We spent a night in Spider Meadow with a family group, then two of us continued on over Spider Gap to Upper and Lower Lyman Lakes and Hart Lake, to Holden, then took the school bus to Lucern and the boat down the lake to Chelan, were we stayed in the city campground until picked up the next day. The trail to Spider Meadow was well maintained as always, with down trees cut out (except one really big one easy to bypass), the other trails were fine, though we followed the shortcut down from the pass rather than cross a steep snow slope to stay on the real trail, and found the climbers' trail a bit difficult, with rolling rocks - and were grateful for trekking poles. Through Lyman basin the trail is delightful, passing through heather meadows and rock gardens full of wild flowers, but the trail from Lyman Lake to Hart Lake is much in need of brushing out. It's so bad you can't see your feet sometimes. Mosquitoes were plentiful at Upper Lyman but there were none anywhere else. We looked for blueberries but found only one or two - too early or too late? It was a beautiful, unforgettable trip.

The trip started by crossing the Chiwawa River. I am 6 feet tall and water was about knee high. Easy to cross but cold. The trail to Little Giant Pass starts off easy but eventually becomes an ass kicker. It is steep and long but worth the effort. It took about 3 hours to reach the pass. We ate lunch before heading into the valley. Leaving the pass, the trail is not maintained by any means and in bad shape in many areas. It is steep, rocky and overgrown so take your time getting down. Once in the valley, the trail is still quite overgrown and as we approached the river, we came across some nettles which are always good for a burning sensation. The campsites are few and far between but we found a nice spot on a sand bar near the High Pass creek outlet. The next day we got up and headed to High Pass, the first hour is rough with bushwhacking and slide alder. Once through the alder, then it is just steep but we always find straight up is the shortest route. Once in the valley to High Pass, the scenery is amazing and easy to find your way. The trail comes and goes due to the amount of snow but you really can't get lost. Once we reached High Pass, the small lake is still frozen but the water is clean and fresh so fill your bottles without a filter. We stopped at Triad Lake for lunch and looked down in to the valley. The views are worth the trip. After lunch, we had to cross a short but steep snow field without much of a runout if you fall. We took our time, shortened the uphill hiking pole, and made sure our steps were kicked well enough to stand. Doing this in the afternoon worked better because the snow was soft and kicking steps was quite easy in hiking boots. After that, we were on the trail heading to Liberty Cap and Buck Creek pass. The wildflowers are in full bloom near Liberty Cap. At Buck Creek Pass we came across a trail runner that started at Phelps Creek, was going to drop his pack and head to High Pass and back and then out to Trinity and back to his car. That is about 40 miles in one day running. I felt out of shape. We found a nice campsite down from Middle ridge right on the trail below Fortress Mountain. The third day we headed over Suiattle Pass, Cloudy Pass, and Spider Gap for about a 13 mile day. It was nice to stay on a trail all day after the first 2 days of unmaintained trails and bushwhacking. We made it to Spider Meadows about 4 pm and stopped for the last evening. The next morning we were hoping to get a ride from Phelps Creek TH to Little Giant TH but that did not happen so we had a 5 mile road hike back to the car. In all, about 45 miles, 3 nights 4 days. The only snow was in High Pass, the only animals were a couple of deer in Napeequa valley and lots of marmots.

With the forecast of sunny weather my partner and I elected to try the Spider Gap to Buck Creek Pass loop on a five day jaunt. We dumped our packs at the Phelps Creek TH on Friday morning and I drove the car down to the Trinity Buck Creek TH. After only about a half mile of hiking back up the road toward the Phelps TH I got a lucky ride from another couple headed out on a four day run on the same trip. The hike to Spider Meadows was uneventful. The trail was clear of snow and the meadow was just beginning to turn to full flowers. We ascended the steep rough spur trail up to the toe of the Spider Glacier for our first camp in hot sunny conditons. With the temps remaining warm all night it was an easy snow slog up to Spider Gap. With the late snowmelt we had easy step kicking and plunge stepping down the snowfield from the gap to the morainal flats surrounding upper Lyman lakes on soft melting snow. Even though we brought them, no crampons or ice axe were needed.The route from the snow past the lakes gets a little sketchy due to the rough glacier mangled terrain, but the trail to Lower Lyman was easily found once we reached the meadow ridge past the last morraine. Lots of nice flowers were blooming along the trail which traverses down to a log crossing Railroad Creek. We campled at the main Lyman camp which was nicely shaded and deep trees, but discovered on an evening hike the best camps for hikers are located along the spur trail on the west side of the lake. The bugs were out in full force here. On day three we went up to Cloudy Pass, over to Suiattle Pass on the short cut trail which had one short and tricky hard snow patch to travers but was otherwise great, and then souoth down the PCT to Miners Ridge trail. Here we hit the flower glory of the trip ascending along miles of meadow slopes in full flower to Image Lake. On a tip from our new hitchhiker friendly aquaintances who we