape. Very few blowdowns or brushy sections.  Incredible huckleberry crop everywhere!  Very quiet until we got to the PCT.  Small creeks are dried up,  but still plenty of water.  Lightning storm started a couple new fires in the area while we were out.  All campsites require a permit through recreation.gov

Hiked Thunder Creek and stayed for 2 nights at McAllister backcountry camp! Friday night 5 of the 8 sites were occupied, but I was the only backpacker on Saturday night. The group sites are very close by, so I could hear the family that was staying there. The hike in to McAllister is not challenging and follows along the river, not really any views to see coming in. McAllister camp doesn't offer many views either, just some glimpses of mountain tops. I did have a doe and her 2 fawns walk right along my tent 2 times which was cool to see her up close. I did a day hike up to Junction camp on Saturday and the views of glaciers is 100% worth the elevation gain, if you are physically able to carry all your gear up there I'd recommend that as your campsite for sure. I did see a mother black bear and her 2 cups maybe 100 feet off the trail between McAllister & Tricouni camps, but never any signs that they wandered closer. Trails were in great shape, camps were super well maintained. North Cascades is beautiful and there's plenty of solitude to be found! Across my 3 days and 2 nights, I passed maybe 30 other people - take your time to enjoy the nature you can find here!

First things first: Cougar update. The last trip report for this hike featured a picture of a healthy cougar doing a walkabout along the trail. Try as I might, I could find no updates after this late June report, so figured the cat had meandered away. We ran into a (very nice) park staff person in the lot who had the scoop: the cougar and her two kits (!) have not been spotted in the past "week or two," and they have been checking. A biologist has been making regular trips up the trail, as have park staff, and haven't seen the family. He assured me we were "probably safe," but that if I did run into a cougar, an effective way to scare them off is to unfold/open up a rain jacket and give it a good shake. Freaks 'em out and they trot off. Apparently. Being a snack-sized morsel myself (size of a twelve year-old, with wrinkles), I placed my raincoat in an accessible place. Anyway, we didn't see the cats. Also, the park guy said there's been a MOOSE wandering the trail! He said it's fun to check the sandy banks along the creek (river) for animal tracks, which sounds like a great thing to do, actually. On to today's trip:

We hiked from the TH at Colonial Creek campground to about a mile below McAllister Camp--RT about 10 miles. The hike is a gentle ascent through lovely old growth, mixed forest. It parallels Thunder Creek (more like a river) for the first couple miles, then heads into deeper woods for another couple miles, before turning back along the river. We would've hiked to McAllister, except it was 90 degrees out, and we were getting  pretty warm. The spot we stopped in is a sort of turn-out that is almost parallel with the river and shady. We sat right by the riverside, at a place where it's particularly roiling--NOT a wading place! (There is a GREAT  wading place within the first two miles of the hike). Upshot: a mellow, shady hike in a pretty forest, with some choice river views. Beautiful aqua colors. Well-stocked and clean restrooms at the TH, big parking lot, no pass necessary. Happy hiking, folks!

Trail and Camp Closure: Thunder Creek Trail is closed from the trailhead to the junction with Fourth of July Trail, including Thunder and Thunder Group camps, until further notice due to cougar activity in the area.