I drove FR70 to its junction with FR7080 and parked. I road walked FR7080 to Pyramid Pass (PCT) and walked south. (I did this because I was suspect of FR7080 condition , but I don’t know that it was all that much worse than FR70, mostly). The PCT through here is wonderful and doesn’t have much elevation. Saw 7 elk in the morning. I find the burn areas on this segment to be both interesting and beautiful - some opinions may vary. 

I spent 8 days exploring Norse Peak Wilderness both on and off-trail 7/8 - 7/15.

This is long and fairly detailed. Please forgive me for not doing a shortened version!

8 days starting and finishing at Greenwater Lakes TH.

Day 1 - 2.57 mi. +529’ -86’ Greenwater Lakes 1176 Late afternoon at TH to Lost Creek camp. Trail and crossings are in fantastic condition and this is a very beautiful, well-traveled riverside trail.

Day 2,3 - 7.53 mi. +3406’ -483’ Lost Creek to Echo Lake via Greenwater Lakes Trail 1176 then south completely off-trail to Airplane Meadow approximately .7 mi. west of PCT. This was the most difficult day of travel I’ve ever had. The Greenwater Lakes Trail to the south side of Echo is great. After hooking around the south end of the lake I headed up what once was Arch Rock Trail 1187 which is comprised of various elk trails that come and go and are made of very soft sand, dirt and a considerable amount of ash through the burn areas. Travel was extremely slow climbing through the giant ashtray and oh it rained for about 36 hours. Weeeeee! The meadow is absolutely thriving with elk, birds, frogs, pollinators, many wildflowers of all colors and the water is incredibly refreshing at the source! Stayed 2 nights in this area with the second day spent mostly in my tent hanging out with the mosquitoes under my soaked rain fly recording birds. A huge bull elk came trotting by the tent after I startled it with human noise. I only heard (and felt) it then by the time I was able to peek out I only saw its big ole butt running up into the forest.

Day 4 - 8.13 mi. +1470’ -3142’ Another epic off-trail day. Airplane Meadow to PCT north to Raven Roost 951 where I shared some homemade cashew butter with a SOBO couple. I then trekked down the ridge to see the lakes below. Three Sombreros, Janet and the other Crescent Lakes are totally engulfed by severe burn and deadfall yet remain beautiful. Scratch camping there though. Turned back towards the PCT and headed south to Peak 6161 where I headed west where the old Tin Shack Tie Through 1165 trail was. Again, the elk are the trail engineers here. Very steep descent down the spine and dropping down into the massive Greenwater drainage. This area is stunningly beautiful with waterfalls, cascades and a thriving forest floor. Continued to traverse west climbing up and down, over and around, into and through more burn towards Hidden Lake. I approached from the north side of the lake and as I popped up over the crest there was a herd of 16 elk enjoying the sunny day in the shallow lake. I was absolutely dead at this point and had to immediately take over the lake. I popped out my camera and started walking towards the lake and the elk all ran through the sparkling water and bunched up then funneled into the forest on one of their main trails. This was an event that I will never forget! Stayed on the north side of the lake. An Osprey was hunting over the lake while two families of ducks and many other birds enjoyed the evening.

Day 5, 6 - 1.95 mi. +1170’ -30’ Hidden Lake southwest along the gorgeous Greenwater drainage. This untouched creek is quite special! Turning south and climbing up into what’s known as Engineer Meadow. Words cannot describe the scene when the meadow and Castle Mountain take over the landscape after cresting at the north end of the meadow. Every footstep in the meadow was placed in thick grass or on elk trails. The micro ecosystems here are sensitive but absolutely thriving. I was able to find a flat spot to pitch my tent on an elk-trampled area at the north end of the meadow. A few massive boulders start to dot the north end and are covered in various life such as lichens, succulents, wildflowers and of course a wide array of mosses. Honestly, everywhere I traveled on this trip was absolutely busting out with life in one way or another. I stayed 2 nights here exploring the area extensively. Again, the elusive elk were constantly moving through the forest bugling and knocking rocks and branches around. Both nights there were coyotes communicating and they were SO loud echoing off of Castle Mountain through the meadow. I was woken by them three times! Another unreal experience and glad I was able to record some audio. Woke up, did laundry with the frogs and tadpoles then headed out to see what sights and sounds were in store for the day.

Day 7 - 6.49 mi. +1265’ -1135’ Engineer Meadow north dropping down along the creek then traversing off-trail up through the burn glancing back at the pristine meadow perched perfectly with Castle Mountain on full display. Wow! I finally met up with Greenwater Lakes Trail 1176 at the top of the bluff and headed west then north through Corral Pass. This section of actual footpath is in pretty good shape. I was flicking trip hazards and removing small trees along the way. I did not explore the campground. Continuing on the road then hopping on Noble Knob Trail 1184 where Tahoma is just BAM… right there in front of you! Trail is in great condition with only a few soft spots on the edge with steep drop below. Had T-Mobile service along the ridge to junction with Deep Creek Trail 1196. Keep going north through junction with Dalles Ridge Trail 1173 then past Lost Lake Trail 1185 traversing then around the ridge dropping down to George Lake. The trail on my route was fantastic. This basin was receiving rolling clouds and eventually became socked in. I decided to camp here at this perfect lake. Heard elk moving through and more coyotes in the middle of the night. Awesome!