ran into at the trail junction we lunched at Image, took the obligatory Image Lake + Glacier Peak photo and then cameled up our water bag and hike one mile further for a dry camp at the Miners Ridge firelookout. This location has amazing views of Glacier Peak and the Dakobed Range. Despite our hopes for a good ridge breeze the weather was still and hot. Moaquitoes here were voracious but we discoverd they stayed close to the ground so we could hang out on the lookout catwalk in the shade to avoid them. Day four included a reverse hike from the lookout, more morning photos at Image Lake and a stop at the nice hikers camp below the lake before reversing past the amazing flowers of Miners Ridge. At the PCT junction we went south to pickup the Middle Ridge trail to Buck Creek Pass. A half hour up the steep Middle Ridge trail it started to rain, so on with the pack covers and more up. After a lunch stop under the umbrella of a stand of firs, the rain stopped and as we proceeded further up the sun strated breaking though again. There were numerous blowdowns of all sizes on the lower section of this trail. It climbs with unrelenting steepness (and few swithbacks) to Buck Creek Pass. At the pass there there are a number of nice camps in the bottom of the saddle below the trail which traverses above the pass and also a higher dry camp with fantastic views of Glacier. A nice spot to end a very long 13-14 mile day. On day five we descended on sore feet down the Buck Creek Pass trail through more glorious flowers and then down into the old growth forest and ava lanche meadows of the creek canyon. On the way down we met a group of university and forest service researchers headed into the Suiattle River basin to do black bear research. Lots of fun hearing about their project. The lower section of the trail ws somewhat dusty but free of any obstacles. Very glad to have taken the tip by another WTA reporter to do the car shuttle and return hike to the Phelps TH at the start of the trip as the weather was very hot at Trinity. After a dip in the Chiwawa river to clean up and cool off, we finished the trip with double scoops of ice cream at the Midway store near Fish Lake. This is one of the great multiday loop hikes in the Cascades and well worth the effort, especially during flower season.

We did a 4 night hike starting at the trailhead to Spider Meadow, going over Spider Gap, past Lyman Lakes, over Cloudy Pass, over Suiattle Pass, a side trip to Image Lake, over Miner's Ridge and Buckcreek Pass and then back down to Liberty. Beautiful hiking with some beautiful wildlife! Still some snow patches/fields on the ground with some sketchy snow field crossings in areas. The snow was pretty slushy and melting fairly quickly, so I would think it will be gone in the next week or two. VERY muddy in areas due to the snow melting. The rivers were running high and fast making for some interesting crossings as well (had to ford most creeks). We met a man who had fallen down a snowfield into a rock at the Suiattle Hikers Shortcut and had hurt himself pretty significantly (he thought). He recommended not going that way. We went the "long" way through this section and it wasn't bad at all. There were a few bugs but nothing too overwhelming. Upper Lyman and Image Lake were still pretty frozen, but Lower Lyman was clear.

Day 1: Phelps Cr TH - Lyman Lake via Spider Gap ~ 12 miles 3:30 wake up in Longview, 5 or so hour drive to the Phelps Cr TH, on the trail by 9:30 am. Road to Trinity is fairly good til the last 2 miles, road from Trinity to Phelps Cr is less good but still passable with a regular car. You can do the road walk either at the beginning or end of your hike. If at all possible, do it first. I did it last, and it is not fun! Phelps Cr Trail is gorgeous, lightly traveled, excellent tread, tons of water available, no bugs, no snow. Beautiful big trees, peekaboo views through the forest of nearby peaks. When you hit Spider Meadow you start getting views of surrounding peaks. About midway through the meadow there is a big pile of avalanche snow. I got turned around here, thinking I had already passed Phelps Creek and started looking for the trail to Spider Gap. Don't make my mistake, I wasted maybe an hour of time on the snow, in avalanche fall, bushwacking, etc, which took a physical and mental toll later. For whatever reason I thought there was no official trail from Spider Meadow up to Spider Gap, but that is not true. Just stay on the main trail, eventually you'll hit a signed trail junction at the bottom of the headwall, and you'll turn up slope toward the Gap. The ascent from the meadow to the Spider Snowfield is steep and hot. Bring lots of water. The snowfield is soft and safe on a warm day like the one I did. Don't need any special equipment but poles might make it easier. It's apparently only a mile but it feels longer. Spider Gap is spectacular, views for miles, and a good place for lunch. You'll have to swat a few deerflies, though, precursor of things to come. Heading down now onto the Lyman Glacier is definitely steeper. With warm, soft snow a set of poles is all you'll need, but an axe or maybe crampons would make me feel safer. There's a thread at NWHikers.net with excellent info about how to find your way down the snow and onto a trail. Don't go right too soon are you end up cliffed at an overlook. But don't go right too late (like I did) or you miss the main trail and end up having to scramble down scree for hundreds of feet, which is tiring. Once you find the trail, it's an easy up and down to Lyman Lake, which is beautiful. Camping sites are pretty mosquito-ey, but right at the lake there were hardly any flies or skeeters and it's got lots of warm, shallow