We headed to the mountains to escape a hot weekend in Leavenworth!  Hiking up the French Creek trail is easy and shady.  The first 1.5 miles along Icicle Creek are flat and a perfect introduction to back country camping for young families with open flat sites next to a wide water fall.  French Creek trail immediately above the junction is FULL of ripe huckleberries.  YUM!  Trail up to Klonaqua lakes is STEEP, but once you get there the views are glorious.  We camped at the dam on Lower Klonaqua with a strong breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay, otherwise they would have been difficult.  Upper Klonaqua had several groups stay Friday with more coming in Saturday.  We headed up Snowall Creek with 2 easy creek fords.  I didn't get my shorts wet, so maybe 2.5 feet deep across French creek and less than knee deep across Snowall creek.  Gorgeous meadows FULL of flowers in prime bloom in the upper half of Snowall valley with increasing views of rugged mountain tops opening up.  Stay left and look for cairns when the plants take over the trail going up and you'll recover it along the edge of the woods.  There were a couple patches of snow at the pass, but it's off trail and melting quickly.  The lake was warm enough to actually swim a bit before going numb.  We appreciated the cool after our 3000' climb in hot sun.  We camped back up at the pass above Cradle lake hoping for breeze to keep the bugs at bay again, but no luck that night so it was early to bed for us.  We wanted to take Bootjack Mountain trail #1565 back to the trail head.  It is mentioned in guide books as difficult to find, but we're well experienced and still lost the trail after crossing Pablo Creek.  We climbed the old burn (STUNNING flowers!) to the ridge end where USGS, Green Trails and Gaia all agreed we were on trail, but there was no trail to be found there nor anywhere looking into the Ben Creek drainage.  After 2 hours of searching we headed back to take Meadow Creek trail #1559 and Jack Creek trail #1558 down the the trail head.  Both of these trails are nicely shaded in the woods, but lacking views and very churned up by horse traffic with 4-6 inches of dust where it's dry and up to 1 foot! deep mud at creek crossings with horses leaving post holes up to 3 feet deep in places.  We encountered 2 groups with a total of 15 horses each out for an over night - meaning the equivalent of 30 horses passing through in 36 hour span.  One of these groups was taking a couple glamping at Cradle lake with 5 mounted horses and 4 loaded pack mules.  No horse camping at Cradle lake means this train has to go up and back twice so 2 people can be deposited at the lake for a night.  Granted the Backcountry Horsemen have cleared all the downed trees, but the heavy traffic has thrashed the tread.  Meadow Creek trail has 2 fords that are less than knee deep before making Jack Creek trail.  I just may have sat down mid ford for an extended cool washing of trail dust and mud... ;)

First I want to say is that the snow conditions and water levels are changing rapidly in the high country so please take that into consideration. I went out on a 3 day loop trip with my two daughters, 18 and 20. We chose this route because of the trip report saying it was at least possible to make it into Klonaqua Lakes. As of last week there was still a lot of snow in the higher elevations making it a bit challenging to find a suitable route. The plan was to get to Klonaqua Lakes the first night on Paddy-Go-Easy pass and the French Creek trail, Snowall trail to Cradle Lake the second night, and then out via the Meadow Creek trail. Never having been in this area we weren’t sure whether the trail to Cradle Lake would be passible or not due to snow. If not the plan was to backtrack and go out the way we came in.

Driving to the trailhead required about 12 miles or so on some pretty rough road. Not a big issue but the going is slow. Thankfully, crossing Scatter Creek wasn’t an issue in either direction. The hike up to Paddy-Go-Easy pass is a long steady climb but there are some nice views as you get to the upper third. No significant snow before the pass. Once at the pass the route is completely snow covered as far as the eye can see but navigable using map and gps. It’s not too long before the trail, at least in spurts is visible and relatively easy to follow. Once you start to steep descent on the other side of the pass you will have to cross three steep snow-covered chutes. Hard to say what these look like now but caution is required. On the return portion of the trip one of them, which had a run-off stream underneath it, was too thin to support any weight where we had crossed on the way out. We moved down the chute 30 feet and were able to get across and back to the trail but it was a bit dicey. Once past the snow the trail is fine down to the French Creek/Meadow Creek junction. There are 4 or 5 crossing of French Creek on the way to the Klonaqua Lakes so count on wet feet. The trail is brushy but easy enough to follow. The climb to Klonaqua is steep but thankfully not too long. We camped at the end of the trail on the lower lake. It is worth it.

