A party of three, we started on the trail late in the morning. The trail gradually climbs for the first couple of miles then levels for a couple more. Here is where the trail crosses the boundary from National Forest to Glacier Wilderness at about 5 miles. The trail soon climbs steeply with some switch backs up into the meadow. The trail crosses the creek twice and the campsites are just after the second crossing. I forgot to note this and we continued for about another mile and a quarter or until about 5,400' elev. where the trail became overwhelmed with downed timbers. Signs of avalanche blowdown are everywhere at this level and the trail becomes impenetrable. On the way in we crossed paths with a dayhiker who tried to make the loop going up over Carne Mt. but ran into the other side of the swath and had to retreat. We turned back to the sites and made camp. We had a nice camp; bugs were present but not too bad. The flowers are past there peak with mostly asters and a paintbrush here and there. The weather was warm but not bad, though the dust was heavy - we spaced out on the trail to not choke on it. The huckleberries are in full swing and are delicious. Good times.

I hiked in, camped 2 nights, and hiked out. The trail was in decent shape, only a few blowdowns and all were easy to climb over. A few mud spots early on, but nothing bad. The two creek crossings before the meadow were wade-able with appropriate footwear: knee-deep (and really cold!) water and slippery rocks. I changed into sandals for those crossings and didn't have any problems. The meadow was gorgeous! Lupine, Queen Anne's lace, and paintbrush flowers were in full bloom. I saw chipmunks, bunnies, deer, ptarmigan, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, western tanagers, and some very curious evening grosbeaks, as well as a variety of other birds. The birdsong was incredible, just non-stop conversation. My only "complaint" was the mosquitos... they were voracious. Otherwise, a great hike and had the place to myself for 3 days.

No other reports for this trail, so we thought we'd write one. Spent Labor Day weekend on the Lonely Rock Creek trail. No obvious campsites until 5, 6, 7 miles and then several in the glorious meadows. Trail is clear of downed wood to the meadows, but brushy and rougher past the 5 mile mark. Guide book claims this trail open to motorcycles, but it isn't. Mountain bikes yes, but would be a challenging ride. It also calls it out as 7 miles to the meadows, but based on hiking rate and gps, more like 8 to second crossing. Ate breakfast Monday morning with a doe. The hunters will be up their very soon as one group on horseback claimed as they were scouting for a place to camp and hunt bear next weekend or so. I hope she learns how to hide a bit better and the bears beware! The weather was great dispite the frigid forcast. Beautiful autumn camping. Only a few hearty but slow mosquitos as it warmed up during the day.

Carne Mtn. & Beyond : Sorry this posting is a week and half late, but hey, I've been busy! No one else has posted this area yet, so thought my trip would be useful to someone. Road is fine to Trinity t trailhead (Entiat area) We chose this area because of threat of Thunderstorms on western slopes, so we tried to go as far east as we could. The trail is in good shape, but with numerous(18+) blowdowns to navigate. This will keep pack animals out of there until cleared. ( no horse poop!) We reached the saddle above the basin, and because of threatening clouds and far off thunder, decided against putting the tent on the exposed ridge. We hunted around & found a somewhat lower depression, just to make us feel better.;) A short stroll up to Carne took care of peak bagging. Around dinner time, the thunder became decidedly louder,and as is so often the case in the mountains, the sky opened up & we tested our rain gear for a while. Thunder & lightening is ALWAYS exciting in the mountains, you can 'feel' the electricity in the air. Thankfully it stopped as abruptly as it began , and we enjoyed a dry evening & night. The next morning was socked in, but we decided to walk on for a few hours to see how far & how close we could get to the flanks of Mt. Maude. The Rock Creek Trail continues over the saddle & just before it turns down the valley there is an intersection with another trail(unnamed on most maps) that heads thru another saddle towards Maude. There is a strange sign there, reading, simply: 'trail'. Well, duh. We walked for over an hour (3miles+-) and it steadily opened up, clouds diminishing. If we'd had more time, maybe 3-4 more hours, we could have summited. A nice loop would be to continue on & connect with the Leroy Creek trail & rejoin the Phelps Creek trail back to trailhead. Or one could have turned right in the basin below Carne, and headed towards Old Gib and Estes Butte, etc. Many choices for wandering & loops in this lovely area. Patches of snow here and there in higher elevation, nothing to slow one's progress though.

FS rd 62& 6200 still has many trees down with much debris on the road from Chikamin bridge to Trinity. Snow is spotty from Atkinson flats to Trinty and there is a washout with water running across where the road used to be past the 2nd snow gate that is closed due to snow on the road. Buck Creek trail is under water at Trinity due to the Chiwawa River cutting a new channel to the east and now going through Trinity and putting almost 4-5' of water on the trail due to damage to the pond. There are numerous trees and debris along with as much as 4-5' of snow still covering the rest of the trails especially in the upper elevations. Just getting to some of these trails isn't even possible at this time of year with out the right equipment.