The entire 6.1 mile trek to Trout Lake is now snow-free. Just a 25' long patch right by beautiful Trout Creek to actually walk across. As earlier reported there aren't that many trees down along the trail and of the couple dozen only 2-3 require much thought of getting past them. Mosquitos at the lake are like a foggy cloud: all surrounding, especially by the grassy north end. Flowers in the first 1/2 mile of Jack Creek trail are great right now, as well as when passing through the mile of non-wilderness along the top of areas cut years ago. Tons of penstemon/paintbrush/lupines/big views up along there. Also saw the most Western Tanagers in one day I've ever seen--flocks of them, as well as Evening Grosbeaks and a couple of Crossbills.

Our initial plan was to head to Trout Lake for the first overnighter of the year, but the report at the Leavenworth ranger station was that there was still snow 1/2 mile from the lake. With two 8 year olds and one 11 year old in tow we opted not to camp on snow. With limited options of going somewhere with a trail manageable for little legs and where dogs were allowed (it is baffling to me that horses are allowed in the Enchantment lakes, but not dogs) we opted for Jack Creek. We camped at the junction of Jack Creek and the Jack ridge trail. Although that's only 3 miles worth of trail, we counted 40 blowdowns en route. There is a pretty nasty blowdown just after the trail junction. Mosquitoes were raging just as much as Jack creek, but that was no surprise to anyone. Certainly not the trip we'd hoped for at a fish-filled alpine lake, but fun was had by all.

creek very large, snow above 1st junction. went as far as big logjam(dunn creek?). dog jumped in torrent, big 5-hour ordeal, dog lived.

Trout Creek - Jack Creek Loop This is a 13-mile loop trip that features a stop at Trout Lake, and great views of the Windy Pass country and the west side of Cashmere Mtn. The trailhead for Jack Creek trail (#1558) is located just past the Rock Island Campground on Icicle Road near Leavenworth. The trail begins with gentle switchbacks in open forest above Jack Creek. At 1.2 miles hit the first junction, and turn right and continue upwards on the Trout Creek trail (#1555). The trail works up and around the nose of Jack Ridge and emerges in an old clearcut high above Trout Creek with views south to Eightmile Mtn. while Trout Lake is out of sight below and ahead. The trail crosses into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and drops down to meet Trout Creek. Shortly afterwards, 5.2 miles from the trailhead and four miles from the Jack Creek cutoff, reach the intersection with the Eightmile Creek trail (#1554). If you want, turn left here, cross Trout Creek and climb to Windy Pass and Lake Caroline. To continue with the loop go straight ahead at the junction another half mile to Trout Lake. The trail at this point is improved over the last year or so, I think possibly by a WTA crew. In past years the intersection between the Eightmile Creek and Trout Creek trails was unsigned and the trail to the lake was lost. It wasn't clear whether the trail to the lake went up the east or west side of the creek. Now the junction is signed and the trail is obvious and easy, a half mile further to Trout Lake. The local consensus is that Trout Lake is seldom visited. Maybe because USFS first moved the trail following the logging in the area, then lost the new trail through neglect. Maybe because it can be spooky on some days down around the creek crossing. Never mind, the lake is in a beautiful spot below Eightmile Mtn. and the trail is short and moderate. Many campsites at the north end of the lake, and water is easily accessible from the exit creek. The Trout Creek trail ends at Trout Lake. The loop continues here where the Jack Ridge Trail (#1557) begins. The trail is clearly marked and in good shape, although apparently lightly used. A mile and a half to the summit provides great views of the ridge country to the east, including Cashmere Mtn, the area around Windy Pass, and Eightmile Mtn. The drop from here down to rejoin the Jack Creek trail is supposed to be just two miles but seems longer. Go this way and you'll be convinced you never want to try the trip going the other way. Rumor has it that just two miles further up the Jack Creek trail are nice meadow camps popular with hunters in the Fall. To finish the loop, continue straight down the valley on a horsepacker highway that takes you efficiently back to the starting point near Icicle Creek.

