The North Cascades highway is open past this TH. Trail is big and wide, well marked. Fine forest and great views from this 3+ mile RT trail. Took about 1 hour 15. No snow or other hikers. Combine this short hike with another in the area. Drive took about 2.5 hours each way from Seattle. TH is at Colonial Creek campground on north side of highway.

What a nice little hike to a pair of benches that look out at Sourdough Mountain! My goal was to visit some of the work that WTA Youth had done this summer as they camped for the week at Thunder Creek - and to hike a trail that was new to me. The only difficulty on this hike is the beginning. The creek has changed course and the two bridges are now located such that they are little help. I simply stayed right of the bridges and stream and was able to keep my feet dry. Then the trail meanders through a brilliant green moist rainforest that reminded me of more of being in the heart of the Hoh surrounded by trees - rather than in the North Cascades. There are excellent views of Ruby Mountain, a great location for a possible trail in the future! I was at the top of the knob within an hour and enjoyed the view down onto the lake before retracing my steps. The entire walk took a little over two hours. (and the WTA work was great!)

This was a nice fall day to escape the fog of Seattle, see some color on the drive up and take in some beautiful mountain scenery without much hiking effort. The guide information is very descriptive but I was disappointed in the color of the lake. Apparently in the fall, that beautiful green color we see in all the photos changes to a more normal looking mountain lake color. It is still a great spot with some spectacular mountain views all around. As you would expect this time of the year the trail was uncrowded, even on a Saturday; 5 hikers and 3 runners besides ourselves. Hi to Karen, nice meeting you. One minor item at the start of the trail, the first log bridge is not necessary to cross and is not recommended. Veer to the left of that bridge, cross the stream on a small log and take the second bridge. Of course this is the fall of 2013. By next spring the creek might have changed the path again.

Nice weekend to go camping so we headed up to Colonial Creek Campground along Diablo Lake just off Highway 20 in The North Cascades. We got the one of the last two camp sites available at 4:00pm. This place fills up every weekend between Memorial and Labor Day and it is first come first serve. One of the best campsite off Highway 20. Next morning I headed across the Highway 20 to hike the Thunder Knob Trail that has some great views of Diablo Lake. The trail 3.6 miles roundtrip with a gain of only 635 feet. It starts off right through the middle of the camping area on the north side of the highway but quickly crosses several creeks before getting into a bunch of switchbacks. It is not that steep but lots of sun along this trail and little to no water so bring sunscreen and all the water you can handle. No bugs along the trail but lots of people hiking from the campground so you will not be alone for very long. A lot of the trees have no branches the first 30 to 40 feet up the trees so the sun shine directly on you. You can see videos of this hike or over 300 other hikes I have done in Washington on my youtube channel at "lmm3181". As always get and see this beautiful state and enjoy your hiking. Take Care, Mike

I hiked with my wife and friends pretty decent. it took about 2 hrs round trip, at the top the lake diablo looks very beautiful and the pyramid mountain looks spectacular and waited for sunset and was beautiful.