After finishing the Pyramid Lake Trail I headed to Thunder Knob Trail to hike it the same day. This trail is about 4 miles round trip and also located along Highway 20 in the North Cascades of Washington State. The elevation gain is anywhere between 500 to a 1000 feet but probably less. This is hike 29 of 50 planned at age 50 this year for me. The beginning of this trail starts near Colonial Creek Campground on Diablo Lake. This trail goes through the camp area on the north side of the highway heading up hill gradually. Lots of water at the beginning of this trail but very little after about 1/4 mile so make sure you bring enough water especially in the summer as there is a lot of sun on this trail. Don't forget your hat to protect from the sun. There are lots of benches to rest on along this trail. Bring a lunch and soak up the views of Diablo Lake and the mountains at the other end. The forrest looks thick at first but opens up a lot after crossing over the log bridges and dry creek beds. This trail is very well maintained except for the part that goes through the dry creek bed which gets washed away late spring and early summer during the big melt off. Watch your directions when going through the dry creek bed or you could head the wrong direction. Just think left in the dry creek bed part of this trail. All and all a nice trail with some great views of Diablo Lake and the snow capped mountains. Check out videos of this hike and about 100 others I have done in Washington State on my youtube channel at lmm3181. Click on this safe but direct link to the video of this hike below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWf_UdI70aE Enjoy your hiking and being inspired by the beauty of Washington State. Take Care, Mike

Attempted to hike to Lake Ann, but even the trailhead/parking area was completely snowed in, so we headed to Thunder Knob instead. Trail was snow-free. A nice little walk to stretch the legs, but the views from the end of the trail were somewhat underwhelming. The trail is in good condition and makes for an easy jaunt. Roundtrip distance: 3.6 miles Roundtrip time: 2 hours

I chose this hike for an afternoon with my in-laws. They weren't sure about their hiking abilities and this proved to be a good trail choice. The trail was smooth with few branches or roots. The incline was pretty consistent and never too steep. The views at the top were a good payoff even though it was a cloudy day. It was a good confidence-building hike that will hopefully lead to more hikes with them. The hike description indicates this could be a wheelchair accessible trail, but I think you'd have a rough time getting a wheelchair up this trail. For a zoomable panorama of the view of Diablo Lake from the top of the hike, go to http://www.studio711.com/web/hdview/diablolake/

We have always found that Craig Romano's directions to TH'S and description of trails have been very accurate. However, this trail is not "all accessible" as he states in his book,"Day Hiking North Cascades". The trail is 3.8 miles round trip and gains 635 ft. Parking is outside the entrance to the North Section of Colonial Creek CG. There is a large sign with trail information. After walking the CG road and following trail signs you cross 2 log bridges with handrails. After a few feet of rocky trail which was the former creek bed, you enter a forest area which climbs gradually on a smooth trail with no roots to the top of Thunder Knob. At about 1 mile you arrive at the first view point with a bench for rest if needed. Here the trail becomes more open with mossy rocks and lodgepole pine. Near the trail's end is a short spur trail which takes you to an overlook of Diablo Lake. Colonial Peak can be seen from here, but was backlit making pictures difficult. The trail ends a few 100 feet from the spur trail and has a view of Jack Mountain. The North Cascade peaks were beautiful on this sunny and clear day. There were many people driving the HWY, but we saw no other hikers on the trail.

We headed up Friday to the North Cascades and two nights at Colonial Creek Camp Ground so we could do a couple of new hikes. After senting up camp we did an afternoon hike up to Thunder Knob. The trail is not in the guide books or on the GT Map 48. The trail starts on the north side of Highway 20 and goes through the now closed north section of Colonial Creek Campground that was washed out by the floods in October 2003 (the Park Service plans on reopenning the campground in 2007). The 2 mile trail switchbacks up a ridge between the highway and Thunder Arm. There are several view points along the way. About a 1/4 mile from the end of the trail it passes a small pond where we spotted a deer wading in the water. At the north end of the knob are some great views of Diablo Lake and the surrounding peaks. Well worth the short hike. Then it was back to camp for a great outdoor dinner.