Lot of Flowers, certainly in excess of 50 species.  Started from the B Parking Lot at Crystal Mountain.  Eventually found my way to the trail to Bullion Basin.  The trail is dusty, but there are still many flowers in bloom, including some nice Columbia Lilies.  At Bullion Basin I took the first spur leaving the trail.  This does ascend to the PCT but eventually it becomes very steep and has loose rocks.  Once on the PCT the going was uphill but spectacular with great views of Mt. Rainier and a cool Pacific breeze blowing on me.  The view of the fire impact on North Fork Union Creek was impressive.  While some of the basin did burn, Basin Lake is still ringed by living forest.  I got to Big Crow Basin quite easily and set up camp near the old shelter.  The shelter is still standing though the roof is no longer functional.  It has examples of interesting backcountry construction techniques, it is also about 100 years old so don't count on it to remain standing.  The next morning I headed out towards Arch Rock to the impacts of the fires last year for myself.  I found that non forested areas did not seem to be impacted by the fires except that in some meadows logs which had laid there for years were completely burned to ashes with plants right next to the log seemingly unaffected by the heat.  There are trees across the trail from time to time,  some can be stepped over or on but others need to be walked around.  The extent of the fires is amazing.  Thousands of acres with 100% trees killed,  small islands of living trees are rare.  There is a lovely meadow at Martinson Gap and the forest here appear unaffected.  But in the meadow to the west of the rock one can see were several logs had been laying and they completely burned.  Beyond the gap the map shows a switchback and from here I got my first view of the upper Greenwater River area (including Corral Pass)  Thousands and thousands of acres with tree mortality at 100%, no suvivors,  there were some island with trees that still had there brown needles on them, but those trees were still dead even though the fire did not even burn the needles.  I also first noticed Thompson's Paintbrush,  (On my way back I noticed colonies above Big Crow Basin, where the PCT enters the drainage of Silver Creek and Directly East of the Bullion Basin.)  Beyond point 6373 there is a half a mile to a full mile of trail in unburned forest.  Past Airplane Meadows the top of the ridge is mostly burned all the way to  Arch Rock.  The ridge top near Arch rock contains some living forest of small trees.  The area covered by a burned tree is usually plant free.  Probably because on smaller plants grew there before the fire.  Lupine is definately the most common and robust returner in these areas and I think huckleberry is starting to come up, though the sprouts were less than 4" tall.  Fireweed was quite rare along the trail visible from less than 1-2% of the length of the trail.  I expect more ground covering plants to be present next year and more the year after.  The forest however was so thoroughly killed that it seems unlikely to even be naturally reseeded in the next few decades.  I did not see any seedlings in the burned areas.  But maybe next year.... 

I had only one night to backpack overnight so I chose the trail I could drive almost to the PCT:  Forest Road 70 out of Greenwater on Highway 410 out of Enumclaw.  The road (about 10 miles to a "horse camp"/parking lot) is paved at first, then rutted, then very rocky and rough at the end).  I had camped at "Airplane Meadows" in a previous year and thought I'd hike to Arch Rock where there is a spring and continue on the PCT going south to Airplane Meadows to camp overnight.  I met several hikers going in that direction who told me I was about to enter a burned area.  I recalled hearing about the Norse Peak Wilderness fire last year.  I had a long talk with a PCT hiker going north looking like he was carrying about 10 lbs.  and he told me this is what he carried from Mexico.  Soon I entered the burned area and it was totally burned - all ground was black, no trees were left alive, some trees had fallen over the trail.  It was not desirable to brush against anything - because it left a lot of charcoal on whatever I touched.  I met several other PCT and section hikers, several from Europe.  The burned area extended to adjacent mountains and all was completely black and totally burned.  A few green sprouts had grown.  I could not identify "Arch Rock" although I did see a spring in part of the burned area, and I continued to Airplane Meadow.  In the past, there had been abundant water in the meadow, but now it was completely dry.  So I returned to the spring in the burned area, set up camp, sharing the site with a through hiker.  Returning to the trailhead, I hiked past it to the North to Government Meadows and Ullrich shelter, where PCT hikers hung out and chatted.  When I returned to my car, it had a flat tire.  There was no one else in the parking lot so I put the spare on by myself and made my way down the road to Enumclaw where it was repaired.  

The forest road FS70 was fine up until 1 mile from Government Meadows, the trailhead for this hike. Snow was deep and slushy, just added a mile extension.

Government Meadows trailhead was a mess from the hundreds of beer bottles/can and fires from the selfish people the year before.

The trail to the PCT was quite easy to follow.

Once at that junction, the trail was impossible to follow due to the deep snow. No trail makers to be seen on any tree, occasionally seeing the sawed trees. Used maps, phone to get to the trail locations. Poles/spikes were used. Saw lots of fresh elk tracks, fresh warm bear scat, wildlife was nearby for sure.

This added a lot time and scrambling extra distance through lots of terrain. For this reason I recommend people to wait a month or so before they go on this trail. I believe we were the first on this trail section this year and possibly since the fires last year.

Going down the switchbacks to Rods gap was great, amazing sights.
Once leaving Louisiana Saddle the trail was once more gone. 

Hiking through the burn area was great, like another planet. I had no idea where the Arch Rock trail left the PCT, so we continued further up the PCT and I believe went to the same ridge as Arch Rock, I hiked to many of the rock peaks, I couldn't be sure. Lots of trees on the trail, burned trees for miles. The flowers and greenery is coming back, will be great to see in a month.

No one else on the trail.

Great hike, quite hard, was about 20 miles, took about 11 hours. Loved it.