11 of us hiked up the Entiat River trail ~6 miles to a large meadow where we setup our base camp. There are some stream crossing along the way. Some are step overs. On one, you will get your feet wet. 

For the next several days we cleared the trail up to within 2 miles of the headwall at the end of the trail. There are several snow patches and more creek crossing. We brushed a large section down river from the wildness boundary. We cleared Snowy Brushy trail 3.5 miles to snow line at 5,600ft. 

I just returned from a multiday WTA trip to help clear up the Entiat River trail and several side trails.  The purpose of this trip was to log out the Entiat River Trail and several side trails in the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area.  It is a long drive up from Entiat to the trail head.  38 miles with 5 miles of gravel road.  The gravel section is in good condition with some potholes and a small section with ruts down the center.  It is suitable for all vehicles at lower speeds.  The trailhead rest room is open for business and in good condition. 

Stock Report:  The good news is that between the Forest Service and the WTA work parties over Memorial Day weekend, the Entiat River Trail is open to stock for approximately 11 miles (3miles past intersection with Ice Creek Trail).  We removed all logs crossing the trail and brushed the vast majority of trail in the Wilderness Area.  As a bonus, the Ice Creek Trail, Emerald Park Trail, and the Cow Creek Trail were also cleared at least 1-mile from the Entiat River Trail.  The logging stopped above these elevations due to snow. 

The first four miles of the trail are Not in the wilderness area.  The Forest Service has removed all the logs from this section.  The tread is in good condition over rolling terrain.  There are some sections with low to medium brush along the trail.  This means some of the willows and other woody perennials are slightly within the tread corridor.  There are a couple very small creek crossings that may get your boots wet.

Moving on to the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area, again, we are pleased to report that the WTA crews removed all the logs at least 11 miles from the trailhead and cleared access to Myrtle Lake and a couple miles on the Emerald Park Trail.  Once you start getting out of the valley, you encounter snow across the trail.  Our groups stopped logging at this point. 

There is a longer, deeper river issue across Snow Brushy Creek (48.0753, -120.7129).  The creek crossing the trail has broken up into four side channels, each approximately 1-foot deep currently.  We cleaned out the brush and logs so stock can easily go through, but hikers may want to have water shoes for this crossing.  A partial picture is shown below. 

We camped at the Meadow Camp (6-miles in?) area near the intersection with the Emerald Park Trail (48.0856, -120.7183).  There was plenty of room for 30 tents (at the peak of Memorial Day Weekend).  The camp also has easy water access to the Entiat River.  Deer were always with us throughout the weekend.  The last piles of snow are still here which should have suggested it was still cold at night (27F our first night and high 40s in the daytime). 

There were wild flowers starting to bloom in the area.  The types changed as we gained altitude from the trailhead.  Our brushing perk was finding morel mushrooms along the edge of the trail.  We harvested a couple of cups worth over the course of the weekend.  They made a big difference to freeze dried meals. 

Enjoy the region this summer.

The trailhead for Entiat River is easy accessed with no issues on the road. Entiat River Trail and Emerald Park Trail are in great shape- the trouble starts up to Pinnacle from the basin below Saska. The blowdowns are so numerous! The best part by far is the ridgeline above 7,000ft. WOW.

Full TR at Pinnacle Mountain via Entiat River TH- 08.26 & 27, 2022 (late summer scramble) | Do Something Good with Your Mountaineering (thedirtbaguette.com) 

WTA's Lost Trails Found Pro Crew spent a week on the Entiat River Trail and up the Snowy Brushy trail from 6/8/2022 - 6/15/2022. Our main trail goal was to clear downed logs on the Snowy Brushy trail, which stems off of the main Entiat River Trail and follows Snowy Brushy creek up to Milham Pass. We made it 3.8 miles from the main Entiat River Trail up the Snowy Brushy trail. From the Entiat River Trailhead to the beginning of the Snowy Brushy trail, the trail is in good condition and is free of downed logs from a previous WTA Pro Crew Hitch. When we were there, there were 2 creek crossings across Snowy Brushy Creek and Anthem Creek that required us to exercise safe water crossing precautions. 

Trail Conditions

• We were only able to clear 3.8 miles of the Snowy Brushy Trail because after that snow persisted and was consistent up to Milham Pass. We were able to trek across the snow fields to make it up to the pass in our off time, but exercise caution as there are many downed logs and snow fields.
• The trail itself up until then is still gorgeous offering views of a roaring creek and the valley itself. 
• The turnoff from the Entiat River Trail can easily be missed, so be on the lookout.

Camping

• We camped at a meadow off the Entiat River Trail that's a couple hundred feet from the beginning of the Snowy Brushy Trail. 
• Easy water access and nice open meadow with great views. 

Flora & Fauna

• A couple weeks ago, but there were a ton of Glacier Lily blooming along with some Jeffrey Shooting star! 
• Lots of curious and comfortable deer at our campsite.

Trail from Lucerne to Lower RR Creek junction in fine shape. Next 2 miles quite brushy due to growth after fire several years ago. It appears trail to about mile 4 underwent maintenance 2 to 3 years ago. Some downfall with 3 to 4 large logs to get over. At about mile 4...get ready as downfall is extensive and difficult to get over, under, or around. The downfall is countless and in some areas obliterares the trail. Suggest long pants and/or lots of antiseptic and bandages. It makes for slow tedious progress. At about mile 6 the old burn area is left behind. The next mile is very overgrown with lower meadow type plants and makes it hard to follow the trail. When reaching a plateau and campsite at about mile 6.8 fresh water is available from Emerald Park Creek. Trail becomes quite easy to follow with some smaller windfall to get over or around. E.P quite beautiful with nice campsites. Time in 4 hrs, 40 mins with about an hour attributed to navigating the downfall areas. Time down 3 hrs, 30 mins. The overgrown nature of the trail indicates a lack of use. Hopefully maintenance will be done on this trail as a previous report suggests or it is going to be a lost cause.