The next day we set out for Cradle Lake on the Snowall trail. This included one last easy crossing of French Creek and a more exciting crossing of Snowall Creek. Snowall Creek isn’t very big at that point but it was running quite a bit faster and the area below where we crossed was steep enough that regaining your footing would have been a challenge. So we took our time and had no issues. The Snowall trail is also very brushy but manageable. No significant blow downs to overcome. About two thirds of the way up to Cradle Lake we crossed a meadow where the trail disappeared but using some common sense (and the gps) we rediscovered it as it re-entered the woods towards the upper left corner of the meadow. There was a rock cairn at that spot that I noticed once we stumbled across it that may be visible from farther away if you know to look for it. After this you start the long climb towards the upper part of the valley and soon get treated with beautiful views of The Cradle. We hit no snow on the way up. You cross over a saddle at 6400’ before you drop down into a bowl at the foot of Highchair Mountain where Cradle Lake resides. There were a couple of snow patches on the 200’ descent down to the lake but not significant and the lake area is mostly snow free. As you descend you come across stunning views (we had sunny, cloudless weather which helped) out over the lake of the ridge that contains Eightmile Mountain and Cashmere Mountain. Absolutely gorgeous. We spent a wonderful night camped at the lake enjoying the views, soaking our feet in the freezing water, and trying not to donate too much blood to the local mosquito population. The population at the moment is pretty large.

The only issue we were concerned about on our final day was on our map, the Green Trails 176S Alpine Lakes West, the last portion of the Meadow Lakes trail is marked as hard to follow. Given the condition of the trails we had already been on we were concerned that there would be not trail at all. Earlier we had made the decision to try it anyway so there wasn’t anything to do but give it a shot. After the descent from Cradle Lake when we reached the camp near the Meadow Creek trail junction we met a group of folks who were out with their horses. They told us that Meadow Creek had been logged out and worked on within the last two years and we shouldn’t have any problems. They were right. It was actually in the best shape of any of the trails we hiked. That coupled with nice views of the Granite Mountain ridge made for some very nice hiking all the way back to the junction with French Creek. From there it was a stiff climb back to Paddy-Go-Easy pass (including the sketchy snow crossing I mentioned earlier). One last break to soak in the scenery at the top of the pass and then back to the car and home.

All in all I give this a definite thumbs up as a three day loop. The hiking is manageable, the views are great, and it doesn’t look to be used as heavily as some other places in the Cascades. Well worth the effort.

Planned what was to be a great multi-night loop: start off at the Jack Trout Trailhead and take the Jack Creek Trail > Meadow Creek Trail > Snowall Cradle Lake Trail up to Cradle Lake to camp for the night, then in the morning, descend the Snowall Cradle Lake Trail > French Creek Trail > Klonaqua Lakes trail to camp again, then the next morning exit via the Klonaqua Lakes Trail > French Creek Trail > Meadow Creek Trail > Jack Creek Trail. Well...the mountains had other plans.

The four of us set off from the Jack Trout trailhead at 7:00am Friday July 3 and hiked the 4 or so miles of the Jack Creek Trail to the Jack Creek crossing, where (we thought) the Jack Creek and Meadow Creek trails meet, without incident. The Jack Creek trail is in great shape with an easy grade. We also crossed Jack Creek easily, the water being about calf-high or so. We continued on to what we thought was the Meadow Creek trail, which soon completely disappeared into nothing. We seemed to be on a trail of some sort, either decades old or a game trail, completely overgrown with thick bushes, many blowdowns, and new green growth that completely obscured the ground. We had both Gaia GPS and maps from Caltopo, and bushwhacked to where the trail was supposed to be, but still couldn't find it. We decided to go as far as the junction with the Snowall-Cradle Lake Trail and see if that was better, but we couldn't find that either. No signage or even the faintest hint of a trail where the junction showed on our maps. It was noon by this point and we decided to turn around and try to camp up over Jack Ridge at Trout Lake. We started up the Jack Ridge Trail at 2:30 and reached the top at 4:30, passing a pair of hikers who warned us of bad mosquitos at the lake. We figured it might be ok, but as soon as we gained the ridge we could see the lake was really more of a bog, and the bugs were getting much worse. We decided to turn around again, and descended back the way we came. We reached the junction of the Jack Creek and Jack Ridge Trails again at 6:30 and camped at a well-established horse camp.

