My two sons completed a one way, ~21 mile trip from War Creek trail in Twisp River valley to Stehekin.  As reported, the War Creek access road is closed due to 5 washouts so added 1.5 miles to the hike.  They left the car at 4am and arrived to Stehekin at 1:30 pm. They took the fast ferry to Chelan at 3pm and were in Chelan at 4:30 pm. They estimated 100 downed trees on trail. 

The trail has not been maintained for 2 years and has considerable overgrowth. At times, the trail disappeared and they had to use GPS find the route.  As you approach the pass, the trail is very clear. 

Unfortunately the pioneer fire has engulfed the entire trail down purple creek to Stehekin.  At the time of the hike, the fire was approximately 8 miles south. 

Got dropped off alone at 7 AM Monday morning at the locked gate for the War Creek trailhead road. My family was too lazy to hike to Stehekin, so they took the ferry. Lame.

The road is indeed washed out in four places by big mudslides with logs glued into the debris. All are pretty easily passable on foot.

The trail up War Creek is faint to obscured by overgrowth in most places along the first 7-8 miles, but is still weirdly findable throughout. It seems like the kind of trail that used to be much more traveled and packed down, so although overgrown, plants still can't grow out of the center of the trail. I wore shorts because I like to viscerally experience nature, and this rig runs hot. Pants are a cop out.

I counted 83 logs down across the trail in the 5.6 miles from parking lot to cabin. There were significantly fewer on average after that, as you climb higher and farther from the stream. I'm not sure if there has been recent maintenance (some log cuts maybe looked a little fresh?), but the estimate of 200+ logs down overall to Stehekin in the report from last June on this site seems high to me. 

Trail gets easier to follow as you climb above 5500 feet. I found only two tiny snow patches up there, but it was much colder above 5500 - seemed like a combination of the elevation itself, and of approaching the boundary between the super dry, sunny Methow and a sightline to the Western Washington rainforest.

Given how faint the War Creek trail was, I was worried that I might not notice the ridge trail or the Purple Pass cutoff once up in the forested high country near the pass. But I kept to the path and eventually hit the ridge trail (there is currently a broken but visible sign at the trail junction between War Creek and ridge trail). 11 miles from road gate to the junction.

Once through the pass on the ridge trail, Lake Juanita is clearly visible and the trail to Purple Pass is well signed. It was lovely but cold through 1.5 miles of high country trail from War Creek trail junction to the signs for the Boulder Butte summit trail. Dropped my pack and went for the summit - if you've already hiked up over 4000' vertical, you're crazy not to do it. View is much better than at Purple Pass.

Coming down Purple Pass trail to Stehekin is pretty bananas. Pretty ridiculous amount of descent vertical. Also, the first few miles of trail from the pass down isn't itself that steep (nice switchbacks), but the combination of super narrow trail, gravel debris, and insane dropoffs on side of trail made this part pretty scary. Didn't help to already have 14 miles on my legs when doing this section. Be safe people!

Finally made it down to the lodge, which is a pretty surreal destination after this hike. Not in time for happy hour, though, which is BS. Overall stats from my fancy watch: 21.6 miles (with Boulder Butte detour and entry road included), 4900' vertical ascent, 6400' vertical descent, 10 hours.

You can do this as a day hike! You gotta want it! Feel the burn!!

-Nacho

This was an overnight hike to Juanita Lake going up Boulder Creek Trail and coming down Purple Creek Trail with a side trip to Boulder Butte.

The unseasonable warm and dry weather of mid-October 2022 tempted me up to Juanita Lake to see the larches changing color. I was hoping the longer trail up Boulder Creek would make it a less arduous than going up Purple Creek. It may be, but not by much. The 12 miles and 5800 feet vertical gain took 8 hours.

The Boulder Creek trail was in remarkably good shape with only a couple of recent blow-downs I had to clear a path through. There was ample water along the trail despite the long dry summer and late season. The last water before Juanita Lake is the creekcrossing just before Reynolds campground. The Boulder Creek trail is also much less exposed to the sun, making it a far better approach if starting in the afternoon than going up Purple Creek trail which can be a frying pan.

The larches appeared as you crest the ridge for the final couple of miles and they were in full color. Juanita Lake had more water than expected, but use the tiny creek flowing at the end of the trail past the campsites (turn right downhill from the brand new vault toilet) for drinking. The view from the Juanita Lake campsites looking out over the Sawtooths cannot be beat.

Broke camp at dawn and headed for Stehekin over Purple Pass. Did the the half mile detour up to Boulder Butte which is well worth it with a 360 degree view. Purple Creek trail is in good shape with only one huge log to scramble around. It took about 4 hours from Juanita Lake to Stehekin including the detour to Boulder Butte.

Hike to Purple pass was snow free with stunning Lake Chelan views and mountain range all around. Snow started after towards Purple Creek trail and towards Boulder Creek trail, used Caltopo for route finding, had a pair of poles and solid trail running shoes with good traction and felt safe. Things got a bit more difficult with not trail in sight crossing below Camels Butte. Just followed same elevation and jumped hundreds of trees, one at a time. Once I dropped past Lone Mountain found the trail again and progress was easier. From there until bakery trail was uneventful with stunning views. 

Wrapped up a week logging out trails along the Twisp River valley before hiking in to Stehekin over War Creek Pass and Purple Pass spending the night at Juanita Lake. 

The trail up to the wilderness boundary was fine, but from there to about 3 miles from Stehekin the trail was an endless series of downed trees. Individually, pairs, trios and log jams stretching 100 feet. I estimate there were150+ logs down in War Creek before the snow and another 50+ from Purple Pass down to Stehekin.

Hit 3 foot deep snow at about 5500 and bushwhacked to the pass. Not having done the trail previously I had no idea where the trail went, nor which pass to take out of the valley. Glad I had electronic navigational aids to assist. Snow was semi-firm on the War Creek side, so micro-cleats were enough, but glad I had an ice axe for the snowfield up to the pass. Took 8 hours to do the 9.5 miles to Juanita Lake.

The campsites at Juanita Lake were all snowed in as was the lake. Found a bare spot overlooking Fourmile Creek valley and melted snow. 

Headed over Purple Pass at sunrise. Very little snow on the Purple Pass side, so it was easy to find the trail as it reappeared from the snowdrifts. This snow was hard and crusty in the early morning, so crampons would have been a better choice than micro-cleats.  Four hours from Juanita Lake to Stehekin.

Both War Creek and Purple Pass trails were quite brushy in places, in some places completely hiding rocks and tripping hazards. Once the fireweed reaches full height, I suspect the trail will become even more difficult to navigate.

I imagine this would be a really nice hike with the trail cleared and snow free.