This is a tough hike to report on.  It seems there are trails all over the place that people can loops around on.  There was a trip report from last weekend that had me puzzled as well.  I will tell you about our trip, which was in fact pretty close to perfect.  We managed to drop a car at Trinity at the end and catch a ride to the Phelps Creek.  We started out journey as a group and finished as a group.  My pack weighed 50# and what sucks is it weighed 45# when I arrived home.  

We started about 11 am on Friday and arrived at the meadow around 1 pm where there was a nice breeze.  We reached the bottom of Spider Glacier at about 2:45 ish.  The trail is in great shape and there was a nice breeze.  Dont forget a windbreaker no matter how hot it is when you start.

We continued up and over the glacier through Spider Gap.  Most had spikes as it was suggested previously.  I dont feel as though you needed them and they were basically extra weight but I did bring them.  We then headed down Lyman Glacier and had to play "find the trail"

There really isnt a trail to follow as much as just head down to the lake and then once you start along side it you pick one up.  Travel through here was time consuming due to the terrain.  We then came to the detour.  At the time we arrived the sign was in the middle of the trail held down with rocks.  If for some reason you see a left turn with a yellow ribbon on it and no sign you better follow the yellow ribbons as some SOB moved the sign.

So shortly after the left turn and we encountered a stream/river where we needed to take our boots off to cross.  It was pretty simple but the water was just below my shorts.  Then we headed down the hill to the side of the boulders where there was a trail that came and went.  After walking along the lower lake we found a campsite just before another creek where one might have to take off there boots again to cross.  That one was a small shallow one but for some reason deep enough to need to take your shoes off.

We should have went a little further as there were better campsites but all was good.  I am not sure what to say about the bugs.  I never used bug spray the whole weekend but I dont recall many bug bites the first day or night.  I think my friends used spray though.  

On Saturday we took off and headed for Flower Dome.  The hike to Cloudy Pass was awesome.  It was about a 800' gain from the campsite. There was some snow at the top still but none on the trail basically.  We headed down and took the hikers shortcut despite the suggestion not to.  There was no problem with this shortcut and it was passable without even touching snow.

We stopped for lunch at a viewpoint right about a mile after Suiattle Pass on the descent. This was toward the end of our 2000' foot decent.  Then up again we went making a left on a trail that is easy to miss. Up and up we went on our 2000' gain.  We reached what is called Middle Ridge and we couldnt stop for a second without the flies wanting to say hello.  Now the 1000' drop and 1000' gain to end the day just past the Flower Dome turn at Buck Pass.  Like previous reports there is one campsite with a view of Glacier but we headed down to one just below right next to the creek as we required water.

Over all up until the second night there were very few blow down and on the second day there were no water crossing that required removing ones boots.  there was some that appeared to be tricky but even with a 50# pack all was well.  Some I wouldnt want to cross if it was raining and the logs were wet.

One the last day we headed down from Buck Pass to complete our loop hike totaling about 36 miles.  Yes, Image Lake would have been nice but we did pretty good for a two night and three day trip.  One extra day and night would have been nice.  The trail up to High Pass from Buck Pass looked incredible as well.

The last 11 miles were interesting.  There was overgrown trail, blow downs and fire damage.  This is not the way to start this loop in my opinion but a nice gradual descent to end the hike.

Overall it was a great backpacking trip and my first multi night one. My pack weighed 50#'s and I have some older stuff so not really light.  This is an awesome journey and I didnt seem to have nearly as much problems as the woman who wrote the trip report last weekend.  We did bump into a hiker who said he just found a phone so we let him know that there was a trip report where someone had lost one.  What are the odds in all that wilderness that a phone is found and returned.  This hike is a MUST do!! One last note, one of the people we passed asked us about water at Cloudy Pass as he said he had trouble finding some above 6000'  We by then were at that elevation or below so just a heads up in that regard.