HARDING MOUNTAIN (7173 feet) 28 August 2004 Given the recent “autumnal” weather pattern, I headed east of the crest with Steve and John T to climb Harding Mountain. I had envisioned approaching the mountain from the Icicle Creek side and doing the northeast ridge, which shows up as a very direct and aesthetic line on the topo map. Steve, who is an abandoned-trail aficionado, had become equally intrigued by this ridge route ever since he heard about an old trail extending up the crest. (The trail appears on a 1970s version of the Green Trails map but not on the latest version, nor on my 1973 Forest Service map.) Although we all liked the notion that an abandoned trail existed along the ridge, we were pretty dubious because none of us could figure out why a trail would have been built up a non-lookout peak such as Harding Mountain. We started from the Jack Creek Trailhead at 9:00am in mild and partly sunny conditions. After 5 gradually ascending miles, the well-maintained trail abruptly paused at Jack Creek (2.3 hours from car). There is no bridge here, but the wide and shallow creek is easily waded or can be crossed on a logjam 50 yards downstream. We picked up the trail on the far side and followed it another ¼ mile to the crossing of Meadow Creek. Instead of crossing here, though, we angled southwestward into the forest and soon picked up a faint path. Steve eagerly took the lead, as he always does when the scent of a trail-abandonment crime hangs in the air. The path came and went repeatedly, staying on a roughly parallel course with Meadow Creek. When it eventually faded away completely, we veered left and ascended steep forest slopes with light brush, aiming for Harding’s northeast ridge. Our hoped-for trail was starting to look like a backcountry myth until we topped out on the sharp ridge crest at 4500 feet (3.2 hours from car). Steve let out a whoop of delight upon encountering something that looked remarkably like a real trail here! Sure enough, a well-defined path ran straight up and down the crestline as far as we could see, and a small, rusty sign hung on a nearby tree trunk. After much scrutiny, we could discern a Forest Service logo and the words “stock driveway” on the sign. That answered our question as to why a trail would have been built here! We followed the stock driveway as it went upward along the crest to about 4800 feet and then traversed the left (southeast) side of the ridge for another ½ mile. A few sawed logs along the way attested to some formal maintenance in times past. At 5000 feet, the trail died out at the bottom of a talus slope—but it had done its job of getting us to open, subalpine terrain. We continued up the talus to a pleasant heather basin due east of Harding’s summit, then we headed directly southward to reach a gentle spur ridge at 6000 feet. Another 1200 feet of Class 2 scrambling put us on the summit about 2:30pm (5.6 hours from car). The register was a nice big PVC tube containing a new book (placed by Johnny Jeans in 2002) and a few pieces of paper from earlier climbs. The book and papers listed surprisingly few ascents over the past decade. We were the first party signing in this year, and only one person (Dick Kegle) had signed in all last year. Harding Mountain obviously is not a hot-spot among climbers, although it does sit favorably between Mt. Stuart and The Cradle. We relaxed for a while and enjoyed slowly improving views. The skies continued to be partly cloudy, but we never felt a drop of rain. During our descent, we picked up traces of a path through the upper basin but soon lost it in the talus slopes. Once we regained the stock driveway at 5000 feet, we managed to follow it down the entire length of the northeast ridge. It becomes less distinct below 4300 feet, but fresh animal tracks (either stock or game) helped us stay on course. The driveway drops through open forest and never strays too far from the crest until it gets down to the Jack Creek valley; there, it trends a bit to the right (east), wanders through some swampy meadows, and ends at the creek shore just 100 yards upstream from the aforementioned logjam. An easy 5-mile hike got us to the car at 7:15pm (3.8 hours from summit), with plenty of time to hit the 59er Diner. Stats (car to car): 16 miles, 4500 feet gained, 10.2 hours.