areas perfect for a hot day. Gorgeous views! There were some camping spots up higher on the ridge between upper and lower Lyman Lakes, which were scenic, breezy, and lonely, but you would have had to have gotten your water from upper Lyman lake or earlier, as there is no water right at those sites. Worth it though, for those who plan ahead. Day 2: Lyman Lake - Cloudy Pass - Image Lake - Miner's Creek ~ 13 mi On trail about 8 am. Easy jaunt up to Cloudy Pass with great views but again, lots of bugs. Definitely bring a headnet and spray. I was going to go with just a tarp since we had such great weather, but in the end I brought my 16 oz homemade bug tent too, which I was very grateful for - more for flies than mosquitoes. The hiker shortcut to Suiattle Pass is snow-free, no trouble, but kind of steep and rocky. Trail to Image Lake has a few blowdowns, nothing big. There are signs of active bears en route to Image Lake with several stripped trees and tons of scat near the miner's cabin ruins. Image Lake itself was infested with horseflies. The campsites appear to be located over a ridge from the lake itself with great views of Glacier Peak but none of the Lake. I didn't camp here, instead moving on to Miner's Creek. Hint: Miner's Creek bridge goes right over a 4 or 5 foot deep pool of water in the creek, exactly right for jumping in to neck depth for a great rinse off and cool off on a hot and dusty day. Water is cold but tolerable. There aren't a lot of good campsites at Miner's Creek - I only saw one good one. I made do with a so-so spot and I didn't see any others sites. Day 3: Miner's Creek - Middle Ridge/Sheep Driveway - Buck Creek Pass - High Pass Lookout ~ 12 mi On the trail at 8 am. From Miner's Creek you're up to Middle Ridge through forest then parkland, again lots of flies and mosquitoes. There is an unmaintained but well-known trail there that you can go up about a mile and get big views of Glacier Peak et al. Worth it. Then down to Small Creek, a beautiful stream, then back up to Buck Creek Pass. This is around 6 mi, pretty easy, I was there before 11 am. Note the official Buck Creek Pass campsites are down a hundred or two hundred feet in elevation next to a little stream. They have better access to toilets and water, but much inferior views, also cooler at night and less breezy, bad for bugs. Try to get the unofficial site visible from the main trail if you can, the one you pass as you first head down toward the official camping area. After setting up camp at the unofficial campsite just off the main trail - the one still high enough to see sunset and sunrise on Glacier Peak - I set off for a dayhike to the unnamed pass just short of High Pass, described in Doug Lorain's "Backpacking Washington." It's an easy first couple miles, rounding Liberty Cap with ever-better views of Glacier Peak, etc. After a long 2 miles you hit an unnamed saddle and round the north-facing side of a ridge. Then you start to hit snowfields - about half a dozen in all. The first is too steep to safely pass. You have to scramble briefly down and around, which isn't too bad. The next few are safe to pass, with proper precautions. To be safest you should have an ax. I didn't. I had in-step crampons, but it was warm and the snow was soft. In retrospect I was probably taking a risk. The final snowfield which is literally immediately before the final destination is not passable. However you can scramble sort of back and up and reach the ridgeline, which you can then traverse briefly to the pass for the best views. Whoa!!! Icy Triad Lake, mostly frozen over, tons of snow and ice, glaciers, peaks, Glacier peak visible to the right, etc. This is an awesome and worthwhile short day hike if you can do it safely! Thunderheads were starting to build at 1:30 so I headed quickly back, just in time to cover my bug tent with my tarp as the first (and last) raindrops fell. Note there is no water once you start up Liberty Cap, bring what you need from Buck Creek Pass. Day 4 - Buck Creek Pass - Trinity - Phelps Cr ~ 12 mi (plus 1 mi in a vehicle) 7:30 am start. Long, long, steady downhill with spectacular views of Buck Creek Valley and many snowy, icy peaks and slopes. The undulating portion of the valley can be wet with dew, swarming with flies, and hot and humid as there are a few avalanche slopes that are exposed. There are some ripe huckleberries here, but the flies keep you from hanging around too much. Saw some inbound hunters on the way down. Once you get to the road, it's a long 3 miles, maybe 3.25 miles from Trinity parking lot to Phelps Creek TH. As mentioned, try to do the road walk on entry rather than exit. I found this a very painful and not fun part of the hike, would have been better at the beginning. However, you probably need 5 days to do it that way (staying the first night in Spider Meadow after a 10 mile hike in including the road walk), otherwise you end up starting off with a 15 mile plus day, and the last 3-4 miles are descending the Lyman Glacier in late afternoon while you're probably pretty bushed, which doesn't sound that safe to me. Great hike, would be nicer in 5 days than 4 but rarely is the hiking steep and the trails are all well-graded and easy to travel (obviously excepting the Spider snowfield and Lyman Glacier). Really spectacular scenery. Maybe flies and skeeters will be doing out shortly with cooler weather coming this week. Huckleberries just coming on. One of the most scenic backpacks I've done! I didn't mention all the flowers, just tons of lupine and many other common Cascade flowers on the parks of Buck Creek Pass, Lady Pass, Cloudy Pass, etc. Thanks to posters at NWHikers.net for their tips on traversing the snowfields at Spider Gap!