Day 8 - 9.39 mi. +702’ -3683’ The morning sunshine scene at George Lake was a masterpiece. I stuffed camp in my pack and took the same George Lake Trail back to the top of the ridge then onto the trail along the ridge to Noble Knob. I had cell service in this area. There is an absolute abundance of flowers, succulents and other mountainside goodies along this trail and then continuing down the south side of the peak to head east on the Lost Lake Trail 1185. I had planned and packed for 11 days but my body said it’s time to go home. I prepared myself for the massive descent back to Greenwater Lakes TH. The trails down were clear and I was able to fly. I stopped and filtered water at Lost Lake while the Violet-green Swallows were showing off their moves feasting on insects. Went on down and stopped at Quinn Lake. Watched the ducks swim in this emerald jewel! The remainder of the hike was spent enjoying open trail and the hard work trail workers put in building steps, bridges, log crossings etc etc etc. Thank you for making this amazing journey possible!

This trip was a major physical challenge off-trail through the burned, cluttered forest but the payoff was wayyy beyond worth it! It was a true spiritual experience. I enjoyed each camp alone and only encountered a few people along the way. If you made it this far, thanks for coming along!

Birds heard and/or observed:
Great Blue Heron in the river on the road to TH
Osprey
Hermit Thrush
Varied Thrush
Dark-eyed Junco
American Robin
Common Raven
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Spotted Sandpiper
Brown Creeper
Western Wood-Pewee
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Townsend’s Warbler
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Steller’s Jay
Canada Jay
Cassin’s Finch (possibly heard)
Chipping Sparrow
Mountain Bluebird
Pine Siskin
White-crowned Sparrow
Yellow Warbler (possibly heard)
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Rufous Hummingbird
Wilson’s Warbler (possibly heard)
Northern Flicker
Clark’s Nutcracker (observed cracking nuts!)
American Goshawk
Fox Sparrow (possibly heard)
Violet-green Swallow
and last on the list is the only Bald Eagle I saw. It was hunting, successfully, along the ridge above George Lake.
There are definitely more species out there that I heard but could not identify. There were at least 4 different Warblers, for instance, as well as various Finches and what I thought was a Vireo of some kind. Oh and I’m pretty sure I spotted a flying Evening Grosbeak. They were all simply perfect!

Other wildlife seen or heard:
Elk - either Roosevelt or a hybrid species. They were huge!
American Pika
Townsend’s Chipmunk
All the squirrels
Coyotes (heard at night)
Lots of evidence of many different burrowing species like gophers, moles, voles and others
3 different unknown frog species and a gazillion tadpoles

I really enjoyed this hike. The first half is in the forest, but the second half is in the remains of the Norse Peak fire, so is pretty exposed to the sun and got hot when there was no wind.

The road up is in really nice condition until you get to the sign pointing you to the horse camp, after which the road gets very rocky. I made it up in my Prius, and didn't have any issues, just be careful and slow. Additionally, the Google map directions to the coordinates are not accurate, and you should follow the directions provided (basically, don't turn off the main road).

The parking lot and access trail from the camp were both pretty buggy, but once I got started on the PCT the mosquitos mostly disappeared.

As for Arch Rock itself, I completely missed any signage and ended up hiking past a turn off for the Raven's Roost Trail. So if you see that, you've gone too far. On the way back I looked for any boot trail or writing up to the rock but didn't see anything.

Once you get into the burnt out section, the views are pretty incredible. It was a little hazy when I hiked, but you could still see the Cascades to the North and occasional views of Mount Rainier.

Starting from the County Creek Trailhead in the upper Little Naches drainage, hiked a quarter mile up dirt bike Trail 945, then three miles up the hiker-only Trail 945A to the PCT at Louisiana Saddle, then followed the PCT south to Arch Rock. Arch Rock is spectacular in spite of the moonscape. The last trip report for Trail 945A was submitted over 20 years ago, so thought an update was needed.  The first half mile of 945A has been recently cleared.  However, the remainder of the trail was very hard to follow due to the numerous blowdowns, some very difficult to get around or through.  This would be a good trail for accessing the PCT and Arch Rock if it were not for the lack of trail maintenance.   The trailhead access road is in excellent condition and there is plenty of parking.

Traveled this section on a long day hike from Tacoma Pass to Norse Peak trailhead. Trail is in generally great shape, but there are a number of blowdowns between Government Meadow and Arch Rock. The Arch Rock area looks a lot different than the last time I saw it as the area was burned out by one of the fires in this part of the state. Beautiful, and more open views.