Had planned to go the Pete Lake -> Waptus Pass -> Escondido Lake -> Escondido Tarns -> Vista Tarns route, but ran into several downed trees that were impassable (especially with a dog) just after the turnoff for Escondido Lake. It was evident that a winter storm had hit this area. With that being the case, we decided to go the Waptus Burn -> PCT -> Escondido Tarns -> Vista Tarns route instead, although it (reluctantly) added a few extra miles. On the way down, we decided to try our luck on the PCT -> Lemah Meadows -> Pete Lake route.
On the way up there were some small patches of snow on the Waptus Burn trail, but nothing too difficult that didn't prevent us from finding the trail pretty easily. The views of Bears Breast & Mt Hinman were incredible near the Waptus Burn-PCT junction. We started to hit some more patches of snow near the Escondido Tarns, and then eventually the entire trail and about 90% of the Escondido tarn area was covered in snow still (GPS was necessary to locate the trail). After continuing on past the Escondido tarns, we were able to find the PCT again and still ran into some intermittent patches of snow, although they weren't too difficult to cross with no traction or snow gear. As we got closer to the Vista tarns, we hit more patches of snow. Again, not too difficult to cross, but GPS came in handy to locate the trail. The lower Vista tarn was just barely starting to thaw out and was mostly covered in snow, as was the outflow stream. The surrounding area outside of the lower tarn & outflow stream was mostly snow free. We were pretty gassed at this point and didn't make it to the upper Vista tarn, but I suspect it was also mostly covered in snow still. We set up camp near the lower tarn and were immediately swarmed by mosquitos. The one silver lining - the views of Chimney Rock, Lemah, Four Bros, Three Queens, & part of Rainier were incredible (especially during sunrise).
We headed out the next morning and luckily the snow had hardened so we felt pretty comfortable walking across the snow covering the outflow stream of the lower tarn (no snow bridges, completely covered). Again, GPS came in handy for locating the PCT to get down to Lemah Meadows. Shortly after the outflow stream of the lower tarn, the PCT was entirely thawed and free from snow which was a happy relief. We were not free from any obstacles though, as there were a number of downed trees and stream crossings we had to navigate. Most of the downed trees were easy to hop over, but some did require some effort. As we got closer to Lemah Meadows, there were a number of streams intersecting the trail, one of which required us to take off our boots and put on our sandals to cross (likely wouldn't be the case later in the season). Lastly, one thing to note - I noticed a small crack running parallel with the trail on a number of the switchbacks on the PCT up near the Vista tarns (forgot to take photos). Likely not an issue this time of year, but with significant rainfall I would venture to guess that it could pose a serious issue (ie landslide). I plan on reporting this to the PCTA.
It was pretty smooth sailing once we reached Lemah Meadows and crossed our last major stream. The trail is pretty lush in this area with lots of vegetation sprouting up everywhere. The views of Chimney Rock were still pretty predominant and made this section very enjoyable. The rest of the trail was business as usual once we reached Pete Lake.
Long story short, there were many obstacles on this trail and required a lot of effort. In hindsight, I would advise waiting at least another month for the snow to fully melt and trees to be cut down before attempting this hike (at least if you plan to go to the Vista or Escondido tarns).
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