Scouted conditions for this popular trail in preparation for leading a Mountaineers hike for newcomers next weekend. Trail is still 70% covered with snow. A friend and I started out clockwise from the Chinook Pass parking area and footbridge over SR-410, but quickly found too much rotten snow on steep slopes, lots of snow bridges over running melt-water, post-holing opportunities, etc. to be suitable for beginning hikers. We turned back and tried the ""reverse route,"" starting counter-clockwise from near the signed trailhead across SR-410 from the Tipsoo Lake parking area. Aside from some wet snow at the beginning of this approach, the trail is mostly clear of snow to the spot with views to Dewey Lake (if there had been a view, that is...). Wasn't a good day for views; everything from rain to freezing rain to wet, heavy snow. However, avalanche and glacier lilies were out, and first signs of Indian paintbrush and lupine. Lots of sign of large elk (tracks in mud and snow), several rather large grouse(?) making lots of noise, and, can't swear to this, but what looked like might be cougar prints in the snow (fairly large, non-dog-like prints; no signs of snacking on hikers). We actually completed the route counter-clockwise, but because of the post-holing and snowbridge dangers, especially near slopes with poor runouts, this is not recommended unless you're comfortable with snow travel and skilled with ice-axe arrest techniques. Should be much better after another month or so of melt-out. Recommendation: do the route counter-clockwise until you hit snowfields, then turn around and go back the way you came.

Beautiful afternoon for a hike around the Loop. Lots of others had the same idea too. An ever so lightly dusting of snow on the ground as we hiked on the William O. Douglas part of the trail but none on the side that is the Mt. Rainier Boundary. Saw some ducks in one of the little lakes. A hawk positioned in a tree waiting for its next meal. But to our surprise......no deer. Well it is hunting season.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2004 – NACHES PEAK LOOP / PCT CHINOOK PASS SOUTH With the weather still holding strong with bright clear sunny sky in the mountains I had to get another chance for fall photography up high. Needing to be home no later than 3:00PM I had to do something close or something short. I opted for the wonderful loop trail around Naches Peak just south of Chinook Pass. The arrival of sunrise came with the first stomping steps I took on the PCT heading south from Chinook Pass. Frozen steps too---the mud was frozen solid in the below freezing temperatures! Seems just before the later easterly offshore winds kicked up I was seeing 29 degrees out at 6:30AM. No bugs! The first two hours of sunlight were so beautiful---even the first four hours were as many areas on slopes here and there had such a stunning angle of light and fall color! It took me two hours to hike to the first tarn along the PCT…so that’s maybe ¾ mile? In all, after hiking a pretty hard 16 mile hike in 10 hours of photography on Tuesday…well this hard day saw me doing 3+ miles…in five hours! A great photographer’s pace if I can say so myself! Five hours and three miles later I returned past Tipsoo Lake and back to Chinook Pass and the trailhead. Nearly 330 images, 1.2GB of CF card space used. And I was heading home shortly before noon…home by 1:40pm with time to spare. Clarks Nutcrackers were enjoying the early morning light. A mother bear and small cub were seen down far below me in the Pleasant Valley just before sunrise. I treasured around two minutes of viewing them through binoculars and then they slowly worked their way into the woods along the river. Otherwise it was simply a very peaceful and quiet morning…only three guys passed me just after I started, then I saw no one all the rest of the time on this busy trail. Not even by Tispoo Lake on Hwy 410. Void of people but for me. Alan L. Bauer 10/01

