This was a longer day hike. Seventeen mile loop. Began at Slab Camp heading to Duncan Flats then to Slide Camp . On to Three Forks then up to Deer Ridge and back down to Slab Camp. Trail conditions are pretty good although there are over 40 trees down across the trail from Duncan Flats to Three Forks. Most can be gone over...some gone around and some gone under. A few that you go under are rotten so be careful that they do not fall on you. 

The creek and river crossing are fine with bridges. Only a couple bridges are without handrails...but not bad.

Get water at Three Forks before heading up to the ridge...there is one very small stream about 1.0 miles up. May get dry in late summer.

No bugs to speak of but I sprayed myself with Deep Woods Off  for the possibility of ticks. They are out this summer.

Flowers are beautiful in most open areas.  We saw grouse and a Great Grey Owl. Nice

We did this Cameron/Grand loop trip from Deer Park in 1975 with our then 4 and 5 year old girls. We have never had a chance to go back since that time so we were looking forward to the chance to rekindle some memories and see how things have changed. We got the usual late start after the ferry and permits, so the first night we just went as far as Three Forks Camp. A nice downhill trail the whole way with a nice campsite and old shelter at Three Forks. The next day we tackled the tougher Lower Cameron Trail, as well as the trail over Grand Pass to Moose Lake. We had heard several warnings from other hikers, trail reports and even the permitting rangers about the poor condition of the Cameron trail, but trail conditions are so subjective we wanted to find out for ourselves and give an objective report. So here's the tally on the seven miles of the Lower Cameron Trail: 2600 foot elevation gain, 600 foot loss 40 downed trees that you have to navigate over, around, under or through 3 minor washouts and 1 major washout 1 good footlog crossing over Cameron Creek 1 tough footlog crossing over Cameron Creek where the footlog is inundated with debris Some brushy parts of the trail but never where the trail was hidden The major washout is about 1 mile down from the Grand Pass Intersection. It is impossible to get down the steep bank, but previous hikers have bushwhacked a trail to an easy crossing of the riverbed. You can follow where others have created this rough trail through the brush going downstream from the original trail. The crossing is then easy but bushwhacking up and down is not. With all that being said, everything on the trail is very doable, it will just take you a lot more time and energy than normal. We are not fast hikers, but it still took us a full seven hours to go the seven miles. The campsites on the Lower Cameron trail are not formal, but there are decent campsites near both of the Creek crossings and another a mile or so upstream from the upper crossing. So after exploring Cameron Creek we still had to hike up and over Grand Pass to our assigned campsite on Moose Lake. It is a very steep trail going up the south side of the pass and we now wonder how we ever got our young daughters up it. Just a smidgeon of snow remaining on the north side of the pass and a good trail down to the lakes. Several beautiful campsites on Moose Lake and we were lucky enough to have permits for two nights there. And actually we only saw a very few people at the lakes and most campsites were empty, since the Obstruction Point Road had been closed due to fires. Our last day we hiked out via Lilllian Ridge and Grand Ridge to Deer Park. These are both spectacular ridge top trails with great views almost the whole way, of both the mountains and the salt water and islands to the north. These trails were all in very good shape with a few very steep traverses between Obstruction Point and Deer Park. Due to the road closure, the trails around Obstruction Point were deserted but we ran into lots of day hikers as we got closer to Deer Park on Saturday afternoon.

