Just finished an eight-day trek around much of the WT (CCW Box Canyon to Longmire). Six days of sun, one partial day of rain, and then a final day under the cloudy skies. Great fellowship with other hikers, minimal bugs, and only a little bit of scary snow (to me, at least) on Panhandle Gap (as of July 31). The trail conditions are generally good. I recall some blowdowns and areas of erosion between Klapatche and Longmire, but not terrible. The switchbacks climbing to Golden Lakes were nearly perfect (again, IMO). Some of the rockiest trail toward the summit before Emerald Ridge felt a little eroded and exposed, for those who have a fear of heights. All river crossings were easily managed, though if you cross later in the morning (past 11am), expect some rushing water to reach and even go over the footbridge. Happy to say that all camp sites we stayed at were clear of trash, so good job on practicing Leave No Trace. :D Providing a table of our itinerary in case it's helpful.

One water callout: Nothing of substance on the climb from North Puyallup to Klapatche, and the tarn there is not suitable, so carry up as much as you can and plan to hike the additional 0.8mi to Lake Andrews (and back) if you need more water up while up at camp there. 

A fun, key exchanging group of Mountaineers hiked 16.5 miles from Fryingpan Creek to Box Canyon. The snow crossing just under Panhandle Gap is a little dicey (photo 2), I used spikes, the 4 other people in the southbound group did not. There are a few not-too-scary ways to cross Nickel Creek.

Flower highlights (north to south) - The mile before Summerland is quite flowery, many Cascade asters are blooming, with scarlet paintbrush, crimson columbine, bistort, valerian, white rhododendron, and more. Summerland has mostly subalpine daisies (photo 4), bistort, and coiled lousewort. The mile beyond Summerland has lots of pink and some yellow monkey flower coming in, there are many interesting flowers in the wet areas: a few saxifrages, bird's beak and elephant's head lousewort, yellow coralbells, arnica, silver leaf phacelia, magenta paintbrush, and many more. The northern drop into Indian Bar has really pretty flowers: thick Cascade asters and scarlet paintbrush, pink and yellow heather (the thickest blooms I've seen this year), sickletop lousewort (photo 3), and more. The southern climb out of Indian Bar was disappointing, only a few of the lupine plants are blooming. There are many other flowers and the whole Indian Bar passage has spectacular views! Descending South from 5930, there are spots of asters, beargrass, and others. The lower meadows have the thickest lupine I have seen this year (photo 1), it was delightful! I'll be repeating this hike once or twice every year!

We backpacked the Indian Bar traverse to Summerland 7/13/23. Starting at Fryingpan Creek TH to Summerland 7/11/23, Summerland to Indian Bar 7/12/23 and then back again the entire trek 7/13/23. Making crossing the gap at Panhandle x2.

SNOW MELT: 3-4 weeks earlier than previous years. 90% coverage on north face of Panhandle Gap has a steep (maybe 50-60 degree slope) side of a snow bowl to climb and traverse. 60% coverage on the south side traverse to Indian Bar. Use lower boot path over Panhandle Gap otherwise it is recommended to NOT always follow boot paths because many go over snow bridges of running water. Use navigation to pick better options and continually assess the situation.

HAZARDS: Panhandle Gap: Use lower boot path. We used micro spikes coming down Panhandle Gap and trekking poles. Going up Panhandle Gap we kicked in good flat steps without spikes and firmly grounded our trekking poles next to the downside of our foot to prevent sliding down the hill. As the day warms these steps become less of a hazard but morning is icy, especially coming down. As mentioned above, snow over creeks and rivers can be dangerous, DO NOT follow boot path where you know snow bridges exist and can either hear or see running water. Look for patterns of breakage and thinning over creek and river crossings. Log bridge above Summerland is IN. After crossing the gap to Indian Bar there are quite a few areas that will post hole into the creeks as you traverse.

BUGS: Minimal this day but we ran into a few groups who had encountered warm welcomes from swarms of biting insects.

CAMPS: Summerland and Indian Bar is snow free, with bear poles to hang food up and toilets open.

HIKE: MORE PHOTOS

Day #1- 7/11/23- Fryingpan Creek to Summerland. Snow free, 4.5 miles and lovely wildflowers. We evening scrambled up the Meany Crest route and checked out the upper river crossing to see if the log was in. Good water sources.

Day #2- 7/12/23- Summerland, Panhandle Gap, Indian Bar. 4.5 miles. See notes above. Plenty of water sources. The trail through Indian Bar has fallen into the river, cairns have been nicely placed. Evening hike to Cowlitz Divide was breathtaking and we saw a large herd of goats hanging on to the side of the hills surrounding Indian Bar. Nice view of both valley's on the divide and Mt. Adams. Finding the trail out of Indian Bar back to Panhandle was a bit tough to find. Navigation was helpful here.

