Most of our trip was intended to be off trail scrambling from a base near Paddy Go Easy Pass, where trail conditions from the Cle Elum River Road up to the Pass have been recently described here by others. We scrambled Paddy Go North and South, followed by West Tucquala and Tucquala itself, before deciding to continue the adventure and explore south to Fish Eagle Pass at the head of the North Scatter Creek trail 1328.1.  The plan was to take the Meadow Creek Spur trail 1559.1 down to Meadow Creek itself, over the saddle down into the headwaters of French Creek, and then take the French Creek trail back up to Paddy Go Easy Pass.

Our first clue should have been that Gaia GPS showed the old USGS Topo of this spur trail, but Gaia Topo did NOT show it.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a relatively new sign at the top of Fish Eagle (see attached photo), but this was short lived.  Intermittent tread in places and a few cairns helped at the start, but then the way got steeper below 6000’ and we got cliffed out in a few places, till we found a way to navigate through bands of cliffs, between talus and trees, eventually finding our way to old tread that was not seen on any version of map.  We found the “real” trail at the Meadow-French saddle, and even some signs there of recent trail work, but the way got brushier as we headed north.  Our next junction to head back up to Paddy Go Easy Pass was well-signed, but the way itself was quite brushy, with many areas of very narrow tread.  This trail is certainly not suitable for horses in its current status.  

I might suggest adding both the Meadow Creek Spur and the portion of French Creek between Paddy Go Easy Pass and French Creek to the Lost Trails Found initiative.  I hate to see great trails in beautiful areas just fade away.  So much potential for long loops and solitude!  

A beautiful set of lakes that isn't easy to get to, but worth the journey. A few notes:

-French Creek trail was pretty brushy for stretches. I would highly recommend pants.

-After you turn up to Klonaqua Lakes trail, keep an eye out for the spur trail for upper Klonaqua/Bob Lake about 1.5 miles up. It was marked with two rocks but could be easy to miss. 

-There were berries everywhere at Bob Lake and Upper Klonaqua. What a treat!

-There are limited campsites at upper Klonaqua Lakes. Maybe only 4-5 spots that are flat enough and well treaded enough to set up a tent or two. 

What a great Labor Day weekend trip up to Klonaqua Lakes. We hit Icicle Creek trail early Saturday and didn't see a soul until we passed some campers a few miles up the French Creek trail. We cruised through the flat Icicle Creek and French Creek trails, but really had to work hard those last couple miles up to the lakes. It gets especially steep once you take the unlabeled turn off to Bob Lake/Upper Lake. 

We brought our packrafts and it was a great decision. The upper lake's basin is very rugged, with little way to explore beyond the land bridge. We paddled across the lake to the far side, where there is a nice peninsula to land our rafts. We were surprised to find a well established and well worn campsite atop the peninsula. We wondered if this was from other packrafters, or if people were able to drop down to it from atop Granite Mountain. We did a little rock-hopping, trying to find some sort of route up there, but didn't get very far. I guess it will remain a mystery. 

Great swimming, paddling, and exploring. No privy. Either bury your TP, pack it out, or just hold it in.  Keep this area pristine. 

I've been seeking out less-traveled trails this summer, and this one fit the bill. I didn't see another human between noon Thursday and 8:30 am Saturday. 

In general, the trail junctions are well marked and the trail is entirely passable. I think one could do this loop without GPS, but I felt more comfortable having mine to refer to at a fews of the unmarked turnoffs. There were a few blowdowns to contend with, but only one that required a little thought and effort. Thank you to the Backcountry Horsemen (and any other groups) that keep these less frequented trails maintained!

Icicle Creek TH>French Creek>Lower Klonaqua Lake - Icicle Creek trail is in great condition. French Creek trail is brushy in a lot of spots but also in good condition. Klonaqua Lake is steep and was slow going for me, but it's also in good condition. I set up camp at the Lower Lake.