I had a few days to myself and decided to grab my map, a pack, and a snack and head off into the Glacier Peak Wilderness. My route ended up being Phelps Creek TH -> Phelps Creek Trail -> Spider Gap -> Lyman Lakes -> Cloudy/Suiattle Passes -> Miners Ridge Trail -> Image Lake (Side trip to Canyon Lake) -> Miners Ridge Trail to PCT -> PCT -> Upper Suiattle River Trail -> Triad Creek Trail -> Buck Creek Pass Trail -> Buck Pass TH -> road walk back to Phelps Creek TH.

Trail conditions:

Phelps Creek Trail: Excellent, lots of bugs and water on the trail. Campsites melted out at the bottom of Spider glacier.

Spider Gap: Snowfield from bottom of Spider Glacier most of the way to Upper Lyman Lake.

Lyman Lake Trail: Lots of water and mud on the trail. Trail rerouted due to a bridge washout across Railroad Creek (see below).

Miners Ridge Trail (Cloudy Pass to Image Lake): Excellent

Canyon Lake Trail: Signed as unmaintained, ~160 trees across trail (mostly small and cut-able with a hand saw or katanaboy). Overgrown and poor tread in many places. Much tread sloughing due to brush on the uphill side of the trail.

Miners Ridge Trail and PCT (Miners Ridge lookout to Upper Suiattle Jct): Excellent, a couple trees across PCT.

Upper Suiattle River Trail (PCT to Dusty Creek): ~85 trees across trail. Dusty Creek ford was mid-thigh in the late afternoon. Tread easy to follow except for the section up-stream of the Dusty Creek crossing where I had to fight through brush for a few hundred yards before I found good trail again.

Upper Suiattle River Trail (Dusty Creek to Suiattle River): ~370 trees across trail ranging from small stuff to big old growth. Tread surprisingly good and easy to follow! Some brush work done recently. The Suiattle River ford was terrifying in the late afternoon and 2 feet lower but still unsafe in the morning near sunrise. Found a log about a mile downstream to cross.

Triad Creek Trail: ~425 trees across trail ranging from small stuff to big old growth. The trail isn't obvious from the river due to big blow-down and erosion but the old tread is clear after you gain a few hundred feet from the river. Lost the trail in the swampy meadows a mile below Buck Pass and had to just aim toward Helmet Butte.

Buck Creek Pass Trail: ~70 trees across trail. Tread in good condition and green starting to appear in the burned area.

Trip report

There are a lot of quiet places in the Glacier Peak Wilderness that have become even more remote since the big floods that washed out the roads on the west side of the mountain. One of the places on the map I've wanted to visit for a while has been the upper part of the Suiattle River and so I made a loop (essentially the classic Phelps Creek/Buck Creek loop with a big add-on) that took in this region along with some other trails that I've only hiked in fog and rain before.

I started at the Phelps Creek TH on Sunday afternoon and was greeted by a line of cars and hikers on their way back home. The trail wanders shady forest for a while but abruptly hits meadows and reveals the magnificent Phelps Creek valley.

The best view however, require a steep hike up to the base of the Spider Glacier.

For even better views continue up the Spider Glacier to spider gap. Micro-spikes made the hike up the glacier considerably easier.

I descended the snowfield from the Spider Gap to Upper Lyman Lake where I met some goats.

Head downhill from Spider Gap to a large cairn to find the Lyman Lake trail.

The Lyman Lake trail has been rerouted due to a bridge washout. I missed the sign at the trail-head but here it is.

I ended up following the closed trail to the washout.

A knee deep ford was available near the washout.

I continued to Cloudy Pass to camp and enjoyed the views of the Lyman Lakes below the Spider Gap.

Monday I crossed Suiattle Pass and took the Miners ridge trail to Image lake. This trail has all kinds of neat trash leftover from the past and some of the best views of Glacier Peak you'll get.

At Image lake I decided to take a side trip to Canyon Lake which was signed as unmaintained. The trail was sometimes snow covered, damaged by water, and neglected.

