We decided to hike to North Lake today for fall colors and no crowds.  Scored on both accounts.  While the roads were busy with hunters, we only saw one family of three people on the hike, and had the lake to ourselves.  Trail is in great shape, with only three small and easy to climb over logs.  The creek crossing is low.  The brush is not that bad.  The fall colors include huckleberry, mountain ash, aspen, and larch at the lake.  A lovely tapestry of many tones.  We had some sprinkles at times, and it was sleeting when at the lake.  Tomorrow should bring the first snow to lake level, if not below, so the season may be wrapping up very soon.  Enjoy!

The North Lake trail is in great shape - a few downed trees on the first and last 1/2-mile sections of the trail, but all are easily navigated.  The out-and-back is around 11 miles with 2,200 feet of elevation gain, typically at easy grades of less than 10%.  The first 2 miles goes in and out of the remains of the 2018 fire, where you can see the slow recovery process evolve.  Thimbleberries, raspberries, and saskatoon (service) berries are ripe at lower elevations, and huckleberries are ripe at higher elevations. Bugs were not a problem.  It was a warm day, and a dip in the lake was just the ticket!  This hike, which gets far less use that Twisp Pass, is a real jem!

Camped on Twisp River Road then headed to the Gilbert Trailhead. The road was bumpy but fine for all vehicles. The trail was in good condition with many fragrant flowers. The burn area is rocky with a few mildly overgrown sections. My friend and my dog both had a tick on them when passing through that were easily brushed off. The creek crossing/ford would be challenging for small children but fine for adults. I spotted a black bear grazing in the meadow near the lake but it took off when it spotted me and the pup. North Lake is nice and clear with fish jumping at regular intervals. We passed a handful of hikers and horseback riders, many chipmunks and marmots, and millions of mosquitos.

Began hiking a 9:45. As stated in the June 10 report, there are still about 11 logs across the trail at various locations. Small kids will need help over most of them. A little bushy in places. Most creeks can be crossed with dry feet, using rocks as stepping g stones. At the larger creek, with the logs, you need to pay attention. It's safe to cross,  just pay attention to what your doing. Bugs increase as you near the lake outflow. Saw 2 marmots, supervising our brave friend as she took a dip in the chilly lake. Breezy at the lake with rolling clouds dropped the temperature quickly. Bring at least a light jacket,  even if it's otherwise warm/hot on the trail. Several flowers throught the hike, even a few remaining Balsam Root.

With the forecast high for Winthrop in the low 90's, I got an early start to be through the burned areas before the local sunrise in the North Creek valley.

The flowers are blooming in the first 3 miles, with the fragrance of snowbrush dominating the still morning air in the first mile. It was nice to make the turn into the North Creek valley in the shade of the ridge across the creek. It stayed that way until I reached the forested section at 2.3 miles, when the sun crested the ridge. Along the way were many flowers and only two logs to get around/over.

I was not surprised when I reached the North Creek crossing at 2.9 miles to find the informal double log bridge and the rock hop both partially submerged in the spring flow. So, it was fording time. On with the sandals and off I went on the 30ft ford in 12" deep, 38F water with a moderate current. To say the least it was bone chilling! I would not recommend the ford in this condition for children or pets, as there is a 4ft waterfall just downstream of the ford.

The camps on both sides of the ford were usable.

After the ford, the trail is usually a pleasant 1.8 mile forest walk, with a few eroded sections. This trip it was interrupted by 14 logs of various sizes over the trail. A few took creative off-trail travel to get around/over.

The camp by the large rock at 4.6 miles was not usable (a mix of snow cover and water).

At 4.8 miles, the meadow was wet and the tarn melted out, which meant the mosquito hatchery was in business. While moving or with a substantial breeze, the bugs were not too bad. I opted for bug repellant to reduce the swatting, even so, I got a few bites through my tech-T. In still air and early evening in camp, this could be "tent time" due to the mosquitoes.

A short section of snow at 4.9 miles was easily crossed, although I was distracted by the morning bear tracks in the snow.

All the camps at the lake are usable, (melted out and dry).

I also went up the abandoned mine road, to see the conditions. Note: The unsigned trail starts on the west side of the large log at 4.9 miles. As expected, there were lots of logs over the trail in the forest, some requiring leaving the trail to find an XC route around or over. I was able to make it to the creek crossing at 6500ft. At this point, the snow started in earnest on the opposite side of the creek on the north facing steep hillside. The trail disappeared under the snow, except for a few feet chiseled out of the steep rock to the east. Since I didn't have an ice axe to keep from sliding into the rock/tree runout, I decided to turn around here.

On the hike out, I was very happy to be generally going downhill when I reached the burn area. It was HOT! When I reached the trailhead it was 85F.

There was one more surprise waiting for me. I started driving back toward Winthrop and a after going a mile, found the Twisp River Rd completely blocked by dead tree that had fallen across it! Fortunately, I had some tow ropes to drag the tree onto the shoulder.