Day #3- 7/13/23 Indian Bar, Panhandle Gap to Summerland. See notes above. 8.8 miles. We are really glad we did this as an out and back. We got to experience beautiful scenery, quite a few goats, marmots and amazing sunrises and sunsets with the snow still underfoot. The weather really cooperated too! 

6600' elevation gain total- 22 miles

Another disappointing hike due to people/Instagramers who have no respect and/or understanding of leave no trace principles (LNT). I lost count, but there were multiple wads of toilet paper laying RIGHT next trail :( Including one wad left within a short walking distance of the toilet at Summerland camp.  Please stay home and stop ruining the outdoors or pack it out!!!

After picking up self-issue permit, decided to start at Owyhigh Lakes, off Hwy 123. Started Saturday afternoon ~11:30 am. There were 3 other cars at "TH"/pull out along the side of road that may fit ~7 cars. Hiked Eastern Loop clockwise. The Eastside trail from Deer Creek camp to Grove of the Patriarchs/Stevens Canyon entrance is pretty flat, cruiser trailer, except for the multiple down trees you have to go over or around (nothing difficult). The foot/log bridges have all seen better days (i.e., they are slanted, some more so then others). They were dry, so no problem crossing any of them. I averaged ~2.7 miles/hour on this section. I could hear cars along parts of this stretch. There is some water access along the trail. The side trail to Grove of the Patriarchs was roped off and said it was closed due to bridge being out. From Grove of the Patriarchs, I headed right along road to access Cowlitz Divide TH instead of staying on Eastside trail.  Trail gains elevation, but overall trail is in good condition. Olallie Creek camp has a toilet and the camps are tucked among the trees. There is water here. At Wonderland junction, took a right. ~5500' there are great 360 views, including Rainer, Adams (although viability was limited due to Goat Rocks fire), etc. Met a nice guy who started running the entire Wonderland Trail the day before and was ~70 miles in. From here start dropping down to Indian Bar. Enjoyed the views at Indian Bar and filled up water. I met a volunteer with https://www.cascadescarnivore.org/ who was on her way to check cameras in the area and put out some tasty treats for the carnivores. The hike from Indian Bar to Panhandle Gap seemed very slow going between elevation gain and regular stops to enjoy the beauty and catch my breath (averaged ~1.6 miles/hour). There is water along the trail before and after Pandhandle Gap. No snow. After Panhandle Gap on saw 5 goats on the hillside to the left and a heard of ~11 on far hillside to the right. The last of the day hikers were leaving as I arrived Summerland on Sunday night. 2 other groups camped at Summerland Sunday night. 3 deer (buck, mama, & doe) were grazing through camp Monday morning. Trail down to Fryingpan Creek TH is in good condition. To complete the Eastern Loop, I walked along road until I arrived at Owyhigh Lakes TH. Trail gains elevation and is primarily in the trees/shade. Some down trees. Again, nothing overly complicated to go over or around. Tamanos Creek camp is in the woods and ~.5 miles from Owyhigh Lakes were the views opened up. Beautiful fall colors. I thought about getting water from lakes, but the water didn't look that nice and I still had a little left. But if you need water, get it here, since the next water source is closer to Deer Creek. Trail back to Deer Creek camp/TH is primarily in the trees and a semi-cruiser trail as the trail descends. Some more down trees and foot bridges that have seen better days. Arrived back at car Monday evening. No other cars. Smoke really rolled in Sunday night/Monday. I'm not a trail runner, but the Eastside trail and Owyhigh Lakes trail would be good trails to do so. Passed another trail runner coming down Owyhigh Lakes trail.

Happy Trails!

Had a great weekday run via the Fryingpan Creek Trailhead to Indian Bar and back: No smoke, no bugs, fall foliage, crisp air, great views.

The parking at this trailhead is limited and all of the official spots were taken when I arrived around 9:00. I took one of the last convenient spots on the road. 

The trail was well trafficked from the trailhead to Panhandle Gap, more hikers than I would have expected on a weekday. Between Panhandle Gap and Indian Bar (my favorite stretch) I only crossed a few backpackers. 

I was glad to visit Indian Bar for the first time but the climb back up is tough and had me cursing a bit. I might stop before that decent to camp next time or try to do a point-to-point to Box Canyon. Lots of water sources on trail - I refilled my bladder once at Indian Bar before heading back.