Naches Peak Loop and Dewey Lakes Hike, Aug. 20, 2004 I completed this hike with two other women and our toddlers. We left the parking lot at Chinook Pass an hour later than we had planned to, at 11:30 in the morning. We crossed the highway and hiked to the southeast along the Pacific Crest Trail, until we reached a pretty little tarn, where we stopped for lunch since the kids were hungry. We let them wade in the water, and it was obviously a well-known spot, since several other families appeared with swimsuits and lunches while we were there. We spent about an hour there before cleaning the kids off and setting out to tackle the rest of the way up to the saddle of the ridge, where there was a great view down to Dewey Lakes. They are so beautiful nestled down there in the trees! We took a few photos (the kids were falling asleep in the packs by then), and wound our way down the mountain to the lakes. I am guessing it took us about an hour to get from the first tarn to the lakes. We decided to stop at the smaller lake, and found a spot with some shore access to rest and let the kids wade again. The smaller lake has a squishy bottom that is firm underneath; just enough squishyness to ooze out between your toes. Our most water-loving child didn’t want anything to do with that, but the other two kids who had water shoes didn’t mind. The water was cool but not cold. One of my friends brought a swimsuit along, so we took turns swimming in the lake. There were a group of guys near us and they took a dip, too; one of them went au naturel. Thankfully we were far enough away we couldn’t see any details! It seemed like we stayed there for quite awhile and in fact it was 5:00 when we finally were packed up and ready to slog up the mountain. The weather was beginning to change; it was cooling off and clouds were starting to build. It also got pretty breezy. It seemed like forever to get back up the mountain. The trail had a few rocky spots, but is actually graded pretty nicely. I was feeling totally sapped all day, though, and was fighting a really bad attitude most of the time. My attitude only got worse as I developed a blister, was totally left in the dust by my friends, my son was whining, and best of all, his diaper failed and it dripped on the pack, and down the back of my legs. At least it was a great time to practice being mentally tough!!! At the junction to the Naches Peak trail, we took a left toward Tipsoo Lakes and beautiful meadows. This is where the best views of Mt. Rainier were. The lighting was wrong by then, though. If you want good pictures, go in the morning and do Dewey Lakes later. Doing the loop clockwise, as we did, is the preferred method for views of The Mountain. The kids were getting really grumpy by then, as were some of the adults. We didn’t get back to the parking lot until 7 pm. This is a really long hike to take a toddler on; I think the mileage in my guidebook underestimated the reality, and we didn’t calculate all the altitude gains correctly. In short, we were beat at the end of this hike. However, if you are not carrying as much weight as we were, this would be a great loop. The flowers are still in season, though it looks like many are done. Some of the more interesting ones we saw were: a blue campanula in the upper meadows, some pink monkeyflowers on the first part of the trail, a few red and orange Indian paintbrushes, an interesting figwort type that was white with purple blotches, beautiful blue gentians at Dewey Lakes, partridgefoot, electric blue delphiniums between Tipsoo Lakes and the parking lot, and some very cool anemone seedheads. A few notes about this hike: Most of it is exposed, so a hat and sunscreen are helpful. Also, the kids got cold after the sun moved lower in the sky. Not all of my friends were prepared to hike at this higher elevation. We had one route-finding challenge at Tipsoo Lakes, probably because were were tired and not thinking clearly. The trail back to the upper parking lots goes up the hillside; you can see it from the lakes. From there you can follow the path above the highway and back down to the cars. It is not marked. It took me 2 ½ hours to drive there from Lynnwood, via 405 and 169 to 410. We made one brief stop on the way there at the Ranger Station in Enumclaw (they have really nice restrooms). The ranger told me that if you park at Tipsoo Lakes you do not need a NW Forest Pass. There are picnic tables at Tipsoo. And finally, be prepared with plenty of gas. My friend almost ran out on the way up because she was running late and didn’t realize how remote the trailhead was. The first photo is of the little tarn we had lunch at and the second is looking down on Dewey Lakes.

Hot = easy hike for DAR, SIE and my visiting brother. Can't get much easier, with great views and flowers, than Naches Peak. Flowers were pretty, though I've seen it better. There were still some sorry looking avalanche lilies on the east side where the snow always lingers (of course, none now), along with white and pink heather and lupine. Bugs weren't bad. With our early start, we were back at the car by 10:30 or so, so headed off to Sunrise and another report to follow.