I have now knocked off one star from Dan Nelson's book "Day-Hiking Snoqualmie Pass Area" after hiking to Arch Rock. We started from Govt Meadows and proceeded to the PCT which is on a ridge, yet is mostly treed. In the early morning fog, we saw a few through-hikers slogging along. We made good time until we took a side path to Arch Rock itself. It was totally worth it, as it is very unusual and looked very dramatic in the fog. We lunched near the Raven Roost junction, looking east toward green hills, then made our way down to the Airplane Meadows Trail. That was the second highlight of the day: an airplane, False Hellebore and Mt Rainier. Third highlight was running into the Backcountry Horsemen as they were logging out a section but then getting sucked into mud caused by horse travel. GPS recorded a total of 16 miles and 1,000' gain for the round trip hike.

Trail 1191 is dusty and horsey, but otherwise in good shape the whole way. Most of the elevation gain is done in shady forest, then views open up in the last 1000' or so. Looks like a great wildflower hike earlier in the season, judging from the profusion of faded plants lining the trail. It appears that the trail has changed some since the 2002 edition of Green Trails map #271. Views from the junction of the short spur trail to Norse Peak eliminated my temptation to visit the true summit. Rainier is in your face, as well as the Olympic mountains in the distance, and the entire Eastern Cascades. There is also a huge, thick stand of larch visible, down below Big Crow Basin on trail 953. Very dense, very yellow, though some trees in the upper elevations still seemed a bit on the green side. PCT from trail 953 to trail 1187 was in great condition. The Arch Rock trail descending to Echo Lake was another story. At the beginning of the descent, there is a rutted-out trail, and another a few feet north that looks more recently used. I took the more northerly trail to the old airplane wreckage, where the trail promptly fizzles out. I walked about 50 ft south to get back on the rutted trail, which ended about 200 ft farther down into the meadow. From here, look south to the "old" trail; that's where you need to go. The trail is a bit rustic, so be prepared to look around a bit to pick the trail back up in two other meadows. I found a trace of a trail skirting the edge of a large evergreen tree, followed it uphill for a bit, then finally started going down, down, down. The upper half of this trail looks to be lightly used, then signs of FS intervention (flags, hacked-out rerouting) begin to show. Greenwater trail is in good shape from Echo Lake to trailhead. I was surprised by the number of "official toilet opportunities" available on this stretch. Two toilets at Echo Lake, and another at the Meadow Creek crossing, east of Greenwater Lakes.