The next morning, still wanting to salvage some of the original trip, we hiked out back to the Jack Trout trailhead in a little over an hour and drove to the end of Icicle Road to the Icicle Creek Trailhead. Starting at 8:45, we quickly covered the Icicle Creek and French Creek Trails without much incident, though a few spots on the French Creek Trail are overgrown—nothing like Meadow Creek, though. We reached the Klonaqua Lakes Trail at about 12:30 and hiked to Lower Klonaqua Lake to camp, passing a couple of small snow patches right before the lake. We had microspikes, but didn't need them. There were a couple of other parties already at the lake when we arrived around 1:30. We set up camp and finally had some time to relax and enjoy our surroundings. The lake and views of Granite Mountain are beautiful!

The hike out the next day was straightforward—we left camp at 8:15, stopping briefly at the junction of the Snowall-Cradle Lake Trail to check out the French Creek ford. It's about 3-4 feet high but not moving super fast. We reached our car at 1:30, happy we had at least gotten to visit one of the lakes we planned. What an adventure!

Now that I'm home and have done further research into the Meadow Creek Trail, I'm not even sure we were ever on it in the first place. I saw two trip reports stating the USFS trail maps put the trail about .5 mile north of where it actually is, and the junction of the Jack Creek and Meadow Creek Trails .6 miles south of where we crossed. Did we just completely miss it and cross the river way too early? Or is the Meadow Creek Trail completely unmaintained? Either way, it made for a frustrating day, but also a learning moment.

So we decided to approach the Klonaqua lakes the 'hard way' via Paddy-Go-Easy pass using the trailhead north of Cle Elum.  The road was a typical rutted forest service road that requires some slow going and about 1 mile before the trailhead you have to drive through Scatter Creek.  It was maybe about 6 inches deep right now which was no problem for my Highlander.  Later in the season its much lower (I did it in my Ford Focus last year in September!). 

Left the Paddy-Go-Easy trailhead about 8:50 am.  For the most part the trail is in very good condition with about 6 to 7 trees across the trail.  None of them particularly hard to get past.  At about 5700 ft we started to hit intermittent snow and by 5850 ft it was pretty much solid the rest of the way to the pass (~6100 ft).  The peak was melted out and provided a nice stopping spot for lunch as it was about noon.  Once we peaked the entire valley was socked in and visibility was down to about 30 yards.  At this point we almost turned back since the backside of the pass was completely snow covered as far as we could see (Which was not far!).  While we ate lunch the clouds lifted enough that we felt like we had a chance to navigate down into the French Creek Valley.  We had to GPS navigate as there was no visible boot path until we descended about 500 vertical feet and the trail became easily followable.  From that point the whole tip down to French Creek was 100% clear and the trail is in great shape.

Next we proceeded down French Creek trail.  The trail itself is in great shape and there were only about 4-5 tree walk arounds all the way to the Klonaqua lake cutoff.  All of them were very simple to pass by.  What we DIDN'T know is how many creek fords we were going to have to do.  The trail crosses French creek numerous times (4) and two more other inflow creeks before the cutoff.  The creeks are high right now, but if you pick your spot you can cross safely which isn't necessarily the place where the trail is.  Do your scouting while the creeks are high!  The water never got above my knees where we found to cross, but boy was it COLD!  

