Waptus Lake via Waptus River, Waptus Pass, Pete Lake & Cooper River — Friday, Jun. 27, 2025

3 Day/2 Night Backpacking Trip (Loop)

Parked at Salmon La Sac on Thursday afternoon. Still room in the lot at about 4pm. Hiked the Waptus River Trail for about 7 miles and camped at a lovely spot by the river. The next morning I hiked the remaining 2ish miles to Waptus lake before trekking about 7 miles over Waptus Pass to Pete lake for the second night. Hiked back to the car on day 3 via the Pete Lake trail and the Cooper River trails. 

Waptus River Trail
Well maintained. A bit overgrown in places, but it's not difficult to follow. There are established campsites beginning at about 3.5 miles in and then sprinkled throughout the remainder of the trail. The bridge to Waptus Camp is out and, personally, I'm not fording that river. Camping at Quick Creek Camp (~9 mi from TH) is a good idea and saves you the crossing, but expect a few other backpackers there. 

Waptus Pass
Its about 6 miles over the pass between Waptus and Pete Lakes. I clocked roughly 1,500 gain and then just as much on the decent. This trail has more blowdowns to navigate, but its not unmanageable. In a few places it is easy to loose the trail though and my GPS came in handy a few times. The meadows at the top are very wet and muddy. My boots were soaked due to runoff from my pants and I had to let them dry out all afternoon and through the night.

Pete Lake Trail
Expect to see many other hikers and backpackers here. I got to Pete Lake at about 2 pm on a Friday afternoon and it wasn't long before it began filling up. Don't expect much privacy (the family who set up next to me could be heard snoring and farting all night). With many people come many different habits, but please make sure to leave no trace and remain bear (and chipmunk) aware. 

Cooper River Trail
On the third day I combined the Pete Lake and Cooper River trails to head back to the car at Salmon La Sac. No complaints here. The trail is pretty easy to follow overall, but a bit confusing where the trail passes through the Owhi Campground (and it passes straight through the middle of the campground - a fact that made for a few grumpy campers). I do love Gaia for situations like that - used it to route find a bit.