Full loop include Mnt Pilchuck Rd, Pilchuck trail and Lookout, Bear Lake RD and Trail, Pinnacle Lake and Bathtub Lakes. FR - in good conditions and easy to navigate; Pinnacle Lake Tr - a lot of roots, nothing dramatic but slow. Pinnacle Lake to Bathtub Lakes - require some navigation, no actual trail; Bathtub Lakes to Pilchuck - scramble, not recommend in rain. Pilchuck Trail - rocky trail with a lot of hikers; Full report bellow.

This was my third trip through to Bathtub lakes, hoping to make it to the Pilchuck lookout from this east route following the yellow paint swatches and arrows on the rocks. Pervious trips were on snow or in fog and although I had heard of the climbers path, I was never able to follow it. My brother and I started out on the trail near Bear lake at 0840 and found a newer trail than I had previously used with a new bridge over Bear creek. The trail is easy to follow at the start, except for the signage with no visible arrow to Pinnacle lake, and there are many roots to grab you or slip on as you gain elevation. Once in the flat area above, there can be standing water over the trail, but there was only drying mud on this warm day. There is now a new sign nearing Pinnacle lake indicating the entrance to Mt. Pilchuck State Park. Once at the lake outlet, the trail #703 ends and the route goes through brush and over rock, on the west side of the lake, to a streambed going up to Iodine Gulch. There is a slight path on the north side of the gulch but the rocky streambed is quite dry and also a good route much of the way. After about 2.5 hours we reached the gulch plateau and painted rock saying Iodine Gulch. From there we headed down through Bathtub lakes following the trail as much as possible. However we stayed low too far, reaching the most westerly lake and then realized the route must be higher. So up we went through the steep brush to the ridge, where we found the trail once again. Finally at 1300 (turn-around time) we reached a high point right across from the Lookout but decided to turn back since we had several hundred feet to lose and gain to make it to the 5324' summit. Going down was much easier since we were able to follow the yellow-paint arrows and marks along the ridge trail and down to the more easterly lakes. Time down was about three hours. Views from the ridge down to Lake 22 and Heather Lake are impressive as is the view north and east to the many well known, often climbed, peaks.

Not much to add that previous reports haven't covered. While the trail (to Pinnacle Lake) has a significant amounts of roots, its easy to follow and wasn't in as bad of shape as previous reports made it out to be. Trail head parking only has about 7-8 parking spots, don't recommend doing a late start because of this. Only a couple possible camping spots near the lake; these were not along the lake shore. Pinnacle lake was great, but I recommend trying to continue on to the Bath tub lake basin, which is even better. Bath tub lake basin is one of the prettiest places I have been in Washington. Significantly more camping options available here as well. It will require quite a bit more effort though.

Bathtub lakes is not for the faint of heart. This is a class 3 Rock scramble. Pathfinging skills are a must. This trail starts off at pinnacle lake and ends at Mt. Pilchuck. The total trip is not that long, but takes a lot of time. Over 4300 foot of elevation gain from start to finish. With many of the assents being very steep.. Over all a great hike.. Video Report here.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr5eqewXcZU

Took thr trail to Pinnacle Lake and it was the usual roots and running water trail that it always is. Pinnacle Lake was nice with fish jumping everywhere. I am going to bring my pole next time! Heading up Iodine Gulch was a little slick but much easier the over the snow when I did it back in june. Once at the top of the gulch the trail was a little hard to follow due to about 2-5inches of snow. I had been this far before but had no idea how big the lakes were just a few minutes farther. I will deffintly be back. On the way down the gulch there was a large rock slide that happened as we were just about at the halfway mark. Huge boulders came down all around us and we luckily made it thru without injury. This is a great hike! I will be back again and again!