We got to the cutoff to Klonaqua lake and proceeded upward.  Again the trail is in pretty good shape, a few spots that are a bit grown over and sometimes a small amount of water flowing down the trail, but nothing I would consider particularly bad.  After a long slow slog up the steep trail we took the Bob's lake cutoff to head for Upper Klonaqua.  Once we cross the Bob's lake outflow we started to hit intermittent snow (On the way out a did a backside slide down a steep snow valley...unintentionally, but once I was going I leaned into it and had a good time).  We got to Bob's lake (there's a great large campsite right on the lake) and started to proceed around the lake to the left toward to pass on the opposite side of the lake.  At this point we were mostly on snow as we went around the lake until we started the assent into the final pass before descended into Upper Klonaqua which was clear on the trail up.  Once we got to the top of the small pass and started to head down we hit pretty consistent snow again and lost the trail repeatedly.  Back to some GPS navigating for awhile until we hit the land bridge between the lakes.  After a small scramble back up to where the trail was (due to my poor navigating) we finally hit our target campsite.  It was just epic.  We had the place to ourselves and settled in for the night dreading the return slogs up the snow fields and creek crossings we were going to have to repeat tomorrow!  

     My plan for this three day backpack had been to head north from Salmon La Sac along the Cle Elum River road, hike northeast over Paddy-Go-Easy Pass down to the French Creek trail, then north to the Snowall-Cradle trail and southeast past Cradle Lake to the Meadow Creek trail, then east to the Jack Creek trail and south to the Van Epps Creek trail, then on to Lake Ann, Gallagher Head, and out the Paris Creek Trail, connected to the start by a 10 mile bike ride. But halfway through I discovered that the Van Epps trail had been gutted by a forest fire and soon I was lost, my Garmin Inreach Explorer being of no help due to inadequate satellite coverage in the deep valley. So I backtracked north down Jack Creek, west up Meadow creek, then southwest over Paddy-Go-Easy Pass, as rain showers moved in.

    But it was sunny for the first two days and I met not a soul the whole time, so it felt like a real wilderness experience. I even heard elk “bugeling” my first night (it’s actually hoarse and squeeky, not melodic) camped in a bivy sack at my own tiny site about 3 miles up the Snowall-Cradle trail. Amazingly the full French Creek, Snowall-Cradle, Meadow Creek, and Jack Creek trails had been all recently cleared. Spot brushing and tread work had also been done. Yet some of these trails need more than basic maintenance.

     For example, going up and over Paddy-Go-Easy Pass above 5500’ the trail was badly eroded in sections where it was routed more or less straight up the fall line. Here it should be rebuilt, with added switchbacks and strong erosion control. Lower down, cutting back tall huckleberry bushes is long overdue on the lesser-used northeast side of the pass as it drops down to French Creek. The Paddy-Go-Easy Pass trail (officially it’s part of the French Creek trail 1595) is consistently steep but doable as a day hike or light weight overnight (my starting pack weight, including food and water was 20 lbs) with good views as you near the top and some wildflowers still in bloom.

     The Snowall-Cradle trail is also quite steep in places, but much easier through meadows, though obscure in a few spots (look for cairns) even after maintenance. This trail is more heavily used beyond Cradle Lake, though it would be a grind on the way up. The pleasant Meadow Creek trail is of moderate grade throughout, well built and maintained, with large horse camps. I stayed in one of these my second night, coming out to view the gorgeous meadow my moonlight.

    I used my wading sandals for the two crossings of Jack Creek (at Meadow Creek and the Van Epps trail), though a younger, more agile person might of rock hopped. But the crossings of Klonaqua Creek (a roaring torrent even in mid-August) and French Creek at Snowall Creek definitely required sandals, with mid-thigh water at the latter ford. The several crossings of French Creek above Klonaqua were all easy rock hopping.

     As to the Van Epps trail, some yellow ribbons mark your way through the initial overgrowth of huckleberry, but these ribbons don’t continue.  Even though the trail can be followed through fallen logs and brush for a few hundred yards into the fire zone, don’t get sucked in unless your GPS is working (one guy did get through this way). Clearing the Van Epps trail deserves a very high priority, as the Ingalls Creek detour would require an extra day, and I liked this trail when I did it several years ago. Meanwhile the official “current conditions” webpage of the Wenatchee River Ranger District gives no indication of the effective trail closure, reflecting a huge lack of due diligence.