Started out at 11:30 a.m. going up a very dusty and horse pooped trail. Started at The Sand Flats Horse Camp. This hike is called The Crystal Mountain Loop. Met two horses and their cowboys about a mile into the hike. The first horse got a little spooked and scared the rider. I jumped out of the way and let them go down. That was the only encounter the whole day. That is the plus about hiking mid-week. Total solitude. After about three miles and alot of huckleberries, the ridge was reached with a hazy Mt. Rainier looming. Another three miles and it was time for a lunch break on top of Crystal Mountain. After a hot and dusty six miles, I was eyeing Elizabeth Lake. So down I went. Got to the lake and immediately went skinny dipping. Wow, did that feel good. After getting re-hydrated and some food I decided to head down. Past Hen Skin Lake and down thru Jim Town, it's a long 13 miles and about seven hours of full on assault. It's a great hike with just about every type of scene you would imagine. Old growth, huckleberries, mountain views, alpine lakes, flowers, waterfalls, and no people.

I was taking my 4-year-old Ben on his first overnight backpack and was looking for something short and not too dificult. The ranger at the Forest Service station in Enumclaw recommended Hen Skin Lake above Crystal Mountain - just follow up the Quicksilver ski lift. We parked at a horse camp and hiked the road/horse trail up to the resort (I wasn't sure about overnight parking there). Red currant bushes, wood violets, and trillium were blooming along the horse trail. A hiker coming down at Crystal Mtn. informed us we just needed to keep to the gravel road - this turned out to be wrong, as the road leaves the Quicksilver lift and heads over to the Forest Queen Express, while Quicksilver almost makes a beeline for Hen Skin Lake. We ended up just below the Miners Lakes in a small clearing near a big snow patch. Ben was tired and liked the spot, so we camped there and had a grand time. We found lots of elk and bear scat and watched a raven, played on snow, and settled into the tent for stories after dinner. The next morning I cached my pack below the resort and carried Ben to the car - he had put in quite a workout for little legs, but recovered by the time we reached Federation Forest and put in another mile exploring the trails there. The Crystal Mountain area seems popular with dog owners, and there is quite a bit of trash on the ground.