Lower Klonaqua>Bob's Lake>Upper Klonaqua - After setting up camp I went to check out Upper Klonaqua. The turnoff from the main Klonaqua trail is pretty obvious - it's marked with a cairn and the bootpath is apparent. It's about 0.5 miles before the lower lake. The upper lake is about a mile from this turnoff, and the path to both is easy to follow the whole way. The trek to the upper lake adds some elevation, but I thought it was a more scenic and dramatic setting than the lower lake. If I do this hike again, I'd camp there.

Lower Klonaqua>French Creek>Snowall Creek>Cradle Lake - This was a tough stretch for me. The ford of French Creek is not a problem - it was about knee height for me, which was higher than it looked. The Snowall Creek trail is quite brushy in a lot of spots, and my legs got pretty beat up. I've seen prior trip reports mention some difficulty following the trail through one of the meadows, but I didn't run into that problem. If you do, head left toward the rocks. After you exit the flat meadows you will start switchbacking up and eventually reach another small meadow with some cairns. Go right into the brush (more brush!) at the largest cairn. This will eventually send you into more switchbacks up open meadowy slopes. It was a relief to reach the top of this and see Cradle Lake in the basin. Various wildlife in the basin included dragonflies mating, marmots whistling, pikas meeping and elk bugling (see pro tip below).

Cradle Lake>Snowall Creek>Meadow Creek>Jack Creek>Jack Pine>Icicle Creek TH - The trail down from the lake back to Icicle Creek Road was the best of the trip - not too brushy and mostly downhill! Meadow Creek could be crossed by hopping boulders; Jack Creek required a shallow ford. Even on a sunny Saturday morning, I ran into very few people on my way out - I think 6 groups total.

There are some waning wildflowers and some tiny beginnings of fall colors, but the real star of the plant show right now is ripe berries.

Pro tip: If you are planning a backpacking trip here in the fall and don't know what an elk bugling sounds like, Google it before you head out. It probably would have slowed my heart rate if I had known what I was hearing outside my tent one dark night.

Found a Black Diamond headlamp on the French Creek Trail, between the Klonaqua Lakes and Meadow Creek junctions. If you lost yours, please get in touch!

Klonaqua Lakes offers great alpine lake swimming and unobstructed views of Granite mountain with a lower amount of foot traffic than expected. The lakes and can be accessed by 2 different trailheads; On I-90 or on Highway 2. We opted to enter via Highway 2/Icicle Creek because this route is now snow free and the road conditions were reported to be better.

We left Seattle at 5:30am on a Saturday morning and arrived at the trailhead at 8:15am - there was a handful of official parking spots left and many more spots where people could park along the road.

The first 2 miles of trail paralleling Icicle Creek are very well maintained and shaded. As you approach the bridge to cross Icicle Creek the berries are ripe for the picking! After turning onto the French Creek trail, the path ungulates for the next 6 miles. There are some fallen trees that aren't tricky to pass, it is very brushy in some stretches, it is very buggy in some stretches, and the mountain huckleberries are weighing the branches down with juicy fruit this time of year. We passed some great, well worn camp spots along the French Creek that were about 50% occupied when we passed them. 

The river ford at 8 miles in was no problem for us. Recent trip reports noted crossings at thigh depth. As much of the snow has melted from this drainage (or maybe the dam at Klonaqua Lakes was raised slightly?) we were able to use stepping stones to cross the creek without removing our boots. The dogs were fine crossing as well!

We took the spur to head up to the lakes just after the creek crossing. This portion is tough! Our destination was the lower lake, but we passed the unmarked junction to Bob's Lake/the Upper Lake after about 1600 feet elevation gain- this unmarked path is easy to find if you are looking for it. We arrived at the lower lake around 2:30pm and had plenty of time to swim and enjoy the views from camp. As the sun set we donned our mosquito nets and bug spray- definitely a must as mosquitos and flies were out to bite. We camped at the far eastern side of the lower lake and enjoyed using the helipad as a flat place to cook dinner. There was only one other party at the Lower Lake.