Canyon Lake was pretty and I decided to camp there and climb to one of the high vantage points around the lake for evening vistas.

On the way into Canyon Lake I lost the trail in avalanche debris and wasted much time and energy going the wrong way. The trail shown on the USGS maps is not where it is currently routed. Go downhill (not up) when you get to the avalanche debris.

Tuesday I returned to Image Lake and hiked up to the Miners Ridge lookout.

The volunteer there was busy painting but kindly invited me up to checkout the lookout and enjoy the views of Glacier Peak and the Suiattle River drainage.

I dropped from Miners Ridge to the PCT where I encountered my first other hikers since Sunday (the PCT is basically I-5) crossed the Suiattle on the sweet new bridge and made my way to the Upper Suiattle River Trail where the fun would begin. The trail was pretty decent and easy until I got to Vista Creek. Cairns marked the way along the creek and I fell in trying to cross a log (I'm top heavy) and ended up "fording" the creek.

On the far side of Vista Creek no trail was apparent. I crashed in and out of paths into the brush where apparently others had done the same. Eventually I consulted my map, pointed myself in the direction of where the trail should go and started schwacking. After a couple hundred yards (it felt like more) I found real tread that became very nice trail as it climbed a ridge between Vista Creek and the Suiattle River.

I crossed many downed logs but was happy to see evidence of recent brushing as I hiked to where the trail crosses the Suiattle. At the Suiattle one must cross the river to continue. The river was raging in the late afternoon and the prospect of crossing it seemed terrifying. I camped in the comfortable sand at the river hoping the morning would bring mellower water.

I climbed out of bed early, packed up camp without breakfast and started searching for a way across the Suiattle before the sun started cooking the snowfields above. I probed upstream and downstream of the river crossing for an hour or two and went up to waist deep at about a dozen good looking spots but could not get across the main body of the current without being swept downstream.

Eventually I found a log spanning the main part of the river that I was able to inchworm across. Note in the picture that in the afternoon the water level is even with the bottom of the log and would be treacherous.

After crossing I emptied my pack of its soaked contents, laid them out to dry, and celebrated with breakfast and tequila.

I found the Triad Creek Trail right where it should be on the map by climbing from the riverbank up through steep blow-down. These upper Suiattle valleys have a lot of magnificent old growth that has fallen across the Upper Suiattle and Triad Creek trails.

Near the river the Triad Creek trail is very steep and scenic. Expect to brush wack, climb tough logs, deal with mud, and frequently hold onto plants to not fall down the hillside.

After crossing many downed logs I made it to the unnamed creek draining west from Buck Creek Pass. At this point the trail became on again/off again in the meadows and I headed uphill toward Helmet Butte to reach the pass.

The Buck Creek Pass trail was uneventful. Greenery is returning to the large burned swathe

and the hiker bridge remains defunct.

The road to the Phelps Creek TH has gotten considerably worse since I biked it earlier this year but is passable in a passenger car. Water ruts and lots of dust.

<3 the Glacier Peak Wilderness!

We (group of 4 women) started our hike from Phelps Creek TH. Several streams to cross but nothing overly dangerous. Bugs weren't too bad on the trail to the meadows but some biting black flies. Beautiful wild flowers in the meadow. Continued up to the base of the snow field below Spider Gap where we filtered water and enjoyed the views. Encountered approx. 10 other hikers throughout the day, all coming down. Group of boys and guide from teen adventure camp were having a blast in the pools at the base of snow field. Used microspikes to successfully climb the snow field. Views at top were spectacular. Continued down the snow fields almost all the way to the lakes. The lower snow fields had quite a bit of water running under them so we crossed very quickly. We camped at the knoll just before the view of Lower Lyman Lake. The bugs were annoying at dusk but disappeared shortly after. We used mosquito nets to keep them at bay.

