This is a quick report on a few 'worth-knowing' details of this well-travelled section of the PCT. This was a three-day trip for me.

The Norse Peak burn area north of Chinook Pass is long, dry, and exposed. I did this hike when temps were in the low 90s and I'm glad I knew to haul plenty of water. The water at Arch Rock is flowing nicely and there are plenty of spots to fill bottles and/or camp there.

The mile before and after Government Meadow/Mike Urich cabin was pretty buggy (enough to make a person flail about). The cabin is in great shape and there was trail magic there (July 24-25). Mice weren't an issue and there are plenty of hooks to hang up food and gear. I think maybe 10 people were camped overnight here but only three of us slept in the cabin.

Between Government Meadow and Blowout Mountain there are a lot of blowdowns to deal with. Most are low and can be climbed over. There were lots of flowers in the next burn area here (Falls Creek Burn) and the views to the south were great.

After Stampede Pass, the trail becomes increasingly rocky and rooty but there are many stream crossings with cold water for your bottles. There were a few snow patches in the low, shady areas, but these were not an issue to travel over or around. Every creek seemed to have one frog standing guard. Mirror Lake was a little stinky and very buggy. Tons of camping spots here. 

The best flowers of this 69-mile section were right under the chairlifts at Snoqualmie Pass, so if all you want to see are flowers, you could save yourself 68 miles of hiking.

Cell service is pretty reliable north of Stampede Pass and there was a decent signal at other spots along this whole section. The best part of the hike was transitioning from views of the 'southern' Cascades of Hood, St. Helens, and Rainier, to the views of the 'central' Cascades marking the boundary of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Arrived to the lower parking area just before 10am. From the turn onto Lost Lake Rd, the road in is in terrible shape with potholes everywhere. It's a bumpy, but manageable ride. There were 31 cars, including the cab of a semi truck, parked along the road when I left. The official trailhead should just be moved, or the road should be fixed. It's washed out, overgrown, and basically not drivable in any vehicle. The parking lot that nobody can get to is in great shape. 

The trail is a bit overgrown in places, but easily manageable. Wildflowers seem to be just starting and were putting on a gorgeous display. Don't skip Cottonwood Lake. It's a very nice place to visit on its own. Lots of people camping up at Mirror Lake. The waterfall after Mirror Lake was still flowing, and the PCT trail down to Twilight Lake offers gorgeous mountain views. Even with all the people on the trail, it never felt crowded. 

9 Mountaineers and I hiked a 13 mile, 3400' clockwise loop up to Norse Peak, south on the PCT, down Bullion Basin, and then north on a Forest Service road back to the cars (the Caltopo route is the attached link). There were a couple of short and very easy spots of snow. There is a large blowdown on the main/south PCT connector out of Bullion Basin (some crawled under, some went around to the east). 

I hiked Bullion Basin up to the PCT via the steep northern trail, south on the PCT for 3.5 miles and back, then down the southern Bullion Basin PCT connector. There is no snow on the steep northern Bullion Basin connector, a couple of easy flat snow patches on the southern connecter (and a large blowdown that I circled around on the downhill side), and 1 easy-to-go-above patch of snow on the PCT between the two connectors. There is no snow on the "lower" Bullion Basin trail up to the basin. There were a few patches of snow on the north-facing sections of the PCT I traveled on, none of these were challenging, most people, including my not so brave self, will have no need for traction (I had poles). The "most" angled slope can be seen in picture 4. Centerframe in picture 3 is Sourdough Gap, there is certainly some snow, but it is usually hike-able with this level of snow.  

TLDR: Day hike Crystal lakes to sourdough gap,  on PCT thru to picklehandle point meeting with fog city trail just before crown point. Nice trail conditions. PCT is under low traffic, few snow fields. Recommended route. We used it to test how far we could carry overnight gear and supplies.

Arrived late to the trail head (9:45 am) at Crystal lakes off of highway 410 and started up the ridonkuslously well-maintained Crystal Lakes Trail.  No snow to cross over and zero branches over the trail. Thanks to the crews who must've taken care of the trail recently. Made it to the upper lake and finished lunch by 11:00 am. The upper lake was surprisingly not crowded, despite some other hikers' warnings. We suspect that the lower lake must have been busy but the upper lake had plenty of spaces left. Apparently, you can make reservations but have not fact-checked.

From upper crystal lake, we moved along a trail to sourdough gap, which is not marked on Hiking Project but is on Gaia GPS. Also very well maintained and only ~0.8 mi but there are some very steep snowfields that slowed us down. As the day went on, this trail was more slushy rather than ice-like and was easier to traverse. 

We then crossed over sourdough gap, and decided to check out the view to sheep lake by going south on the PCT. This required crossing a snow field but it was not difficult and slippage would likely not prove harmful. We then turned around and continued north on the PCT. Getting to the north trail from the junction required glacading but was easy to do with ~23 lbs packs on.  Much smaller snow fields this time, with lovely views and easy trail as it is mostly ridge running with a gradual decline. Ample bear scat sightings throughout.

We went as far north as between Picklehandle Point and Crown Point before deciding to turn around as a Blizzard from Dairy Queen was beckoning us back to society.

The way back was uneventful, turned around at 3:30 pm, made it back to our car at Crystal Lakes Trailhead at 7:13 pm. Would recommend this hike.

Miles:~ 12-13

Time: ~8.5 hrs