Picked this trail to beat the heat and we were not disappointed. A great hike through tall trees to open meadows. However the trail description needs a number of adjustments. Mileage to the meadows is 6.5 miles, or 13 round trip. Total gain is about 2600 feet because of the descent and climbs through Rod's Gap and Louisiana Saddle both ways. Arch Rock was hard to find. The meadows we found were south of a forested peak that my gps tended to indicate was Arch Rock. Perhaps 50 years ago a dramatic rocky peak was visible but no more. We found a subtly signed spur to Arch Rock. The trail tended to peter out in the brush. We went up as far as we could. Bunches of trees 2 feet thick, brush, downs. Didn't see anything remotely rocky. The connector to the PCT is about .5 miles long. Turn right, south, to Arch Rock. The Maggie Creek intersection comes up quickly. Just stay on the PCT all the way. About 5.5 miles from the TH we found Arch Rock spring and a nice camp .75 miles beyond Louisiana Saddle. Shortly after the spring crossing the trail emerged from the tall trees into avalanche scoured landscapes filled with flowers. Eventually the trail edges broad meadows. Beyond the second meadow the trail begins to descend noticeably. We turned around here. The TH is at the end of FR 70. There are numerous narrow side roads. Avoid those. The last two miles is rocky, potholed, and washboarded. Take it easy and you'll be OK. There are numerous active target shooting ranges along the road. You'll hear them on the connector trail. People seemed responsible about it.

Beautiful hike, started in train, ended in snow. The section between Maggie Creek Trail intersection and the reinforced trail is a problem. The trail has become a creek between two other creeks. Going in is okay, coming back out was harder to determine the true trail. This section is short, but with out other landmarks it would be easy to wander off the trail.

Set out from the trailhead at 4:15pm on Wednesday evening. Had a wonderful hike along the river and up through the woods. Saw a few other day hikers and returning backpackers on our way up. The hike up to Echo is well maintained, with only a few easily navigable blowdowns. Ran into snow above the switchbacks, which is quite icy in places but easily passable if you take your time. Will likely have all melted within a couple weeks. Made the short descent to the lake and chatted with another couple of backpackers who pointed us toward a nice campsite on the west side of Echo. We set up camp and enjoyed the waning light until 10pm. There were some mosquitos, but not bad at all. We decided to hike around the south side of the lake and day hike up to Arch Rock the next morning. The trail is obvious and well signed for the first couple miles, and then gets tough to follow around blowdowns. There is pink trail signing tape up in some places. We made it about three miles, to the second snow chute, before we lost the trail completely in the snow and decided to call it for the day. Had a lovely lunch atop a large rock in the snow field and headed back to camp. Saw bear scat and lots of elk tracks/scat but didn't see any of the creatures themselves. Attempted some fishing early the next day, and though we saw lots of trout swimming and surfacing, never had any luck. Lazily packed up camp and enjoyed the solitude of the beautiful and still lake before departing. Again saw lots of elk tracks and droppings on our descent back to the trailhead. NOTE: we found lots of trash at our campsite (filled dog poop bags, liquor bottles, and garbage), and saw more at other campsites. If you visit the lake, please practice good leave no trace etiquette. We packed out some of the poop bags, in addition to those of our own dogs. Maybe we can all bring a little bit out with us and restore these otherwise lovely campsites to nature.

FOUND MY DOG! Hiked back up to Arch Rock in lightweight gear and took about 2 1/4 hrs. Kept whistling and there was my dog. His pack had gotten askew and I'm sure he could not make it past the multiple blowdowns to the traihead so he stayed by the camping area. I rarely am hiking in the 6-8 pm time but it was very pleasant with birds going to bed twittering. Very quiet trail except a couple of groups on Saturday. Not a soul this time. Weather variable - when clouds drop over the ridge and wind blows it hangs in the 40's, then sun and calm and quite warm. Here is a picture from Saturday morning showing a "glory"!