We started early Tuesday morning with the goal of getting to Holden Village by 1:30 to catch the bus to Lucerne at 1:45. Followed the detour having seen the "bridge out" sign the previous night. The first stream crossing was on slippery rocks, a current, and water above the knees. Water shoes of some sort would have been helpful. We all crossed in hiking boots sans socks. Down another snow field (no traction needed) and then down a boulder field to get to Lower Lyman Lake. The bugs were definitely more aggressive the lower we went. Continued around left side of lake and down towards Hart Lake. Trail between the two lakes was overgrown in many places and was completely exposed to the sun. Ran into a bear in the bushes right next to the trail between Lyman and Hart but fortunately he ran off very quickly. Several stream crossings (some sketchy) with the final one below Hart lake. The cairns pointed the way to a crossing that did not look safe due to amount of water coming down so we crossed higher up where there were some branches and a log. Pulled into Holden Village at 1:30. Total mileage to camp spot on day one was 11.5 miles and total mileage day 2 was 10.5 miles. Shout out to the bus driver in Holden (Sean ?) who took great care of us.

Started our adventure from the Phelps Creek TH Friday morning with our main objective being reaching Holden Pass for a Saturday summit push for Bonanza Peak. Big thunder and lightning storms came through on Thursday night as we made the drive up the Chiwawa River Rd to the trailhead and did a good job of coating all of the next days trailside greenery in copious amounts of water so we left the car expecting to get fully doused. Not only were our legs and shoes good and soaked by the previous nights rain but about the time we reached Spider Meadows the current days rain decided to show up and give us a treat. We hit Spider Gap in a full on squall and pushed on over to Upper Lyman Lake down to Lower Lyman and the Crows Point Falls intersection with the main section of the Railroad Creek Trail. To this point in our hike all of the trail had been easily discernible, predominantly brush free, and from Spider Meadows free of downed logs. The logs that were on trail occurred between the Phelps TH and Spider Meadows and had mostly been limbed so as to be easy to step over. Spider Glacier and the snow north of Spider Gap was easily travelled without ice axe or crampon although a day of colder temps could warrant the use of either. From the Crows Point intersection we descended down Railroad Creek towards Holden doing our best to give the somewhat overgrown brush a hand drying out but I think we became fully saturated pretty quick and ultimately failed at this task. The trail is easy to follow and has very few obstacles to negotiate besides bracken ferns and the occasional higher than average stream for us. Once it reaches Rebel Camp the trail improves significantly and is very mellow as it passes Hart Lake and eventually tees into the Holden Lake Trail. At this point we took the trail up to Holden Lake which is clear of downed logs and in very good condition the whole way, it did catch a bit of damage from last years Wolverine Fire within the first mile but it has all been cleaned up. Once reaching Holden Lake we made our way around the East bank and stayed climbers right of the rightmost stream coming down from Holden Pass, picking our way through one small section of alder down low and then following cairns and a tread through scree and talus to finally reach the pass where we made camp. Our summit day went well on Bonanza, being the first party to sign the register since fourth of July last year, views were amazing and once back at camp we packed up and backtracked the previous days trails to Crows Point, at which time we went around the West side of Lower Lyman Lake on trail 1256A where we made camp and had the place entirely to ourselves. Sunday we woke to make coffee and head to the car, the mosquitoes were a little denser with the warmer weather but we just wore our rain shells (bug shells) as we packed. We headed up to Upper Lyman via the West bank and eventually back on the main trail all the way back through Spider Gap and to the TH where we had a few cold beers stashed in a creek for celebration. A note on the Phelps Rd, there has been a bit of improvement to the road since I last drove it (not as rutted) but do be careful of some higher standing rocks in the roadway with a lower slung vehicle, like a rancher I used to work for in Idaho once told me, you can't hit anything under the car if you put your wheel on top of it.

Access road have 14 miles of dirt and few miles of stones. Trails in good condition, creek not full but have water. It is 2 options to park car : Phelps Creek or Trinity Camp (they 2.5-3 miles apart). Most of side trails closed because of wild fire.