Did a 2 night loop trip starting and ending at Deer Park during a break in the rainy weather. First night was at Three Forks after a few hours hiking downhill. Day 2 went up Cameron Creek and over Grand Pass to camp at Gladys Lake (Grand Valley) for the second night. Day three took the way trail along the ridge from Gladys Lake to Destruction Point, then back to Deer Park. Overall the trails were is good enough condition if you don't mind some bush whacking and moderate snow fields. The only sketchy section of trail was for a 2 or 3 mile section on Cameron Creek - see the trail conditions below for each section: Deer Park to Three Forks - Trail in good shape with the exception of several minor downed trees that are not a problem. Three Forks to Cameron Creek/Grand Pass trail junction - The first half of Cameron Creek from Three Forks to the two foot bridges half way up is relatively open, though lightly traveled, with just a few problematic downed trees, a root ball, a large log jam all over the lower foot bridge, and some minor overgrowth. The section from the upper bridge to the Grand Pass junction is much more overgrown, boggy in a few spots, trail hard to follow once or twice (in a meadow and around a downed bunch or trees), has more problematic downed trees and one major washout (see below for details). As noted in previous trip reports, there's a dangerous side stream washout a mile or two below the Grand Pass junction on Cameron Creek, with overhanging cliff on either side cutting off the trail. The best crossing of the washout is about 100 feet upstream, but it's still very steep, loose and limited vegetation to assist descending and ascending the treacherous sides. Until this trail gets some maintenance, a 15 foot section of rope fixed to either side 100 feet up from the washout would be helpful. Cameron Creek/Grand Pass junction to Grand Pass - Other than some downed trees and bush whacking on the first few switchbacks, the trail was relatively clear of major obstacles and snow-free the whole way to the pass, although it is consistently steep. It's VERY steep just below treeline and in a few other spots mid-way up, but otherwise has well constructed switchbacks. Grand Pass to Gladys Lake - Several moderate snowfields with softer snow in the afternoon that felt fine with just trekking poles, although the run-out if you fall is not good in a few places. Once or twice I had to look around for a few seconds to find the trail on the other side of a snowfield, but not too bad. The rest of the trail is in pretty good shape to Gladys Lake. I did not hike any of the trail below Gladys Lake (see below). Way trail along Lillian Ridge from Gladys Lake to Obstruction Point - This was half trail and half scramble with lots of loose talus, scree, steep side hilling and some moderately steep snowfields. Excellent views and worth the extra time and effort if you're OK with the challenges. After reaching the junction with the Grand Valley trail the trail was in good condition. Grand Ridge trail from Obstruction Point to Deer Park - In good shape with no obstacles other than a few short, moderately steep snowfields under Obstruction Point.

We started mid-day at Deer Park and headed down to three forks shelter. We forged on to what I believe is the Lower Cameron Creek Campground. The campground is unmarked but has a three-sided shelter (with no roof) to place your tent, a small area for a campfire, and running creek for water. Pretty nice. While the total elevation from Three Forks Shelter to the Lower Cameron camp is not bad, the up and down wore us out. We left in the morning around 9:30 and headed toward the junction to the Grand Pass trail. This part of the trail was frustrating at times. We lost the trail several times and found ourselves crawling through thick wooded areas to eventually find the trail again. At one point, at the last creek before the Grand Pass junction, there was a serious washout, about 30 feet deep and 25 feet across. We had to slide into the ravine, hike down to the river just to get across safely. The hike up Grand Pass was snow free except for a small amount in the bowl near the top. There were several snowfields on the other side of the pass on the way down to Grand Lake, where we stayed the second night. Look out for the deer who stole my partner’s sweat drenched shirt and two of our hiking poles. The third day consisted of a moderately easy hike on the way out to Obstruction Point through Lillian pass. This three-day, two-night hike was fantastic! I would highly recommend this trip for anyone who wants a backcountry adventure!

Having had the fires put the kibosh on our carefully planned trip to Spider Gap, we improvised a last minute trip that didn't need permits. Started at Slab Camp/Deer Ridge trailhead, went up Deer Ridge (a very steep slog) to Deer Park campground. There we enjoyed two comfy nights with pit toilet, bear box and very quiet and friendly neighbors. The campground was full on a Weds. but we barely heard a peep. If you do hike into Deer Park rather than drive, there is currently water in a spring just to the right of the Grand Ridge trailhead by the closed ranger station. It wasn't much but probably will be more abundant with the rain this weekend. We day hiked Grand Ridge out to Elk Mountain on Thursday, which was spectacular -- great view of Mt. Olympus from Elk Mtn. Friday we went down the Three Forks trail to Gray Wolf camp. The bridge at Three Forks camp is out, but there was a trail crew working on a new bridge which they said would be done probably by 9/5. Meanwhile you can walk a very slick, broken, angled log (scary for us old ladies) or do what looked like a pretty easy ford at the horse ford. Saturday we hiked out via Gray Wolf and Slab Creek trails. Gray Wolf camp is really nice -- one of the nicest river camps I've stayed at. Heading out Gray Wolf you hit a junction with a sign that says Park Boundary and Slab Camp. I don't know where the unsigned trail there goes -- it wasn't on the map. It would be easy to miss the sign there. Then there is an unsigned junction where the left fork is the Slab Camp trail and the right fork goes toward the portion of Gray Wolf where the bridge is washed out. We took the wrong turn but you can tell quickly that you are on the wrong track since the right hand trail is unmaintained. All in all a very nice Plan B for our vacation.