Over the July 4th weekend, we did a clockwise hike starting and ending at the the Purple Pass TH in Stehekin. Overall, the weather was amazing, wildflowers were blooming, and the scenery was top-notch. However, we made the mistake of hiking on the upper section of the East Fork Fish Creek trail (#1248) between the Chelan Summit Trail and the lower section of the Fish Creek Trail. To be clear, there is no trail anymore due to a large burn area and the most blow-down I've ever hiked through, plus a significant amount of Slide Alder overgrowth. DO NOT TAKE THIS TRAIL :). For context, my partner and I typically hike 2-3.5 mph, and we averaged nearly .5 mph in this 5 mile section (we got off the Chelan Summit Trail at 1pm and didn't make it to the lower section of the Fish Creek Trail until 9:30pm). The better move would be to take the North Fork of the Fish Creek Trail.
Besides this brutal section, this is an amazing hike. The Chelan Summit trail has some of the best views I've seen of the Glacier Peak Wilderness. We'll definitely be back in the fall.
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